\documentclass[12pt]{article} \usepackage{amssymb,amsmath,amscd,concmath,amsfonts} \usepackage{color} \pagestyle{empty} \begin{document} \begin{equation*} C(s) = \frac{k_d s^2 + k_p s + k_i}{s} = \frac{k_i}{s} \frac{s^2 + 2\zeta {\color{blue} a} s + a^2}{a^2} \end{equation*} \end{document}