It fulfills a similar role to Pantone and predates it by about three decades. WWII is probably to blame for its limited spread beyond German-speaking countries.

It fulfills a similar role to Pantone and predates it by about three decades. WWII is probably to blame for its limited spread beyond German-speaking countries. But in Germany and Switzerland it's the preferred way for specifying paint and coating colors. Celsius and Fahrenheit is a good comparison. RAL became widespread and nobody sees a reason to switch; but other regions prefer other systems because of how history played out.