Palomino
A golden-coated horse with a pale mane and tail, prized for its striking look
No single value: Palomino is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, yellow.
Palomino is a horse coat colour marked by a gold or yellow body and a pale, often white mane and tail. This colouring comes from a single cream gene acting on a chestnut base, and is especially recognised in the United States, where it is registered by colour rather than breed. Palomino horses have been popular in parades, shows, and films.
- Palomino horses have a gold body and a pale mane and tail
- The colour is created by the cream gene on a chestnut base
- Palomino is registered by colour, not breed, in the US
- Famous palominos include Trigger and Mister Ed
- Not all golden horses are genetically palomino
What colour is Palomino?
Palomino describes a horse with a yellow or gold coat and a mane and tail that are pale, usually white or cream. The shade of gold can range from light, almost cream, to a deep, rich gold. Some palominos may have a few darker hairs mixed into their mane or tail. This colour stands out clearly from similar horse colours because of the contrast between the golden body and the much lighter mane and tail.
Where does Palomino come from?
The word 'palomino' comes from Spanish, where it means a young pigeon, referring to the colour of those birds. The horse colour became established in the United States through the breeding of Spanish horses. The palomino colour is not linked to a single breed, but rather to a genetic combination involving the cream gene on a chestnut base.
How is Palomino made?
Palomino colouring results from a single copy of the cream dilution gene acting on a chestnut horse. This genetic setup is called incomplete dominance, which means that palominos do not always produce palomino offspring. Breeders often cross a chestnut with a cremello to achieve the palomino colour.
Where Palomino is used
Palomino horses are often chosen for parades and horse shows because their colour is eye-catching. They have also been popular in American film and television, especially in the mid-20th century. Famous palominos include Trigger, Roy Rogers' horse, and Mister Ed from the TV show.
Yellow around the world
What the yellow family means from country to country.
A yellow ribbon tied round a tree or pinned to a coat means someone is waiting for a loved one to come home. It spread during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979 to 1981.
Protection and healingLove and desireHopeSource: Yellow ribbonSchool buses across the country are painted one shade of yellow, agreed at a conference in 1939 because black lettering on it is easy to read in early morning light.
Protection and healingSource: School bus yellowThe 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 FlandersShades and relatives of Palomino
Other horse colours can look similar to palomino, such as chestnuts with flaxen manes, cremellos, and golden champagnes. Buckskins have a gold body but a black mane and tail, while duns have primitive markings. Some registries accept 'chocolate palomino', but this is usually a different genetic type.
Questions people ask about Palomino
What colour is a palomino horse?
A palomino horse has a yellow or gold body with a mane and tail that are white or light cream. The intensity of the gold can vary from pale to deep gold.
Where does the name 'palomino' come from?
The name comes from Spanish, where 'palomino' means a young pigeon, referring to the pale gold colour of those birds.
How is the palomino colour produced?
Palomino colouring is caused by a single cream gene acting on a chestnut base coat. This genetic combination results in the gold body and pale mane and tail.
Is palomino a horse breed?
No, palomino is a colour type, not a breed. Many breeds can have palomino individuals if they carry the right genes.
Are all golden horses palomino?
No, some horses with gold coats and light manes are not genetically palomino. Other genes and colour types can produce similar looks.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Palomino", 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.
More of the yellow family
All of yellow
Yellow
Turmeric
A golden yellow dye and spice from the rhizome of a tropical plantColour named from nature · 🇮🇳 India +5
Yellow
Orpiment
A golden-yellow mineral pigment once prized for its brilliant colour and rarityPigment · 🇪🇬 Egypt +5
#FFFDD0
Cream
A soft yellow-white named after the top layer of milkNamed shade
#E49B0F
Gamboge
A strong yellow pigment tapped from Southeast Asian treesPigment · 🇰🇭 Cambodia +5
#C2B280
Ecru
A pale, greyish yellow once named for unbleached linenNamed shade
#FADA5E
Naples yellow
A historic synthetic yellow pigment once prized by painters and pottersPigment · 🇪🇬 Egypt +1
#E3A857
Indian Yellow
A clear, glowing orange-yellow pigment once made in India from cow urinePigment · 🇮🇳 India
#FFA700
Chrome yellow
A bright yellow pigment made from lead chromate, once popular in art and industryPigment
More colours tied to the United States
The colours of the United States
#FF0000
Red
A primary colour seen in light, pigment, and tradition worldwideBasic colour · 🇺🇸 United States +5
#FFFF00
Yellow
A primary colour between green and orange, seen in sunlight, leaves, and pigmentsBasic colour · 🇫🇷 France +5
#800080
Purple
A cool colour between red and blue, long linked with royalty and rarityBasic colour · 🇱🇧 Lebanon +5
#6A5DFF
Indigo
A deep blue named for the dye once exported from IndiaNamed shade · 🇮🇳 India +5