Team color

As a tradition of RTS games, team colors are used to distinguish different side during a battle. The rules vary for each game.

The color of each side is hardcoded in both campaigns. Since most battles are usually orcs versus humans there is not much room left for confusion, but two missions are actually humans versus humans and orcs versus orcs. There are unique hero units but without specific team colors.

You can't select your team color in multiplayer games. You will be assigned the team color usually associated to your race, unless your opponent is playing the same faction.

In Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness and Beyond the Dark Portal each faction on a map must now have a different color, even when fighting on the same side, which is why many orcish clans and human kingdoms were created and are displayed on the ranking board at the end of a game. Most playable hero units such as Anduin Lothar, Uther Lightbringer, and Cho'gall are depicted using the Violet color to distinguish them from their surrounding troops, though this isn't always true.

Nevertheless, in campaign missions, heroes will always be a different color than non-unique units of the same class. For example, in Slayer of the Shadowmoon, Grom Hellscream is red the color of the Warsong, but his forces are orange, so the player won't get Grom Hellscream confused with another Grunt of the same color.

You still can't select your team color in multiplayer games. You will be assigned a team color randomly among eight available.

• Warcraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans added another yet undepicted orcish clan, Frostwolf clan, whose color was blue.
• The Lord of the Clans novel added another human faction, Blackmoore's Durnholde military, which wore red and gold livery.
• With time the national colors of the Alliance-side factions were generally respected. Lordaeron became a mix of white and blue as the other main playable human nation. The Syndicate took on the orange color of the fallen kingdom of Alterac.
• The Horde-side factions however usually lost their clans color with Warcraft III and especially World of Warcraft, with exception of the Frostwolf and Twilight's Hammer clans.

In Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne there are no more unique colors associated to each factions, many different factions can now share the same color depending on context. Heroes are also surrounded by an aura matching their team color to distinguish them from other units. With this and the fact that they have unique models now, heroes are generally no longer distinguished by having a different team color in the campaign, although some such as Varimathras are still represented with a different color.

In multiplayer you can choose any color between 12 (classic) and 24 (Reforged) available.

As it is heavily inspired by its RTS roots, World of Warcraft displays many factions with strong color schemes, but those are usually now carried through tabards and standards, as faction-specific NPCs and mobs usually carry more elaborate equipment than just having a single team color. For example, the Scarlet Crusade is emblematic for having red armor, but they also prominently feature white, gold and black colors. Some factions are still referencing their RTS days however, with the Amani trolls of Zul'Aman retaining their iconic red mohawks from Warcraft II.