diff --git a/__tests__/hooks/no-color.test.ts b/__tests__/hooks/no-color.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9f91c7114
--- /dev/null
+++ b/__tests__/hooks/no-color.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+// @vitest-environment node
+//
+// NO_COLOR=1 `failproofai policies` still emitted ANSI (issue #688): the
+// duplicate-scope warning in manager.ts hardcoded `\x1B[33m`, and there was
+// no --no-color flag at all. The listing itself already routes through
+// paint(), so the fix is three small things: the warning uses the shared
+// painter, the bin spells the env var as a flag, and these lock both.
+import { describe, it, expect, beforeEach, afterEach } from "vitest";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { resolve } from "node:path";
+import { applyNoColorFlag, colorsEnabled, paint } from "../../src/hooks/tui";
+
+describe("NO_COLOR support", () => {
+  const saved = process.env.NO_COLOR;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    delete process.env.NO_COLOR;
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    if (saved === undefined) delete process.env.NO_COLOR;
+    else process.env.NO_COLOR = saved;
+  });
+
+  it("colorsEnabled reports false for a TTY when NO_COLOR is set", () => {
+    const tty = { isTTY: true } as typeof process.stdout;
+    expect(colorsEnabled(tty)).toBe(true);
+    process.env.NO_COLOR = "1";
+    expect(colorsEnabled(tty)).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  it("the painter the warning now uses emits no ESC bytes under NO_COLOR", () => {
+    const text = "Warning: Failproof AI hooks are also installed at user (user).";
+    expect(paint(true).warn(text)).toContain("\x1B[");
+    process.env.NO_COLOR = "1";
+    expect(paint(!process.env.NO_COLOR).warn(text)).toBe(text);
+  });
+
+  it("--no-color sets NO_COLOR and strips the flag so subcommand parsers never see it", () => {
+    const args = ["policies", "--no-color"];
+    expect(applyNoColorFlag(args)).toBe(true);
+    expect(process.env.NO_COLOR).toBe("1");
+    expect(args).toEqual(["policies"]);
+  });
+
+  it("applyNoColorFlag is a no-op when the flag is absent", () => {
+    const args = ["policies", "--list"];
+    expect(applyNoColorFlag(args)).toBe(false);
+    expect(process.env.NO_COLOR).toBeUndefined();
+    expect(args).toEqual(["policies", "--list"]);
+  });
+
+  it("manager.ts holds no hardcoded ANSI escapes - the 16-site bug stays dead", () => {
+    const src = readFileSync(
+      resolve(__dirname, "..", "..", "src", "hooks", "manager.ts"),
+      "utf-8",
+    );
+    expect(src.match(/\\x1[Bb]\[|\\u001[bB]\[|\\033\[/)).toBeNull();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/bin/failproofai.mjs b/bin/failproofai.mjs
index 49cfc2e65..7a5f91bc4 100755
--- a/bin/failproofai.mjs
+++ b/bin/failproofai.mjs
@@ -34,6 +34,15 @@ if (!process.env.FAILPROOFAI_DIST_PATH) {
 
 const args = process.argv.slice(2);
 
+// --no-color: the flag spelling of NO_COLOR=1. Applied HERE, above SUBCOMMANDS
+// and every dispatch, because it works by setting the env var every painter
+// already gates on - and because stripping it now means no subcommand's own
+// flag parser ever has to know it exists.
+{
+  const { applyNoColorFlag } = await import("../src/hooks/tui");
+  applyNoColorFlag(args);
+}
+
 // ── one noun for policies ──────────────────────────────────────────────────
 // `policies`, `policy` and `pack` were three commands for one idea, two of them
 // a single letter apart and doing unrelated things. They are now three
@@ -497,6 +506,7 @@ async function runCli() {
       footer: [
         "failproofai <command> [options]     failproofai help <command> for detail",
         "docs.befailproof.ai   discord.befailproof.ai   -h this screen   -v version",
+        "--no-color for plain output (same as NO_COLOR=1)",
       ],
     });
     process.exit(0);
@@ -1942,6 +1952,7 @@ async function runCli() {
               ["--scope <scope>", "user, project or local. Default: user. --uninstall also takes all."],
               ["--beta", "Include beta policies. On --uninstall, only those."],
               ["--custom, -c <path>", "Custom policy file; repeat for several. Bare on --uninstall, clears every explicit path."],
+              ["--no-color", "Plain output, no colour. Same as NO_COLOR=1; works on every command."],
             ],
           },
           {
diff --git a/src/hooks/manager.ts b/src/hooks/manager.ts
index dd833e3e8..9f70319b8 100644
--- a/src/hooks/manager.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/manager.ts
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import { trackHookEvent } from "./hook-telemetry";
 import { getInstanceId, hashToId } from "../../lib/telemetry-id";
 import { CliError } from "../cli-error";
 import { hookLogWarn } from "./hook-logger";
+import { paint } from "./tui";
 import { customPoliciesDir, globalPolicyConfigFile } from "./fp-home";
 import { readActiveCloudManagedPolicies } from "./cloud-managed-policies";
 import { CORE_SOURCE, addPack, setPackPolicyEnabled } from "./pack-store";
@@ -795,7 +796,10 @@ async function installHooksImpl(
   if (duplicates.length > 0) {
     const scopeList = duplicates.map((s) => `${s} (${scopeLabel(s)})`).join(", ");
     console.log();
-    console.log(`\x1B[33mWarning: Failproof AI hooks are also installed at ${scopeList}.\x1B[0m`);
+    // Brand painter, NO_COLOR-gated like every other screen - the one place
+    // this warning used to hardcode the escape instead.
+    const { warn } = paint(!process.env.NO_COLOR);
+    console.log(warn(`Warning: Failproof AI hooks are also installed at ${scopeList}.`));
     console.log(`Having hooks in multiple scopes may cause duplicate policy evaluation.`);
     console.log(`Use \`failproofai policies --uninstall --scope ${duplicates[0]}\` to remove the other installation,`);
     console.log(`or \`failproofai policies\` to see all scopes.`);
diff --git a/src/hooks/tui.ts b/src/hooks/tui.ts
index bbe7fa103..c09d854ee 100644
--- a/src/hooks/tui.ts
+++ b/src/hooks/tui.ts
@@ -155,6 +155,25 @@ export function colorsEnabled(out: TTYOut): boolean {
   return !!out.isTTY && !process.env.NO_COLOR;
 }
 
+/**
+ * `--no-color`, the flag spelling of NO_COLOR=1 (https://no-color.org). Sets
+ * the env var - which every paint() call above already gates on - and strips
+ * the flag from argv so no subcommand's own flag parser ever sees it. Called
+ * ONCE by the bin, above SUBCOMMANDS and every dispatch. Returns whether the
+ * flag was present, for tests and for any caller that wants to know.
+ */
+export function applyNoColorFlag(args: string[]): boolean {
+  let found = false;
+  for (let i = args.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
+    if (args[i] === "--no-color") {
+      args.splice(i, 1);
+      found = true;
+    }
+  }
+  if (found) process.env.NO_COLOR = "1";
+  return found;
+}
+
 /**
  * The raw ANSI opening sequence for a brand role, for callers that assemble
  * their own strings instead of using `paint()`'s wrappers (`src/audit/cli.ts`).