Straw
A pale yellow shade named after dried stalks of grain
Straw is a light yellow colour that matches the look of dried grain stalks. Its name comes from the natural material, and it has been used to describe both objects and living things with this hue for centuries.
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- Named after the colour of dried grain stalks
- Used in English since the late 1500s
- Describes the appearance of some birds and bats
- Blood plasma can have a straw-like hue
What colour is Straw?
Straw is a gentle, pale yellow that closely resembles the colour of dried stalks left after harvesting grains like wheat or barley. It sits between yellow and greenish-yellow on the colour spectrum, but is softer and less intense than many other yellows. This colour is often used to describe the appearance of animals, plants, or objects that share this muted yellow shade.
Where does Straw come from?
The name 'straw' for this colour comes directly from the dry stems of cereal plants, which take on this light yellow shade after ripening. The Latin term 'stramineus' has been used in scientific and natural descriptions to mean the same thing. English speakers have referred to this colour as 'straw' since at least the late 16th century.
Where Straw is used
Straw is often used as a descriptive word in the names of animals whose fur, feathers, or wings match this pale yellow, such as the straw-headed bulbul or the straw-coloured fruit bat. It is also used to describe the shade of certain natural substances, like blood plasma, which can appear straw-coloured.
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 Straw
There are several animals and natural items described as straw-coloured, but the sources do not mention other named variants or shades closely related to straw. It is sometimes grouped with other pale yellows or greenish-yellows.
Colours that go with Straw
Harmonies are worked out from the value #E4D96F. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Straw
What colour is straw?
Straw is a light, pale yellow that looks like the dried stalks left after harvesting grains.
Where does the name 'straw' for this colour come from?
The name comes from the natural colour of straw, which is the dried stem of cereal plants.
How long has 'straw' been used as a colour name in English?
The word has been used to describe this colour in English since at least 1589.
What things are described as straw-coloured?
Some animals, such as certain birds and bats, and even blood plasma, are described as straw-coloured.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Straw (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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