Reseda green
A soft green named after the leaves of the reseda plant
No single value: Reseda green is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, green.
Reseda green is a gentle green shade named for the leaves of the reseda, or mignonette, plant. The plant itself is known for its fragrant flowers and was once used as a source of yellow dye, but the colour 'reseda green' refers to the natural tone of its foliage.
- Named after the reseda (mignonette) plant's leaves
- The plant is known for its fragrant flowers
- Reseda roots were once used for yellow dye, not green
What colour is Reseda green?
Reseda green is a soft, muted green that takes its name from the leaves of the reseda plant, also called mignonette. The plant's foliage is known for its gentle green tone, which stands apart from brighter or deeper greens. This colour is not derived from a dye, but is named for the natural appearance of the plant’s leaves.
Where does Reseda green come from?
The name 'reseda green' comes from the reseda plant, a fragrant herb native to Europe, southwest Asia and North Africa. The plant's leaves inspired the colour name, rather than any dye made from it. The connection is simply visual, as the plant was known for its foliage and sweet-scented flowers.
Green around the world
What the green family means from country to country.
A green kerchief is the sign of the campaign for legal abortion. Huge crowds wore it in 2018, and the movement was called the green wave.
Politics and protestHopeSource: Green scarfGreen and gold have been the official national colours since 1984 and are worn by national sports teams. They echo the leaves and flowers of the golden wattle.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: National colours of AustraliaA Test cricketer is given a dark green cap, the baggy green, on first playing for Australia. Many players wear the same faded cap for a whole career.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: Baggy greenThe green field of the flag stands for the land and its rice fields. Many people also read it as the youth and vigour of the country.
Nature and renewalPolitics and protestHopeSource: Flag of BangladeshThe flag is white, green and red. The green band, which took the place of the blue in the Russian flag, is read as the country's forests and farmland.
Politics and protestNature and renewalSource: Flag of BulgariaThe green field of the flag is commonly said to stand for the forests. It was first the colour of the House of Braganza, the family of the first emperor.
Politics and protestNature and renewalPrideSource: Flag of BrazilShades and relatives of Reseda green
Reseda green is sometimes called mignonette green. It is related to other natural greens named after plants, but is distinct from the yellow dye once made from reseda roots. The colour is not to be confused with the actual dyes or pigments derived from the plant.
Questions people ask about Reseda green
What colour is reseda green?
Reseda green is a soft, muted green shade that matches the natural colour of the reseda plant's leaves.
Where does the name reseda green come from?
The name comes from the reseda, or mignonette, plant. The colour refers to the tone of its foliage, not to any dye.
Is reseda green made from a dye?
No, reseda green is not a dye. It is a colour name inspired by the look of the plant's leaves. The plant's roots were used for yellow dye, not green.
Good reading and sources
- Reseda (plant) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Reseda (plant)", 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 green family
All of green
Green
Malachite
A banded green mineral and pigment once prized for art and decorationColour named from nature · 🇪🇬 Egypt +4
#808000
Olive
A dark yellowish green, like the colour of unripe olivesNamed shade
#50C878
Paris Green
A toxic emerald-green pigment once prized in art and used as an early insecticidePigment · 🇩🇪 Germany +4
#BFFF00
Lime
A sharp yellow-green named for the skin of the lime fruitNamed shade
#80FF00
Chartreuse
A bright yellow-green named after a French liqueurNamed shade
#43B3AE
Verdigris
A historic bluish-green pigment formed on copper and used in art since antiquityPigment · 🇬🇷 Greece +1
Green
Celadon青瓷
A jade-green ceramic glaze prized in East Asian pottery for centuriesNamed shade · 🇨🇳 China +4
Green
Scheele's green
A yellowish-green pigment once prized for its brilliance, now infamous for its toxicityPigment