I wonder if there is a "unified" source for map color conventions, that GIS map builders are encouraged to follow?
EDIT
To clear up my question a bit. I'm more interested in the color with respect to the object it represents. For example, when you look at a map, and see "blue", the assumption could be water; however, it gets a bit shady when talking about let's say property maps: "is it pink or grey for industrial?". It'll be nice if there were such conventions whether loose or rigid about associating colors to map objects
Answer
I think the literal answer to your question is "not really" (aside from things like blue=water or blue/red=Dem/Rep). It depends on how/what other data is displayed on a map and the map's purpose whether, for example, county boundaries are a light color or dark color.
There are plenty of places where color choice is discussed. Some examples of books (I'm sure there's stuff online too): Designing Better Maps, Color Basics for GIS Users, Cartography (Dent), etc.
If you are wondering about a specific type of data, like land use or zoning, it might be good to further narrow down your question. Also, I've always found it helpful to look at other maps and see how they've handled the same sort of data. I see some of the ESRI Map Books are online... http://www.esri.com/mapmuseum/index.html
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