The vehicles appeared in lined green, and then progressed through rail blue, blue grey and even NSE. 55023 was given green again in 1994, as in the intro page, to mark it being the last of the Class to receive a full works overhaul.

55020 achieved fame by being painted in chocolate and cream livery by OOC for the GWR 150 celebrations. About 1986 55033 was painted in MidLine colours (two-tone blue with a red band) and was seen mainly on the Stratford-upon-Avon to Leamington Spa route.

For other liveries used in departmental use see the Non-passenger page.

Examples of Liveries: DMBS's:
Rail Blue. 55034 is seen at Bridport on the 4th April 1975. It was common for the set number to be in 'Gill Sans' font. Neil Cannon
Standard Blue/Grey livery.  Here 55028 is at Oxford while working the 16:45 Banbury - Didcot, 24/2/84. Hamish Stevenson
Blue/Grey.  Here 55026 has a little extra in the form of a Highland Rail loco, normally used on locos based at Inverness depot. 55026 is seen at BristolTM on a working to Parkway 12/8/86. Hamish Stevenson
Blue/Grey with NSE branding. 55029 is seen at Didcot on the 27/11/87. Note window surrounds are black by this time. Hamish Stevenson
NSE. One version of the livery, with the stripes staying horizontal. 55025 is at Paddington, 16/3/89. Hamish Stevenson
NSE variation. As above, but without the black cab window surrounds, and with Thames branding. 55031 at Paddington, 17/6/91. Mike Cooper
NSE 2. This version has the stripes raised at the ends. 55029 at Didcot, 27/11/87. Hamish Stevenson
GWR. 55020 is seen at Reading on 30/4/87. Hamish Stevenson
Midline. 55033, by Peter, Lincolnshire & East Yorkshire Transport Review
Retro Green. 55023 was painted back into green in 1994 to commemorate it being the last of the Class to receive a full works overhaul . John Law
Chiltern Railways. The last of the Class in passenger use, 55020 was painted into a Chiltern Railways livery in 2003. Seen passing Aylesbury depot on the 1st September 2004. Stuart Mackay.
Examples of liveries: DTS's
All Blue. DTS L285 is seen at Windsor Central, 27/4/74. Hamish Stevenson
NSE. 54287 is seen at Didcot working the 16:03 Didcot to Oxford. Note how the stripes only lift at one end. Hamish Stevenson

By careful sanding of a vehicle, the history of it's liveries can be found. The following was found on 55028 in Nov. '01. The lining details could also be presumed to be relevant to Class 117 cars, although it is not unusual to find variations within a Class.
Green: the top lining was 1", the bottom edge of this being 3/4" from the top edge of the windows. The waist line began 5" below the bottom edge of the windows, formed of 1/16" black, 1 3/4" cream, 1/16" black. This line was 1/4" below the cab windows, and there was a 1 1/4" gap between this and the yellow panel. The cream used was very yellowish.
Blue: there was plenty of evidence of rail blue on the cab, and we found a yellow panel painted above the blue. This was backed up by Umber Brown on the solebars, indicating that this vehicle was once in the early blue livery. When Rail Grey was applied, the top of the white lining was 6 1/4" below the bottom edge of the window frames.
NSE: The livery the vehicle was in at the time of the survey. The blue bands started 9" below the windows and 3 1/2" above the windows, although an earlier application of this showed a slightly different position.
Railtrack: In Dec. '01 the vehicle was painted into the Railtrack Lime Green / Blue to match the earlier vehicle so treated, 977859.