Colour news
Pigments and dyesArcheologists discover hidden tomb untouched for 600 years that's 'like a treasure chest'FestivalsShrichakra Rangoli: How ancient India turned geometry, mathematics and cosmic thought into a sacred art formFestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTomโ€™s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game SetPigments and dyesArcheologists discover hidden tomb untouched for 600 years that's 'like a treasure chest'FestivalsShrichakra Rangoli: How ancient India turned geometry, mathematics and cosmic thought into a sacred art formFestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTomโ€™s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game Set
Rang

Colour cities

174 cities and regions known for a colour: blue Jodhpur, pink Jaipur, red Marrakech, white Santorini. And 321 more places that gave a colour its name or its material.

ColourAllRedOrangeYellowGreenTurquoiseBluePurplePinkBrownWhiteGreyGold
๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The open-air gallery of RajasthanShekhawatiMerchant mansions in the towns of north Rajasthan are covered inside and out with painted murals.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Land of mirror work and white desertKutchEmbroidery, tie-dye and block print in deep red and indigo, set against the white salt of the Rann.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ The silk cityKanchipuramA temple town in Tamil Nadu whose heavy silk saris pair strong body colours with contrasting gold borders.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Red earth and a golden sphereAurovilleAn experimental township on red earth near Pondicherry, centred on the golden globe of the Matrimandir.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Akbar's red sandstone cityFatehpur SikriA Mughal capital built in one red stone in the 1570s and left by the court only a few years later.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Capital in red sandstoneDelhiFrom the Qutb Minar to the Red Fort to the government buildings, Delhi's monuments share one red stone.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Ikat weaving townPochampallyA weaving town in Telangana whose saris carry bold geometric ikat patterns with softly blurred edges.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ณ Toy town of KarnatakaChannapatnaA town between Bengaluru and Mysuru that turns soft wood into toys coated in glossy coloured lacquer.๐Ÿ‡ฑ๐Ÿ‡ฐ City of the Red MosqueColomboIn the crowded Pettah market a mosque striped and checked in red and white stands out on every side.๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡น Capital in white, red and goldThimphuBhutan's capital keeps its buildings in traditional white, dark red and gold, with painted woodwork.๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ต Brick red and prayer flagsKathmanduRed-brick temples with carved dark wood, white stupas hung with prayer flags, and marigolds at festival time.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ The white and red palaceLhasaThe Potala Palace rises in white and dark red above the city; gilded roofs and prayer flags surround it.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ The Forbidden CityBeijingRed walls and yellow glazed roofs mark the old imperial palace; the lanes around it are grey brick.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ณ The rainbow mountains of GansuZhangye DanxiaStriped hills of red, orange, yellow and pale green sandstone in the dry north-west of China.๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต City of vermilion gatesKyotoThousands of vermilion torii gates climb the hill behind Fushimi Inari shrine in Japan's old capital.๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ต Vermilion shrine and black inkNaraJapan's eighth-century capital, with a vermilion shrine in the forest and a long tradition of black ink.๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ผ Red lanterns on a gold-mining hillJiufenA hillside town in northern Taiwan where rows of red lanterns light steep stairways lined with teahouses.๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฒ Plain of brick templesBaganMore than two thousand red-brick temples and stupas are scattered over a dry plain beside the Irrawaddy.๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡พ The Red SquareMelakaThe old Dutch town hall, church and clock tower of this Malaysian port are all painted one terracotta red.๐Ÿ‡ฏ๐Ÿ‡ด The rose-red cityPetraTombs and temples cut straight into cliffs of red, pink and banded sandstone in southern Jordan.๐Ÿ‡น๐Ÿ‡ท Istanbul's painted old quarterBalatSteep cobbled lanes on the Golden Horn lined with narrow bay-windowed houses in red, yellow, blue and green.๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฆ The Red CityMarrakechWalls of red earth ring the old city, and building rules keep new streets in the same warm pink-red.๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ซ The painted royal courtTiรฉbรฉlรฉEarthen houses of the Kassena people, covered by women with geometric patterns in red, black and white.๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ญ Accra's old harbour quarterJamestownA red-and-white lighthouse, painted fishing canoes and street murals in the oldest part of Accra.๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡น Churches cut from red rockLalibelaEleven medieval churches carved downward into reddish volcanic rock, visited by pilgrims wrapped in white.๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ City of flowered patiosCรณrdobaWhite courtyards hung with blue pots of red geraniums, and a great mosque of red-and-white striped arches.๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ The red fortress of the AlhambraGranadaA palace-fortress of reddish earth walls on a hill, facing a white quarter and snowy mountains.๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น The striped housesCosta NovaA beach village near Aveiro whose wooden houses are painted in bold vertical stripes on white.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡น La Rossa, the red oneBolognaA city of red brick towers, terracotta roofs and miles of arcades in red, orange and ochre.๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Bergen's Hanseatic wharfBryggenA row of pointed wooden warehouses in red, ochre and white along the harbour of Bergen.๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ด Red cabins of LofotenReineA fishing village in the Lofoten islands where red cabins on stilts stand below sharp grey peaks.๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ช Source of Falu redFalunA Swedish mining town whose copper mine gave the dark red paint seen on wooden houses across the country.๐Ÿ‡ฎ๐Ÿ‡ธ Painted iron housesReykjavรญkIceland's capital of small houses clad in corrugated iron, painted in bright colours under a grey sky.๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง The painted harbour of MullTobermoryA curve of red, yellow, blue and pink buildings along the harbour of a small Scottish island town.๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ช Red roofs and pastel merchants' housesTallinnA walled medieval town on the Baltic with cone-roofed towers, red tiles and soft-coloured house fronts.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ The Golden City of red roofsPragueA sea of red tiled roofs, blackened stone towers and Baroque fronts in ochre, pink and green.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Painted tower above red roofsฤŒeskรฝ KrumlovA small Bohemian town in a river loop, with red roofs and a castle tower painted pink, green and yellow.๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ Red Rock CountrySedonaA small Arizona city ringed by towers and cliffs of red sandstone, with rules that keep buildings muted.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ฆ Jellybean RowSt. John'sWooden row houses in red, yellow, blue and green climb the hills above a foggy North Atlantic harbour.๐Ÿ‡ฒ๐Ÿ‡ฝ Cochineal red and green stoneOaxacaA city of green stone and painted walls in a region that gave the world a brilliant red dye from insects.๐Ÿ‡จ๐Ÿ‡ด The river of five coloursCaรฑo CristalesA clear river in Colombia whose bed turns bright red for a few months each year.๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡ช Rainbow MountainVinicuncaA ridge high in the Andes striped in red, yellow, green and lavender by layers of different minerals.๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Hill of Seven ColoursPurmamarcaAn adobe village in north-west Argentina at the foot of a hill striped in red, green, violet and yellow.๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ The Red CentreUluruA great sandstone rock in central Australia that glows orange and red at sunrise and sunset.๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Red cliffs, white sand, turquoise seaBroomeA pearling town in north-west Australia where rust-red earth meets white beach and bright turquoise water.๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ Melbourne's bathing boxesBrighton BeachA single row of small wooden beach huts, each painted in its own bold design, on the bay south of Melbourne.๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฟ Painted wooden houses on the hillsWellingtonNew Zealand's capital: timber houses in many colours stepped up steep green hills around a harbour.

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly palette

Every Monday: seven colours you may not know, what the world is wearing this week, and one idea about colour.