Basic colours
The handful of colour words every speaker knows: red, blue, green and the rest.
#FF0000
Red
A primary colour seen in light, pigment, and tradition worldwideBasic colour · 🇺🇸 United States +5
#000000
Black
The colour seen when no visible light is present or all light is absorbedBasic colour
#00FF00
Green
The colour between cyan and yellow, seen widely in plants and natureBasic colour · 🇮🇪 Ireland +1
#FFFF00
Yellow
A primary colour between green and orange, seen in sunlight, leaves, and pigmentsBasic colour · 🇫🇷 France +5
#0000FF
Blue
A primary colour seen in the sky and sea, used since ancient times in art and dyeBasic colour
#FFFFFF
White
The lightest colour, seen in snow, milk and chalk, and opposite to blackBasic colour
#808080
Grey
A neutral colour between black and white, seen in clouds, ash, and undyed woolBasic colour
#FF80C0
Pink
A light tint of red, named after the pink flower and used in art, fashion, and cultureBasic colour
#8000FF
Violet
A bluish-purple seen in both flowers and the light spectrumBasic colour
#800080
Purple
A cool colour between red and blue, long linked with royalty and rarityBasic colour · 🇱🇧 Lebanon +5
#00FFFF
Cyan
A blue-green colour found between blue and green on the spectrum and key in printingBasic colour
Black
Sable
The heraldic name for the colour blackHeraldic colour · 🇩🇪 Germany +3
Brown
Chestnut
A reddish-brown horse coat with no black hairs, seen in nearly all breedsNamed shade
Purple and violet
Purpure
A heraldic colour for purple, seen in coats of arms since early timesBasic colour
#00FFFF
Aqua
A bright blue-green used for screens and web designBasic colour
Blue
Blue
A colour long prized in art, faith and dress, from ancient Egypt to modern flagsBasic colour · 🇪🇬 Egypt +5
Red
Red红 / 紅 (hóng), Красный (Krasny)
A colour linked with luck, love, courage and ceremony in cultures worldwideBasic colour · 🇨🇳 China +5
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Aqua: Vyacheslav Argenberg, CC BY 4.0, source
- Violet: Gonzalo Devia, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- White: Steve Snodgrass, CC BY 2.0, source
- Purpure: Lobsterthermidor ( talk ) 13:24, 30 April 2017 (UTC), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sable: Mickey Bohnacker, Presse-Fotograf, Frankfurt/Main, Public domain, source
- Chestnut: Heather Moreton, CC BY 2.0, source
- Grey: John Fowler, CC BY 2.0, source
- Black: w:Harlan Kredit, Public domain, source
- Blue: Marie-Lan Nguyen, Public domain, source
- Red: Sander van der Wel, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Green: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Yellow: Mark Robinson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Cyan: Claude Monet, Public domain, source
- Purple: Diliff, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Blue: NOAA-JMA, CC BY 4.0, source
- Pink: Gabriela Ruellan, CC0, source
- Red: Politikaner, CC BY-SA 3.0, source