Stainless  steels  have  excellent  corrosion  resistance  and  mechanical properties, and been utilized for various purposes  including building materials, chemical plants and household  commodities. The range of the use is still increasing, and  especially aesthetically designed stainless steels of high quality  have been demanded in many uses. However, common stainless  steels sometimes give cold and sharp feelings and face a difficulty  to harmonize with sorroundings owing to their bright  and  spotless silver colors. Hence, these defects must be conquered to  expand the use of stainless steel. For this aim, the coloring of  stainless steel has been attempted by various techniques of the  surface treatment. They are divided broadly into two main groups:   (i) inorganic coating,  (ii) the formation of interference films.  Inorganic coating involves electroplating, porcelain-enameling and ion implantation. Copper-plated stainless steel shows the nobility inherent in copper, good anticorrosive property from stainless steel, and excellent workability comparable with those of ordinal steels (Ohno and Soya, 1973). An uniform and bright color appears on the stainless steel immersed in a hot solution containing chromic and sulfuric acids. The color results from the interference of the light reflected at the air / oxide film and the oxide film / steel interfaces, and various colors such as blue, gold, red and green emerge according to  the experimental condition (Evans, 1977). 

Although various techniques to color stainless steels have been proposed, the coloration based on the interference film is most promising in practice owing to the simplicity of the process and the uniformity and variety of colors. In the present paper, the basis and  application  of  the  chemical  and electrochemical coloration resulting  from  the  interference  film have  been surveyed.