I'll chime in here and cast my vote for...
No color distinction.
Leave the colors as they are. Why? It's simpler and using distinct colors has some issues, to wit...
- NANY will lose the continuity that is *presently* ensconced and immediately recognizable.
- For the viewers, there would be no rhyme or reason to it unless you had *all* the badges to "see" the spectrum.
- What sequence of colors would you start with? Do you start on the "red" side of the spectrum and go through to the "blue," or start with the "blue" side of the spectrum and go through to "red?" Random colors?
- How many colors could be reasonably used before you would have to start over. Sure, you can get 65,000,000+ colors out of 32-bit, but how many colors could reasonably be used in so small a space that could be easily distinguished? How many would show up with proper contrast? Maybe 8, I think.
- At some point the "text" will lose the contrast and will be hard to discern.
- Keep in mind a fair amount of the population have to deal with color-blindness.
On the positive side, the numerical distinction will be completely unique at least for about a century. Besides I think the colors are just fine.
Not trying to be rain on anyone's parade, but I needed to add an element to this discussion that was missing, IMO.
Calvin