The Coloured-Tiles of MTR Stations Were Designed to Combat Illiteracy

If you have ever ridden the MTR on the Kwun Tong, Tsuen Wan, or Island lines—the network's first three lines to enter service—you may have noticed that each station features its own unique color scheme. More than just decoration, these colors serve a vital, practical function.

When Hong Kong’s subway system was designed in the 1970s, local illiteracy rates were very high. To prevent confusion, Roland Paoletti, the MTR’s chief architect, implemented a color-coded system to help commuters who could not read Chinese or English easily identify the different stations.

To further prevent errors, consecutive stations on the same line were assigned sharply contrasting colors. For instance, Mei Foo features a bright blue shade, while Lai Chi Kok is crimson, Cheung Sha Wan is yellow, Sham Shui Po is bright green, Prince Edward is purple, and so on.

Furthermore, architects assigned colors to each station based on cultural, geographical, or semantic reasoning. Wong Tai Sin, for example, was given yellow because wong means yellow in Cantonese. Choi Hung's pillars are lined with rainbow-striped tiles because choi hung literally translates to "rainbow." Similarly, Whampoa and Ho Man Tin were given blue and green due to their proximity to the coastline and hills, respectively. A similar logic was applied wherever possible across the network.