"Simon Marchese" wrote in message
...

Dumb question I know, especially since it seems reasonable to have
different colours for things that are "permament" rather than
"temporary" but it has been bugging me. Any ideas? I tried google-ing it
but came up with no satisfactory answer, although learned a bit about
eletrical safety. Many thanks in advance.


Once upon a time, they weren't different - "flex" wires were
Red=Live, Black=Neutral and Green=Earth - then along came
harmonisation. Germans had brown for earth! We've ended
up with a compromise, Brown, Blue and Green/Yellow.
As you're unlikely to take your house to Germany, compared to
say, your kettle; the 'fixed' cabling hasn't changed -just got specified
in metric units. The changeover was in the seventies?

--

Brian