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Discover the meanings & origins of the most bizarre and beautiful hues
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If you think color names like periwinkle or cornflower sound a bit silly or bizarre, just wait until you read our list of the 50 weirdest color names of all time! From puke to bastard-amber to Xanadu, we’re covering the rarest and strangest color names you may not have even heard of—yet.

1

Amaranth: A Mythical Reddish-Pink Shade

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5

Bastard-Amber: A Theatrical Golden Hue

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  1. Don’t worry, we’re not throwing around any nasty insults here! In theatrical lighting, a “bastard” color refers to a colored gel or plastic filter that mixes primary hues to make a new color. “Bastard-amber” was used in film or on stage to create a rich, golden-colored hue that added depth and warmth to the actors and scenery, similar to dawn or dusk. It’s a bit pinker than true amber, possibly due to a color-mixing error that looked flattering on some actors’ skin tones.[6]
    • Hex code: FFCB8C
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11

Eau-de-Nil: The Exotic Green of the Nile

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  1. French for “water of the Nile,” this light, grayish-green hue represents the color of the Nile River as it winds its way through the Egyptian desert. The color was particularly fashionable in the West in the early- and mid-20th century (perhaps due to the Egypt-mania inspired by King Tut’s tomb in 1922 by archaeologist Howard Carter).[12]
    • Hex code: A4B887
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13

Falu Red: A Coppery Nordic Shade

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  1. Imagine a barn in the US—you probably picture a somewhat bright, cheerful red. In Sweden and the surrounding Nordic countries, barns are Falu red, or a rusty-red color named after the Swedish town of Falun (formerly famous for its copper mines). Locals combined the byproducts of copper mining with linseed oil to produce Falu red paint, and the color took off as the go-to farm and barn color of the region.[14]
    • Hex code: 801818
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16

Flame of Burnt Brandy: A Fashionable Orange

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  1. This elegant and descriptive name refers to a mix of lavender, gray, pale yellow, and dark lilac, originally inspired by the yellows, oranges, and blues of flaming brandy. It was developed in the late 1800s as the dyeing industry became more sophisticated and designers were able to play with more colors. Flame of burnt brandy was one of these new and creatively named hues and was popular with dressmakers and consumers alike.[17]
    • Hex code: e25822
21

Heliotrope: A Sunny Shade of Purple

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  1. No, it’s not a science term you need to know for your next pop quiz. Heliotrope is actually a vibrant shade of light purple, sometimes described as a reddish-lavender. The color is found in a number of flowers in the genus Heliotropium which turn their leaves to face the sun. The name comes from the Greek god of the sun, Helios.[22]
    • Hex code: DF73FF
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22

Incarnadine: A Fleshy Pinkish-Red

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  1. As a color, incarnadine originally referred to a pinkish-red or “flesh” color (like freshly cut meat). However, it’s sometimes thought of as a blood-red color due to a passage from Shakespeare’s Macbeth in which he uses “incarnadine” as a verb to describe the blood of his hands dyeing the seas red:[23]
    • “Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
      Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
      The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
      Making the green one red.”
    • Hex code: 792F24
23

Isabella: A Royal Off-White

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  1. Isabella (sometimes called isabelline) describes an off-white, neutral, subtly yellowish-brown or grayish-yellow hue. Though the name sounds pretty, the (alleged) origin story of this color is a bit…unhygienic. Supposedly, the Spanish princess Isabella I of Castille refused to change her undergarments until the siege of Granada was complete during the Reconquista in the 1490s. The result was an off-white color, which grew to be quite popular and sophisticated.[24]
    • Hex code: F4F0EC
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25

Lusty Gallant: A Pale Red that Loves to Dance

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  1. Lusty gallant is a pale shade of red, similar to coral pink. The name originally referred to a popular dance in Tudor England and may have been given to dress colors to make them seem more exciting and enticing to potential buyers.[26] Some other bizarre color names created to lure customers around the same time include goose-turd green, pease-porridge tawny, and the-devil-in-the-head.
    • Hex code: FFCCCC
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28

Mikado: A Royal Yellow Shade

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  1. Mikado is a deep, bold yellow color and is also the Japanese word for “honorable gate” (a title for the Emperor of Japan). This yellow color was reserved for the Emperor and the elite class, enforceable by a 618 CE law restricting who could wear the color. To skirt around the rule, non-elites would wear dull colored garments lined with vibrant colors they could show off in secrecy.[29]
    • Hex code: FFC40C
29

Nattier: The Blue of the French Elite

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33

Puke: A Deep Brown-Black

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  1. We know what you’re thinking, and no, it’s not the color of that kind of puke. In the 16th century, “puke” was a high-end wool fabric used to make clothing, and the word eventually came to describe the color that fabric was dyed. Dyes were inconsistent back then, so it’s hard to pin down the exact shade—most sources claim it’s a dark color between russet and black or a very deep and dark purple (definitely not a color you want your puke to be).[35]
    • Hex code: 7A5901
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39

Smaragdine: A Vibrant Emerald Green Color

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  1. Smaragdine is a truly ancient word referring to a color similar to emerald green. Smaragd actually means “emerald” in Middle English, which probably came from the Greek smarágdinos, which probably came from the Sanskrit marakata (you get the idea—this color is old!). The name has been used in English since at least the 1300s.[41]
    • Hex code: 50C878
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41

Tyrian Purple: A Purple-Red Dye from Sea Snails

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  1. Tyrian purple is a vivid, purplish-red that was highly valued in ancient times because it was so difficult to make. The base of the color comes from the secretions of certain sea snails and was associated with royalty, especially in the Byzantine Empire (you may have heard of “royal purple” before). Despite its use by the wealthy and elite, the process of making this color from snail glands was dirty and stinky.[43]
    • Hex code: 66023C
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43

Verditer: The Green of Lady Liberty

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  1. Verditer (or verdigris) describes the green, rust-like discoloration that occurs on copper and brass (picture the modern-day Statue of Liberty). It comes from the French phrase verte de terre, or “green of the earth”, and has been used as a pigment since the 1500s.[45] The color is most often used when talking about the verditer flycatcher, a turquoise songbird native to the Himalayas.
    • Hex code: 6AC59C
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49

Xanadu: A Gray-Green Shade from Down Under

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  1. Xanadu is a cool grayish-green color named after a native Australian plant. Philodendron Xanadu is known for its big, shiny green leaves. It’s the only color name to start with the letter X, making it truly unique! However, you’ve probably heard the word “Xanadu” in other contexts. Sadly, the color is not related to the musical, the Olivia Newton-John movie, or the Mongolian city of Shangdu (also known as Xanadu).[51]
    • Hex code: 738678
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  1. https://www.wordgenius.com/unusual-color-names/Yrs2CwQMEAAGRb3v
  2. https://www.colormatters.com/color-and-the-body/drunk-tank-pink
  3. https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/02/13/eau-de-nil-light-green-color-egypt-obsessed-europe/
  4. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eburnean
  5. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/why-are-all-swedish-cottages-painted-red-180975914/
  6. https://paint-by-number.com/blogs/colors/fandango-color-meaning-and-history
  7. https://snargl.com/colors/feldgrau/
  8. https://underthemoonlight.ca/2020/04/19/weird-names-for-colour-examined/
  9. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fulvous
  10. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamboge
  11. https://www.wordgenius.com/unusual-color-names/Yrs2CwQMEAAGRb3v
  12. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/glaucous
  13. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/heliotrope
  14. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/incarnadine
  15. https://snargl.com/colors/isabelline/
  16. https://www.gemsociety.org/article/labradorite-jewelry-and-gemstone-information/
  17. https://www.wordgenius.com/unusual-color-names/Yrs2CwQMEAAGRb3v
  18. https://encyclopedia.design/2024/06/12/mazarine-blue-a-historical-overview/
  19. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/melichrous
  20. https://underthemoonlight.ca/2021/01/27/mikado-yellow-the-imperial-royal-colour-of-past-empires/
  21. https://ktcolor.com/en/colorshop/nattiers-blue/
  22. https://encycolorpedia.com/df00ff
  23. https://extension.umn.edu/flowers/tall-garden-phlox
  24. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/ponceau
  25. https://www.etymonline.com/word/puce
  26. https://editorialstage.wordgenius.com/8-colors-you-didnt-know-existed/
  27. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quercitron
  28. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rufous
  29. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sang+de+boeuf
  30. https://writing-games.com/rare-colors-list/
  31. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skobeloff+green
  32. https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/smaragdine-2022-12-29/
  33. https://www.wordnik.com/words/solferino
  34. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20180801-tyrian-purple-the-regal-colour-taken-from-mollusc-mucus
  35. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/vantablack
  36. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/verditer
  37. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vinaceous
  38. https://www.etymonline.com/word/viridian
  39. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/watchet
  40. https://snargl.com/colors/wenge/
  41. https://www.etymonline.com/search?type=all&q=wheaten
  42. https://artincontext.org/xanadu-color/
  43. https://dictionary.langeek.co/en/word/217293?entry=zaffre

About This Article

João Homem
Co-authored by:
Film & Media Industry Expert
This article was co-authored by João Homem and by wikiHow staff writer, Dan Hickey. João Homem is a Professional Colorist and Film & Media Industry Expert based in Vancouver, British Columbia. As the Co-Founder and Creative Director of Escuro Studios, a Canadian full-service production company, he oversees creative development and both pre- and post-production for diverse projects, including music videos, commercials, films, and TV series. He is also the CEO and founder of Cromatic Elements, an online asset store for filmmakers that supports emerging professionals by providing a platform to share high-quality tools, insights, and assets across multiple creative fields. Originally created to develop filmic assets for personal use, Cromatic has grown into a community-driven space where up-and-coming creatives can access resources designed by top industry professionals. João’s commitment to fostering a collaborative environment and offering accessible, authentic tools has positioned Cromatic as a valuable resource for filmmakers around the world. This article has been viewed 3,031 times.
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Co-authors: 5
Updated: September 15, 2025
Views: 3,031
Categories: Science
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