Locomotive number and "Southern" were located on the tender, and were painted in Sunshine Yellow.

Early livery included the temporary retention of the Southern number, and remained black, although in certain cases "British Railways" was applied to the tender in place of "Southern", in Sunshine Yellow.

'Southern' remained on the tender, though the number transfer was moved to the cabside, both in 'Sunshine Yellow' lettering.

This livery was continued under Bulleid despite his experimentation with Malachite Green, though the 'Southern' lettering on the tender was changed to the 'Sunshine Yellow' style.

However, despite Bulleid's experimentation with Malachite Green livery on express passenger locomotive, the Maunsell livery was continued with the S11s, though the 'Southern' lettering on the tender was changed to the 'Sunshine Yellow' style.

Later adaptations of the Southern Railway livery following Bulleid's arrival as Chief Mechanical Engineer entailed Malachite Green livery, again with "Sunshine Yellow" picking out the numbers and "Southern" on the tender (during the Second World War the locomotives were painted black with yellow lettering and numbers. )

After nationalisation, the original Southern livery was in continued use, although with "British Railways" on the tender in Sunshine Yellow.

Exterior colors were limited to Alpine White, Firecracker Red, Sunshine Yellow, Quick Silver Metallic, or a special version in Classic Black that included gold body side stripes that continued up and over the roof band, as well as gold paint accents for the slot-styled wheels.