British racing green, or BRG, is a colour similar to Brunswick green, hunter green, forest green or moss green (RAL 6005). It takes its name from the green international motor racing colour of the United Kingdom. This originated with the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup, held in Ireland (then still part of the UK), as motor-racing on public roads was illegal in Great Britain. As a mark of respect, the British cars were painted shamrock green. There is no exact hue for BRG – currently the term is used to denote a spectrum of deep, rich greens. "British racing green" in motorsport terms meant only the colour green in general – its application to a specific shade has developed outside the sport. Origins of the association In the days of the Gordon Bennett Cup, Count Eliot Zborowski, father of inter-war racing legend Louis Zborowski, suggested that each national entrant be allotted a different colour. Every component of a car had to be produced in the competing country, as well as the driver being of that nationality. The races were hosted in the country of the previous year's winner. When Britain first competed in 1902, they had to choose a different colour from the national flag colours of red, white and blue, because those had been taken for the 1900 race by America, Germany and France respectively. When Selwyn Edge won the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup race for England in his Napier & Son it was decided that the 1903 race would be held in Ireland, as motor racing at the time was illegal in Great Britain. As a mark of respect for their Irish hosts the English Napier cars were painted shamrock green. In keeping with these Irish/Napier roots, many of the earliest greens used on British racing cars were of a lighter olive, moss or emerald green. Later, darker shades became more common, though there was a return to lighter greens by HWM and other teams in the 1950s. Initially the colour use only applied to the grandes épreuves, but was later codified in the Code Sportif International (CSI) of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for use in all international-level motor racing events. International rise to prominence The foremost British participant in international motor Racing at the highest echelons both before and after the Great War was Sunbeam (from 1920 part of STD Motors). Green liveried Sunbeam racing cars