Chinese Colors

In traditional Chinese art and culture the black, red, blue-green, white and yellow are viewed as standard colors. These colors represent to the five elements of the chinese culture: the water, the fire, the wood, the metal and the earth.

Colors in Chinese


Yellow	Orange	Aquamarine	Blue	Navy blue	Dark brown	White
黄色	橙色	海蓝宝石	蓝色	海军蓝色	暗棕色	白色
Huáng sè	Chéng sè	Hǎi lánbǎoshí	Lán sè	Hǎijūn lán sè	Àn zōngsè	Bái sè


Light blue	Golden	Gray	Brown	Purple	Black	Silver
浅蓝色	金色	灰色	褐色	紫色	黑色	银色
Qiǎn lán sè	Jīn sè	Huī sè	Hé sè	Zǐ sè	Hēi sè	Yín sè


Red	Pink	Turquoise	Green	Light green	Violet	Sapphire
紅色	粉红色	绿松石色	绿色	浅绿色	紫罗兰色	蓝宝石色
Hóng sè	Fěnhóng sè	Lǜ sōngshí sè	Lǜ sè	Qiǎn lǜ sè	Zǐluólán sè	Lánbǎoshí sè

NOTES:

Orange color can be called either "Naranja" or "Anaranjado".

If you want to refer to a strong color, you can use the word “ 暗 ” before the color. For example:

Dark green — 暗绿色 (Àn lǜ sè)
Dark red — 暗红色 (Àn hóng sè)

If you want to refer to a color with a low shade, you must use the word " 浅 " (qiǎn), for example to say "light blue" or "sky blue" in Chinese language is: " 浅蓝色 " (Qiǎn lán sè).

There are few things you must remember whenever you use colors in Chinese. If you are not exactly sure about what color is the one you are describing, you can use the suffix "ish".

Usually, the name of the color comes after the noun it describes. For example:
- I have a purple bathing suit.
- 我有一個紫色的 游泳衣
- Wǒ yǒu yīgè zǐsè de yóuyǒng yī.
In the case of the color describes an inherent quality it comes before. For example: