I Eat Quizzes

Seasonal colour names every quizzer should know 🎨

Published: 5 September 2025 | Updated: 5 September 2025

What’s the trickiest colour name you’ve ever been asked in a quiz? Think of tawny leaves in autumn or periwinkle blooms in spring. These are the unusual shades that stick in your head once you’ve met them. Personally, I’ve always thought saffron sounds more like a spice than a colour, which makes it all the more fun to spot in quizzes.

This list pulls together the most quiz-worthy colours by season, plus a few rarer shades to sharpen your quiz game. Ready to see which ones you already know and which might catch you out next time?

🍂 Autumn Colours

• Tawny – warm brown-orange, like autumn leaves or a tawny owl.
• Russet – reddish-brown, chestnut-like, historically used in medieval dyes.
• Ochre – earthy golden-yellow, made from natural clay pigments.
• Umber – dark, earthy brown, originally from Umbria, Italy.
• Amber – golden-orange glow, like amber eyes in cats.
• Saffron – spice-inspired golden yellow, from the dried stigma of the crocus flower.
• Burgundy – deep wine red, named after the Burgundy region in France.
• Maroon – dark red-brown.
• Olive – muted green.
• Auburn – reddish hair tone.

Trickier Autumn Shades

• Fulvous – rich tawny-yellow with reddish-brown undertones, think fulvous whistling duck.
• Caput Mortuum – deep reddish-brown pigment, historically used in Renaissance painting.
• Gamboge – vibrant golden yellow, made from tree resin in Southeast Asia (Gamboge pigment history).
• Smaragdine – old-fashioned emerald green. Derived from the Latin smaragdus, meaning emerald.
• Glaucous – blue-grey, like frosted grapes.

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🌸 Spring Colours

• Periwinkle – blue-lilac bloom.
• Lilac – soft purple flower, like the lilac-breasted roller bird.
• Celadon – pale green with a hint of blue, often seen in traditional East Asian ceramics.
• Chartreuse – bright yellow-green, named after the French liqueur.
• Lavender – soft purple tone.
• Cornflower – clear sky-blue flower.

Trickier Spring Shades

• Coquelicot – bright poppy red, named from the French word for wild poppy.
• Isabelline – pale grey-beige, historically linked to Princess Isabella of Spain (Isabelline colour history).
• Xanadu – muted grey-green, named after the historic city of Shangdu (Xanadu).
• Amaranth – deep pink-red, from the amaranth flower known for its long-lasting blooms (Amaranth colour info).
• Mikado – rich golden yellow, inspired by the title for the Emperor of Japan.

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☀️ Summer Colours

• Magenta – deep pink-red, named after the Battle of Magenta in Italy.
• Fuchsia – vivid pink-purple, named after the fuchsia plant.
• Cerulean – sky blue, think cerulean warbler.
• Turquoise – jewel-like blue-green, think tropical fish.
• Flamingo – cheerful pink, like the bird.

Trickier Summer Shades

• Zaffre – deep cobalt blue pigment, originally derived from roasted cobalt ore (Zaffre pigment history).
• Smalt – old deep-blue pigment, made from ground cobalt glass (Smalt pigment info).
• Malachite – streaky gemstone green, think malachite sunbird (Malachite mineral info).
• Titian – red-golden hair tone, named after the Renaissance painter Titian known for rich red hues (Titian colour reference).
• Persian Blue – medium deep blue, traditionally used in Persian tiles and art (Persian Blue info).

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❄️ Winter Colours

• Onyx – jet black, think onyx beetle or a black panther.
• Indigo – dark blue-purple, historically a valuable dye from Indigofera plants.
• Sapphire – deep gemstone blue, think sapphire tanager bird.
• Amethyst – purple jewel tone.
• Emerald – rich green gemstone.
• Crimson – deep red, think crimson rosella bird.
• Aureate – golden.

Trickier Winter Shades

• Viridian – deep bluish-green, synthetic pigment introduced in the 19th century (Viridian pigment info).
• Ecru – light beige, from the French word for unbleached linen.
• Alabaster – stone white, named after the soft white mineral used in carvings (Alabaster mineral info).
• Bistre – brownish-grey, historically made from soot of burned wood (Bistre pigment history).
• Cinnabar – reddish mineral shade, derived from the mercury sulfide pigment (Cinnabar mineral info).

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