The small plastic LEGO pieces that we are so familiar with have been around since 1959. Originally, they came in seven different colours: white, gray, black, red, blue, yellow and sometimes green. There are some people who believe the original colours were inspired by the work of the Dutch modernist painter Piet Mondrian. This story, however, has never been confirmed. Mondrian’s best known pieces consist of various sizes of solid coloured squares and rectangles arranged within a structured grid (see image below). Those seven colours defined the LEGO brand well into the 1980s when the line was expanded to 16 colours. Since then, the popular toy has gradually grown to include upwards of 150 hues. With its extensive offering of products, LEGO is producing 20 billion brightly coloured plastic pieces every year.
Here’s a list of the 10 most popular LEGO colours (based on production):
1. Medium Stone Grey
2. White
3. Dark Stone Grey
4. Black
5. Brick Yellow
6. Reddish Brown
7. Bright Red
8. Bright Yellow
9. Sand Yellow
10. Bright Blue
You can see that the original palette (minus green) is still in big demand. I think Mondrian would be happy.
Piet Mondrian 1921