diff --git a/cogl/cogl-color-private.h b/cogl/cogl-color-private.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ce2bf76f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cogl/cogl-color-private.h
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Cogl
+ *
+ * An object oriented GL/GLES Abstraction/Utility Layer
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2010 Intel Corporation.
+ *
+ * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
+ * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
+ * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
+ * Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
+ * License along with this library. If not, see
+ * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ *
+ *
+ *
+ * Authors:
+ *   Robert Bragg <robert@linux.intel.com>
+ */
+
+#ifndef __COGL_COLOR_PRIVATE_PRIVATE_H
+#define __COGL_COLOR_PRIVATE_PRIVATE_H
+
+#include "cogl-color.h"
+
+#include <glib.h>
+
+void
+_cogl_color_get_rgba_4ubv (const CoglColor *color,
+                           guint8 *dest);
+
+#endif /* __COGL_COLOR_PRIVATE_PRIVATE_H */
+
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-color.c b/cogl/cogl-color.c
index 5051bf10e..e1120dd94 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-color.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-color.c
@@ -270,3 +270,10 @@ cogl_color_equal (gconstpointer v1, gconstpointer v2)
   return *c1 == *c2 ? TRUE : FALSE;
 }
 
+void
+_cogl_color_get_rgba_4ubv (const CoglColor *color,
+                           guint8 *dest)
+{
+  memcpy (dest, color, 4);
+}
+