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 yearTom’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 yearTom’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

Next: 11 Feb 2027

Basant Panchami

Everything yellow, the colour of mustard fields in flower: clothes, rice, sweets and the kites of Punjab.

Mustard fields
Photo: Nitin Das, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of Basant Panchami

Basant Panchami welcomes spring in north India, when the mustard fields of Punjab and Haryana turn yellow. People answer the fields by wearing yellow, called basanti: saris, turbans, dupattas and children's school clothes. Rice is cooked sweet with saffron, and yellow sweets are offered. The day is also Saraswati Puja, for the goddess of learning. She is usually shown in white, but in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha her image is dressed with yellow flowers, and students place their books at her feet. In Punjab, on both sides of the border, the day was long kept with kite flying. At the shrine of Nizamuddin in Delhi, Sufi singers carry mustard flowers and wear yellow.

#F2C200Basanti yellowThe colour of mustard in flower, worn by all.
#F0A830Saffron riceSweet rice coloured with saffron.
#FAF8F0Saraswati whiteThe goddess of learning is shown in white.
#5F8F2FField greenMustard stalks under the flowers.

Values are fair approximations, not official shades.

Read about the colours

YellowThe colour of the day.SaffronSaffron-tinted food and cloth.WhiteSaraswati’s dress.
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Vasant Panchami" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

The weekly palette

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