[int_19h]

I distinctly recall yellow pencils in the USSR. Not that it was the only color, but it was definitely a popular one.

Looking it up, apparently this has something to do with pencils being manufactured in early (1920s) USSR by an American entrepreneur:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armand_Hammer#Career

https://i.imgur.com/vpObXqU.jpg

Eventually the Soviet government bought the entire operation from him, and thenceforth it became this:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE...

And they probably just continued to use yellow, because why not?