Urobilin
The yellow pigment that gives urine its colour
No single value: Urobilin is a material, and its colour varies. The background shows its family, yellow.
Urobilin is a yellow chemical compound responsible for the typical colour of urine. It forms when the body breaks down heme, a part of red blood cells, and is used in medical tests to monitor urinary health.
- Urobilin gives urine its yellow colour
- It is made when the body breaks down heme
- Doctors use urobilin levels to check urinary health
- Urobilin is also called urochrome
What colour is Urobilin?
Urobilin is a yellow pigment found in urine. It is what gives urine its usual yellow shade, which can range from pale to dark depending on how much water is present. This compound stands out from other yellow pigments because it is made inside the body as a normal part of breaking down old red blood cells.
Where does Urobilin come from?
The name urobilin comes from its role in urine ('uro') and its chemical structure ('-bilin'). It is also called urochrome. Urobilin is produced when the body breaks down heme, a component of haemoglobin in red blood cells, through a series of steps involving other compounds like biliverdin and bilirubin.
How is Urobilin made?
Urobilin is made in the body from heme, which is first converted to biliverdin, then to bilirubin. Bilirubin is processed in the liver and excreted in bile. In the large intestine, microbes turn bilirubin into urobilinogen. Some of this is absorbed and, when exposed to air, becomes urobilin, giving urine its yellow colour.
Where Urobilin is used
Urobilin is not used as a pigment in art or industry, but its presence and amount in urine are important in medicine. Urine tests often measure urobilin to check how well the kidneys and liver are working. The colour of urine, from pale to dark yellow, depends on the concentration of urobilin.
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 Urobilin
Urobilin is related to other pigments from heme breakdown, such as urobilinogen (which is colourless) and stercobilin (which gives faeces their brown colour). Dark urine can also be caused by other chemicals or medical conditions, not just by changes in urobilin.
Questions people ask about Urobilin
What colour is urobilin?
Urobilin is yellow. It is the main reason urine appears yellow in colour.
Where does the name urobilin come from?
The name comes from 'uro', meaning urine, and '-bilin', referring to its chemical structure.
How is urobilin made in the body?
Urobilin forms when the body breaks down heme from red blood cells, through steps involving biliverdin, bilirubin, and urobilinogen.
Why do doctors measure urobilin in urine?
Doctors check urobilin levels to monitor kidney and liver function, as changes can signal health problems.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Urobilin", 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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