Colour news
FestivalsPhotos 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鈥檚 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 SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into ColourFestivalsPhotos 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鈥檚 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 SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into Colour
Rang

Dyes

Colour that dissolves and soaks into cloth, leather, hair and food.

FamilyRedOrangeYellowGreenTurquoiseBluePurplePinkBrownWhiteGreyBlackGold
KindBasic colourNamed shadePigmentDyeColour named from natureTraditional colourNational or team colourHeraldic colourStandard colourScreen colour
Made fromMineral or earthPlantAnimalSyntheticLight only (no pigment)
Yellow Turmeric A golden yellow dye and spice from the rhizome of a tropical plantColour named from nature 路 馃嚠馃嚦 India +5 Brown Aniline A colourless oil that darkens with air and launched the first synthetic dyesPigment 路 馃嚛馃嚜 Germany Blue Woad A blue dye once vital to Europe's textile trade, made from the leaves of a flowering plantDye 路 馃嚝馃嚪 France +3 Blue Indigo A deep blue dye from plants, now mostly made synthetically and known for colouring denimDye 路 馃嚠馃嚦 India +5 Blue Methylene blue A synthetic blue dye and medicine first made in 1876Dye Red Carmine A deep red pigment made from cochineal insects, once prized across continentsPigment 路 馃嚝馃嚪 France +2 Red Rubia A group of plants whose roots once dyed cloth and paint a lasting redColour named from nature 路 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt +5 Yellow Tartrazine A synthetic lemon yellow dye widely used in food, cosmetics and medicinesDye #E32636 Alizarin A deep red dye first made from madder roots, later produced from coal tarDye 路 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey +1 Purple and violet Tyrian purple A reddish-purple dye once worth its weight in silver, made from sea snailsDye 路 馃嚤馃嚙 Lebanon +4 Black Carbon black A deep black pigment and filler made by burning carbon-rich materials with little airPigment Purple and violet Crystal violet A synthetic purple dye used in science, medicine, and industryDye Blue Haematoxylin A natural dye from logwood, best known for staining cell nuclei in histologyDye 路 馃嚨馃嚟 Philippines Green Malachite green A synthetic green dye once common for silk, now controversial in aquacultureDye 路 馃嚚馃嚦 China +3 Purple and violet Logwood A tree whose wood yields a dye once vital for textiles and scienceColour named from nature 路 馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico +3 Pink and magenta Basic fuchsine A magenta dye used in biology and textile staining since the 19th centuryPigment Orange Annatto A yellow-orange dye and flavour from the seeds of the achiote treeDye 路 馃嚥馃嚱 Mexico +5 #E0B0FF Mauve A pale purple named after the mallow flower and once a fashion sensationNamed shade 路 馃嚝馃嚪 France Black Bone char A deep black pigment and filter made by charring animal bonesPigment Purple and violet Mauveine A purple dye first made by accident in 1856, launching the synthetic dye industryDye Red Henna丨賽賳賻賾丕亍 A reddish dye from the henna plant, used for body art and hair since ancient timesColour named from nature 路 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt +5 Brown Catechu A brown plant extract used as a dye, tannin, and preservativeColour named from nature 路 馃嚡馃嚨 Japan +2 #E49B0F Gamboge A strong yellow pigment tapped from Southeast Asian treesPigment 路 馃嚢馃嚟 Cambodia +5 Red Kermes A deep red dye made from Mediterranean scale insects, once prized for scarlet clothDye 路 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt +5 Red Kumkum A red powder made from turmeric and lime, used for forehead marks in IndiaDye 路 馃嚠馃嚦 India Blue Tekhelet转职旨讻值诇侄转 A blue dye from sea snails, central to ancient Jewish ritual and traditionDye 路 馃嚠馃嚤 Israel +2 Red Brazilin A red dye from brazilwood and sappanwood, used in textiles and paints since the Middle AgesDye 路 馃嚙馃嚪 Brazil +4 Red Lac啶侧ぞ啶曕啶粪ぞ A red resin secreted by insects and used as dye, varnish and shellacColour named from nature 路 馃嚠馃嚦 India +5 #A91101 Turkey red A lasting bright red dye for cotton, made from madder root by a complex processNamed shade 路 馃嚬馃嚪 Turkey +4 White Titanium dioxide A brilliant white pigment made from titanium, used in paints, food and sunscreenPigment 路 馃嚚馃嚦 China +5 #E32600 Methyl orange An orange-red azo dye used as a pH indicator in chemistryDye Red Dragon's blood A deep red resin from several plants, used as pigment, dye and varnish since ancient timesColour named from nature 路 馃嚠馃嚦 India +3 Red Azo dye A large group of synthetic dyes with vivid reds, oranges, and yellowsDye #1C05B3 Trypan blue A synthetic blue azo dye used to stain dead cells in science and medicineDye Brown Juglone A plant compound that gives deep brown-orange colour to cloth, ink and foodPigment Yellow Strontium chromate A yellow pigment and corrosion inhibitor made from strontium and chromium compoundsPigment Red Polish cochinealczerwiec polski A crimson dye once vital to Poland, made from a native scale insectDye 路 馃嚨馃嚤 Poland +5 Black Cephalopod ink A dark liquid from sea creatures, once used in pens and now in Mediterranean and Japanese foodColour named from nature 路 馃嚡馃嚨 Japan +2 Red Armenian cochineal崭謤栅铡斩 寨铡謤沾斋謤 A crimson dye once prized across Armenia and the Middle East, made from a rare insectDye 路 馃嚘馃嚥 Armenia +4 Yellow Anthoxanthin A group of plant pigments ranging from white to yellow, used in foods and dyesPigment Brown Bryoria fremontii A dark brown lichen used for food, medicine, and dye by First Nations in North AmericaColour named from nature 路 馃嚪馃嚭 Russia Yellow Chrysothrix chlorina A yellow to yellow-green powdery lichen used as a dye in India and SwedenColour named from nature 路 馃嚫馃嚜 Sweden +5 Purple and violet Orcein A reddish dye made from lichens, changing colour with acidityDye 路 馃嚦馃嚧 Norway +4 #E32636 Alizarin crimson A deep red with blue undertones, once made from madder rootsNamed shade 路 馃嚜馃嚞 Egypt Red Alizarin Red S A synthetic red dye used to reveal calcium and minerals in scienceDye Red Cudbear A red dye once made from a lichen found on rocks in upland EuropeDye 路 馃嚦馃嚧 Norway +3 Yellow Chrysophenine A golden-yellow direct dye for textiles and biological stainsDye Red Pigment Red 3 A dark red azo pigment once common in oil paintsPigment
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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.