Is Orange the New Orange? U-Haul Fights to Keep Its Brand Color.

In the mostly mature and stable world of self storage, you don't see many articles like this one about U-Haul fighting to keep using the color orange. I appreciate why U-Haul vehemently defends its use of orange, although I feel like it's a reddish-orange. When I read the article and before I googled “U-Haul” to remind myself exactly what color they were using, I recalled it as more of a red and less of an orange. But nope, it's orange. I guess their color didn't have a huge impact on my recollections.

U-Haul’s legal action, filed on November 11, 2025, is a proactive step to protect its use of the color. They argue that U-Haul has been using orange for 79 years associated with its truck, trailer, and moving business and at least 50 for its self storage facilities. That's a long time with many examples of their actual usage of the color.  

U-Haul Trailer from 1966

Trademarking a color has been in practice for decades. Think of Tiffany’s robin egg blue or UPS’s Pullman brown. For a business to trademark a color, it must be distinctive and distinguish a company's identity as the seller of those goods. Also, the color cannot be essential to the product's purpose, as competitors are at a disadvantage if they cannot use the color.

I'll reserve my judgment on this situation until I hear from Public Storage’s side. Still, it seems to me that Public could focus on other opportunities for improvement that are more beneficial than pursuing a competitor's colors. Maybe not, but I don't think so.

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