Have you ever wondered why driving licenses on the European continent have this rare pink hue? How was this particular color chosen, which is used even in the new generation of driver’s licenses?
The usual paper version is a thing of the past. All car owners, sooner or later, will have to replace the old-style driver’s license with a new one, the shape and material of which, however, resemble a credit card. However… its color will remain pink.
To understand the history of the “pink driver’s license”, you will need to travel back in time and, in particular, to the beginning of the last century. Back in 1920, the first driver’s license in France was pink, a rather random color choice that was to be adopted throughout the European continent.
After the end of World War II, the pink color of driving licenses was formalized by the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, which was signed in 1949 to facilitate international road traffic and improve safety by laying down some basic rules.
The Vienna Convention provides for the use of pink for the issuance of driving licenses, deciding to follow the example of France. Nearly half a century later, in 2006 to be exact, a Community Directive is issued to the member states of the European Union, according to which pink must be used in EU for documents related to driving a motor vehicle.
Pink is also featured on driving licenses outside of Europe. And, for example, in Australia, drivers who are legally prohibited from drinking even the slightest amount of alcohol are given pink rights.
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