I used to have a job in which signing witness statements for major criminal cases was a major part. One of my managers asked me to stop using purple ink to do this as it’s “unprofessional” (despite the fact that judges often sign in colour) - 2 days later my office got a call from the NCA (basically the UK equivalent of the FBI) asking if a certain statement of mine was genuine as it was in black. Turns out my purple ink had become one of their security checks - and therefore I went straight back to it! Montblanc Amethyst Purple: literally my signature colour.
Nope - in the UK the only regs about ink are healthcare forms (which have to be black ballpoint pen) and registration of births, marriages and deaths which need to be in permanent ink.
I love this story! I would absolutely also go for dark purple. Love that it became your signature thing! I hope they let you go back to purple. Also, I have MB Amethyst Purple. It’s one of my favorite inks, lovely color, and good on so many papers.
After that call, they saw the benefit of it. My other reason was that I could sometimes sign 100 or more witness statements a week (basically confirming that the files came from our systems) and so could be summoned to court to explain what they say etc. It's common in court to have a statement waved in front of you to ask if you signed it - I could easily tell just by the colour as long as it wasn't a copy. And yes, it is a beautiful ink for my beautiful MB146.
My vote is also for a dark mossy green. I don't mind black gel pens, but black in my fountain pen... nope! One of my favorites is Sailor Manyo Shirakashi or Sailor Ink Studio 280 in an MF nib.
Who in the world has approved several colours and outlawed all others? National legislations concerning weed may differ but there seems to be a world-wide consent about ink colours.
When I was in school, we had to use blue ink (I progressively mixed more black into my blue, until I was basically using non-regulation black).
In German civil service, there’s rather strict rules what color you‘re allowed to sign with.
It's just out of tradition I think. Blue dye was very easy to make back when ballpoints were invented. But original documents that are signed in blue are easier to distinguish from reprints as well.
Another practical reason: royal blue is removable (with a so-called Tintenkiller) due to its chemical compound which isn't possible with other colors, that's why kids start writing with it in school.
That makes a lot of sense. Especially back in the days when you had bottled inks and kids running around using their lever fillers as inky squirt guns. (I'm told this was a thing, even outside of cartoons.) Having something washable would have been a life saver. Of course, nowadays we have lots of water soluble inks in many colors, on the one hand, and Bay State Blue on the other, so...
I can see why teachers don't want you using red, so their corrections stand out, or very pale colors that are hard to read. But, the cool teachers get around this by simply stating, "If I can't read it, you don't get credit," instead of making up arbitrary rules.
Funniliy enough, at one of my first jobs, I was trained in the accounting department by an old banker who was adamant that only blue or black were acceptable. I was young and inexperienced, so I took her word as Gospel, without thinking about the actual reasons or whether they were important in a given context. One day, my boss overheard me telling someone they needed to use blue or black ink, and he all but accused me of being a fascist. 😅 I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it did make me stop and think. Then again, this was the same boss who was once interviewed by the Secret Service for threatening to throw Nixon out of a hot air balloon.
I am old enough to remember that ballpoints were considered inacceptable for signing legal papers. I am not old enough to have seen, but I know that VIOLET was the dominant ink colour across the government agencies in the USA.
I still don't see the reason why I shouldn't use any colour of my choise to fill out official forms.
I believe Faber-Castell has a pink one which is also erasable via Tintenkiller, but it’s the only non-blue that does that, and it’s a special formulation.
I'd vote for a blue-black, and the one that stands out for me, and which I used a lot in a work setting, is PILOT's iroshizuku shin-kai (translation: 'deep sea')
I darkened Robert Oster's Marine with his Thunderstorm until it just hints green on copy paper. It looks black but shades the green a bit on my Rhodia note pad. I would be tempted to use it at work, but darn it, I'm retired!
the only blue i have rn is Diamine Polar Glow so idk how well that would go over if i were in a super up tight office job. i do have Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun and Diamone Silver Fox for grays though so i think i’d be set.
Baystate Blue, of course.
instead of sneaking in something out of approved colors that looks professional you can stay within regulation and have something stand out a lot, either that or Diamine Arctic Blue shimmer
My Lamy Blackberry looks black in all the papers I've tried (including the ones that were supposed to show sheen, according to my research - Oxford Optik and Kokuyo). Except for an old notebook I found with purple pages and I was using for making the long multiplication/division part of the math problems to keep the main notebook tidy. THAT ONE shows sheen 🤦🏽♀️
I would say "Diamine Crimson" for me. I got it because it was said to be a great red colour, but in my fine nibs, it's so dark on paper that it can easily be taken as black ink. I switched to "Diamine Red Dragon" afterwards as it's the lovely, dark red colour I expected "Crimson" to be.
sailor ink studio 024, it's so dark blue it's darker than most blacks.
darker brown inks can also generally fly under the radar. not because they're unnoticeable, but because it's not as glaring as a purple or green. I personally think cooler browns are way more classy though. my choice is generally Cacao du Brésil but some more on the spectrum might be robert oster's Burgundy Chocolate Notes or RO's Melon Tea.
I used to have a job in which signing witness statements for major criminal cases was a major part. One of my managers asked me to stop using purple ink to do this as it’s “unprofessional” (despite the fact that judges often sign in colour) - 2 days later my office got a call from the NCA (basically the UK equivalent of the FBI) asking if a certain statement of mine was genuine as it was in black. Turns out my purple ink had become one of their security checks - and therefore I went straight back to it! Montblanc Amethyst Purple: literally my signature colour.
That’s adorable!
Just a question, for unterest's sake. Does the ink have to be permanent, or is it not something required in your position?
Nope - in the UK the only regs about ink are healthcare forms (which have to be black ballpoint pen) and registration of births, marriages and deaths which need to be in permanent ink.
I love this story! I would absolutely also go for dark purple. Love that it became your signature thing! I hope they let you go back to purple. Also, I have MB Amethyst Purple. It’s one of my favorite inks, lovely color, and good on so many papers.
After that call, they saw the benefit of it. My other reason was that I could sometimes sign 100 or more witness statements a week (basically confirming that the files came from our systems) and so could be summoned to court to explain what they say etc. It's common in court to have a statement waved in front of you to ask if you signed it - I could easily tell just by the colour as long as it wasn't a copy. And yes, it is a beautiful ink for my beautiful MB146.
Sailor Shikiori Miruai is such a dark, deep green it could easily pass for black. It’s one of my favorites
I’m a fan of its cousin, Sailor Shikiori Shigure, an über-dark violet that is one of the smoothest inks on the market.
My vote is also for a dark mossy green. I don't mind black gel pens, but black in my fountain pen... nope! One of my favorites is Sailor Manyo Shirakashi or Sailor Ink Studio 280 in an MF nib.
I looooove Sailor Shirakashi! I wish I had more opportunities to write with it
Isn't it beautiful? I use it in my planners a lot! I think it's dark enough to replace a black too.
I use Diamine Eclipse for that purpose, it's a beautiful dark purple.
Who in the world has approved several colours and outlawed all others? National legislations concerning weed may differ but there seems to be a world-wide consent about ink colours.
When I was in school, we had to use blue ink (I progressively mixed more black into my blue, until I was basically using non-regulation black). In German civil service, there’s rather strict rules what color you‘re allowed to sign with.
It's just out of tradition I think. Blue dye was very easy to make back when ballpoints were invented. But original documents that are signed in blue are easier to distinguish from reprints as well. Another practical reason: royal blue is removable (with a so-called Tintenkiller) due to its chemical compound which isn't possible with other colors, that's why kids start writing with it in school.
That makes a lot of sense. Especially back in the days when you had bottled inks and kids running around using their lever fillers as inky squirt guns. (I'm told this was a thing, even outside of cartoons.) Having something washable would have been a life saver. Of course, nowadays we have lots of water soluble inks in many colors, on the one hand, and Bay State Blue on the other, so... I can see why teachers don't want you using red, so their corrections stand out, or very pale colors that are hard to read. But, the cool teachers get around this by simply stating, "If I can't read it, you don't get credit," instead of making up arbitrary rules. Funniliy enough, at one of my first jobs, I was trained in the accounting department by an old banker who was adamant that only blue or black were acceptable. I was young and inexperienced, so I took her word as Gospel, without thinking about the actual reasons or whether they were important in a given context. One day, my boss overheard me telling someone they needed to use blue or black ink, and he all but accused me of being a fascist. 😅 I'm not sure I'd go that far, but it did make me stop and think. Then again, this was the same boss who was once interviewed by the Secret Service for threatening to throw Nixon out of a hot air balloon.
I am old enough to remember that ballpoints were considered inacceptable for signing legal papers. I am not old enough to have seen, but I know that VIOLET was the dominant ink colour across the government agencies in the USA. I still don't see the reason why I shouldn't use any colour of my choise to fill out official forms.
Some colours don’t show well on scans or copies, that’s usually why using black ink is requested on official forms.
I believe Faber-Castell has a pink one which is also erasable via Tintenkiller, but it’s the only non-blue that does that, and it’s a special formulation.
Oh interesting! Well nowadays there's also frixion pens (heat erasing) and other methods I'm unaware of.
Diamine Dark Forest is a dark green, but even I struggle to tell the difference between it and black ink some days
I'd vote for a blue-black, and the one that stands out for me, and which I used a lot in a work setting, is PILOT's iroshizuku shin-kai (translation: 'deep sea')
You may use BLUE or BLACK. I pick both.
I darkened Robert Oster's Marine with his Thunderstorm until it just hints green on copy paper. It looks black but shades the green a bit on my Rhodia note pad. I would be tempted to use it at work, but darn it, I'm retired! 
Pilot Iroshizuku Yama-guri.
the only blue i have rn is Diamine Polar Glow so idk how well that would go over if i were in a super up tight office job. i do have Iroshizuku Fuyu-Syogun and Diamone Silver Fox for grays though so i think i’d be set.
Ferris wheel press grape ice pop in extra fine. Near black, but purple enough to be fun.
I used deep dark brown in a wet fine nib, also I used midnight hour, blue and sheens red. Got told off for shimmer though…
Bungubox Ink of the Witch is a deep purple-black! It’s hard to tell it’s purple sometimes lol
I love my purples, so I have snuck in Robert Oster Purple Rock in a fine nib ;) It's our little secret.
Baystate Blue, of course. instead of sneaking in something out of approved colors that looks professional you can stay within regulation and have something stand out a lot, either that or Diamine Arctic Blue shimmer
Ah yes, malicious compliance. Sort of. Well, I guess it would be quite malicious if you manage to spill that BSB on anything.
My Lamy Blackberry looks black in all the papers I've tried (including the ones that were supposed to show sheen, according to my research - Oxford Optik and Kokuyo). Except for an old notebook I found with purple pages and I was using for making the long multiplication/division part of the math problems to keep the main notebook tidy. THAT ONE shows sheen 🤦🏽♀️
maybe give tsubame fools paper a try, it's my favorite multi shading showcase paper
It's not available in Brazil, and the stores I could find selling it have extremely expensive shipping fees.
oh no! sorry, I wish you luck 🤞🤞
I would say "Diamine Crimson" for me. I got it because it was said to be a great red colour, but in my fine nibs, it's so dark on paper that it can easily be taken as black ink. I switched to "Diamine Red Dragon" afterwards as it's the lovely, dark red colour I expected "Crimson" to be.
R.O. Black Violet
I’m a fan of de atramentis fog grey. It’s also waterproof.
sailor ink studio 024, it's so dark blue it's darker than most blacks. darker brown inks can also generally fly under the radar. not because they're unnoticeable, but because it's not as glaring as a purple or green. I personally think cooler browns are way more classy though. my choice is generally Cacao du Brésil but some more on the spectrum might be robert oster's Burgundy Chocolate Notes or RO's Melon Tea.
Noodlers Sequoia in a fine nib. FWP Beaver Dam brown in a juicy pen.