# Australian gas bottle colors **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 4, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410 "2007-08-04T12:24:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/1 "2007-08-04T12:24:24Z")
Any Aussie welders here? Just got done seeing [_Danny Deckchair_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337960/fullcredits), where a bloke in Sydney floats away on a deckchair and a bunch of balloons. Hours later he’s accidently shot down by fireworks and has adventures in the small town he finds himself in. On the [goofs](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337960/goofs) page it’s asserted that, being filled with helium, the balloons shouldn’t have exploded when the fireworks struck them. I noticed that in the scene and thought, “Huh. Must have been filled with hydrogen.” So, after all this exposition (pant, pant) comes the question. The gas bottles Danny and his mates were filling the balloons with were tan. Hydrogen or helium? ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/2 "2007-08-04T18:38:15Z")
[QUOTE=DesertDog] So, after all this exposition (pant, pant) comes the question. The gas bottles Danny and his mates were filling the balloons with were tan. Hydrogen or helium? [/QUOTE] I don’t think the colors of the cylinders mean anything at all. Right now I have a white helium tank, several 40# ‘silver’ propane tanks and a freon tank which off the top of my head is either white and/or yellow. At home I have white and gray propane tanks. Of course all tanks should be labeled to tell the user what is in them. Gas cans on the other hand are different. IIRC red=gasoline, blue=water, yellow=kerosene. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/3 "2007-08-04T18:47:26Z")
IANAAussie and IANAWelder, but looking at the BOC Australia website: Oxygen - Black Nitrogen and oxygen-free nitrogen - Pewter Argon - Blue LPG - Aluminium Acetylene - Claret Hydrogen - Signal red Carbon dioxide - Green grey Helium - Brown ([Cite](https://b2.boc.com/catweb/CATweb.nsf/noteid/80256AD8003524F1002569F50031F031)) [Australian Gas Cylinder ID chart](https://b2.boc.com/gases/BOCInfo.nsf/webgenpres/8F34DEA47E1A8DD5802568A4005AD1EE/$file/Industrial_Cylinder_ID_Chart.pdf) (PDF)… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/4 "2007-08-05T05:16:09Z")
Thank you, **Szlater**. Looks like helium it was, then. No boom. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/5 "2007-08-05T05:26:02Z")
:smack: Missed the Aussie part. I mean I saw it, but I didn’t think about it when I answered. At least in the states, from what I can tell, the color of the tanks seems to have nothing to do with the contents. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/6 "2007-08-05T10:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=Joey P] At least in the states, from what I can tell, the color of the tanks seems to have nothing to do with the contents. [/QUOTE] Sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially when it comes to medical gases. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/7 "2007-08-05T14:47:53Z")
Maybe it’s different with medical gasses. But for the consumer, I know I’ve seen multiple colors for the same gas. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/australian-gas-bottle-colors/414410/8 "2007-08-05T14:49:59Z")
> **[Gas cylinder](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_cylinder#Color_Coding)** > > A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel for storage and containment of gases at above atmospheric pressure. High-pressure gas cylinders are also called bottles. Inside the cylinder the stored contents may be in a state of compressed gas, vapor over liquid, supercritical fluid, or dissolved in a substrate material, depending on the physical characteristics of the contents. A typical gas cylinder design is elongated, standing upright on a flattened bottom end, with the valve and fitting at the top fo... > **[State Fund Home](https://www.statefundca.com/)** > > SFCA Homepage