Cream
A soft yellow-white named after the top layer of milk
Cream is a pale yellowish-white colour, named after the dairy product that forms on milk from cattle eating plants rich in yellow pigments. It is made by mixing yellow and white, and is known for its gentle, pastel quality. Cream has been used in art, clothing, and design since at least 1590.
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- Cream is the pastel shade of yellow, like pink is to red.
- Named after the dairy cream that forms on milk from grazing cattle.
- First recorded as a colour name in English in 1590.
- Used as a skin tone in some art and anime.
- Common in interior design as an off-white shade.
What colour is Cream?
Cream is a gentle, light colour that sits between white and yellow. It takes its name and appearance from the creamy layer that rises to the top of milk, especially when cows eat plants with yellow pigments. Cream is softer and warmer than plain white, and less bold than pure yellow. It is often described as a pastel version of yellow, similar to how pink relates to red.
Where does Cream come from?
The word 'cream' as a colour comes from the dairy product of the same name. This product forms when milk from cattle grazing on certain pastures separates, with the butterfat taking on a yellowish tint from plant pigments called carotenoids. The first known use of 'cream' to describe a colour in English dates back to 1590.
How Cream is defined
Cream as a colour can be created by mixing yellow and white. In nature, the creamy colour in milk comes from carotenoid pigments found in the butterfat of milk from cows that eat certain plants. In art and design, cream is usually made by blending white with a touch of yellow pigment.
Where Cream is used
Cream is often chosen for its soft, neutral look in interior design, where it is one of the popular off-white shades. In art, cream is sometimes used to represent skin tones, especially in anime and depictions of people from East and South East Asia. In clothing, cream or ivory tuxedo jackets are worn to stand out against white shirts. Several sports teams use cream as part of their official colours.
Yellow around the world
What the yellow family means from country to country.
The yellow disc of the Aboriginal flag is the sun, giver of life. The flag was designed by the Luritja artist Harold Thomas and first flown in Adelaide in 1971.
Sacred and holySource: Australian Aboriginal flagAt the gaye holud, held a day or two before a wedding, relatives rub turmeric paste on the bride and groom. Guests dress in yellow and orange.
Weddings and marriageFestival and celebrationJoySource: Gaye holudOn Pohela Falgun, the first day of spring, young women wear yellow and orange saris, a shade called basanti, with flowers in their hair.
Festival and celebrationNature and renewalJoySource: Pohela FalgunThe Flemish flag is a black lion on yellow, and the Walloon flag a red cockerel on yellow. The language communities are often shown by these colours.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of FlandersThe flag is yellow, the colour of the Sultan. By custom, ordinary people did not wear yellow in the ruler's presence.
Royalty and powerPrideSource: Flag of BruneiThe national football team plays in a yellow shirt with green trim, the canarinho. It was chosen in a newspaper contest after the 1950 World Cup final was lost in white.
Festival and celebrationPrideJoySource: Brazil national football teamShades and relatives of Cream
Cream is closely related to other pale, yellowish shades such as ivory and pastel yellow. It is sometimes confused with off-white or light beige. The specific tone of cream can vary depending on how much yellow or white is used in the mix.
Colours that go with Cream
Harmonies are worked out from the value #FFFDD0. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Cream
What colour is cream?
Cream is a pale, yellowish-white colour. It is softer than plain white and has a gentle warmth from its yellow tint.
Where does the name 'cream' come from?
The name comes from the dairy product cream, which forms on milk from cattle grazing on plants with yellow pigments. The colour reflects the yellowish tint of this cream.
How is cream made as a colour?
Cream can be made by mixing white with a small amount of yellow. In nature, it appears in milk from cows that eat carotenoid-rich plants.
Where is cream used?
Cream is used in art for skin tones, in clothing for tuxedo jackets, and widely in interior design as an off-white shade.
Good reading and sources
- Cream (colour) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Cream (colour)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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