Guides

Colored tape is not one product. It is four or five different constructions that come on similar-looking rolls and fail in different ways when you pick the wrong one. Start with the surface, check the decision table, then read the scenario closest to your job.

The NEC assigns colors to neutrals and grounding conductors. It does not assign colors to phase conductors — black/red/blue and brown/orange/yellow are trade convention, not code. Here is what the code actually requires, and how phase marking with tape is done correctly.