what colour is negative on a car battery

[MacRosalie]

The negative terminal on a car battery is almost universally black. You'll also identify it by the minus (-) sign stamped on the battery case next to it. The positive terminal is red and marked with a plus (+) sign. This color-coding is a critical safety standard to prevent accidentally connecting the battery backwards, which can cause severe damage to your vehicle's electrical system.

Before handling battery terminals, always disconnect the negative terminal first and reconnect it last. This minimizes the risk of a short circuit. If the terminals are too corroded or dirty to distinguish by color, look for the engraved symbols. The positive terminal is often slightly larger in diameter than the negative on most modern batteries.

Here is a quick reference table for battery terminal identification:

Feature	Negative Terminal	Positive Terminal
Color	Black	Red
Symbol	Minus (-)	Plus (+)
Connection Order (Disconnecting)	First	Second
Connection Order (Reconnecting)	Last	First
Relative Size (common)	Smaller Diameter	Larger Diameter

When jump-starting a car, this color coding guides you on where to attach the jumper cables correctly. The final connection should be to an unpainted metal surface in the dead car's engine bay, not directly to the negative terminal, to avoid sparking near the battery.