Because all of us have to connect wires for one reason or another as we work in our shop, the following information should prove useful.
My recent project, the pyrography burner that some of you saw at the club meeting, uses multiple sizes/colors of wire.
With goods coming through a global market, I was getting wire from all over the world including China, UK, Canada, India, and USA. Especially when ordering through Amazon even more international sources joined this list.
I had line/power (hot) wires that were black, brown, yellow and red. I had neutral wires in white, gray, black, and blue. I had grounding wires that were all shades of green or yellow/green striped.
Below is a chart illustrating product differences by country of origin.
Hint: You may want to save or print this for your shop.
To reduce current and future frustration on my part and hopefully prevent making a mistake, I now add a piece of tape color-coded to match the NEC-US codes shown in the first two columns (depending on the voltage) to the end of my wires.