How to Define Colors on a Military Topographic Map
Military maps are made so they can be read easily and quickly. One of the features that make military maps easy to read are the colors used on them. There are five colors, each representing a specific item or terrain feature. There is also a sixth color used on some maps, which makes the map readable in the dark. Understanding what these colors represent is one of the first things someone needs to know before they can read a military map.
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Instructions
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Red on a military map defines cultural features. These can be populated areas, such as a city, or main roads and highways. On older (outdated) maps, red is also used to distinguish certain boundary lines (See References 1).
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Black on a military map defines man-made features and spot elevations. Examples of man-made features include buildings and secondary roads. A spot elevation is a specific place on a map that is at a higher elevation than the area around it. Spot elevations are usually a dot with a number next to it showing the area's elevation (See References 1).
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Blue on any military map means water. Lakes and rivers, small streams and areas prone to regular flooding are colored a bright blue and stand out from the rest of the map (See References 1).
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Green on a military map is defined as thick vegetation. When troops are moving through an unfamiliar territory, they need to know locations of woods, orchards, swamps and any other thick foliage (See References 1).
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Brown, the most common color the military uses on a map, is used for contour lines. These squiggly lines are all over the map, but they are not just random. They signify relief features such as hills, valleys, cliffs, mountains and other important terrain information. A contour line represents a certain elevation, and every five contour lines will have the elevation written somewhere along them. Contour lines are drawn every time the elevation either rises or drops by 20 meters. If there is a steep hill, the contour lines get closer together. When they start to form circles, it signifies a hill or top of a mountain (See References 1).
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Tips & Warnings
Maps that are made for reading in the dark are made with the color red-brown instead of black and red. Red-brown is not considered one of the main colors, but it is common on modern military maps.
All measurements on a military map use the metric system.
