82 Types of Victorian Colors

John Spacey, January 24, 2020

Victorian colors are colors that were used in Britain, Commonwealth countries and the United States in the Victorian era of 1837 to 1901. This includes colors used in fashion, interiors, exteriors and art supplies. The Victorian era was an eventful time for color as the first synthetic dyes emerged in 1856. This resulted in a broad range of colors for paint and fabrics. The Victorians rarely painted interior walls as this was the age of peak wallpaper with unbelievably complex, ornate and colorful designs. Wallpaper of this age often used poisonous pigments such as Arsenic. As such, poisoning due to touching or licking wallpaper was a well known problem. The Victorians were so into color that they were literally willing to make health sacrifices for it. The following were common Victorian colors.

Prussian Blue
#003366

Bottle Green
#006a4e

Peacock Green
#006a50

Cadmium Green
#006b3c

Cerulean Blue
#007bbb

Azure
#007fff

Victorian Greenhouse
#00b191

Cobalt
#030aa7

Turquoise
#06c2ac

Victorian Peacock
#104a65

Dark Slate Blue
#214761

Brunswick
#236649

Bayberry
#255958

Emerald
#319177

Chocolate
#411900

Federal Blue
#43628b

Scheele's Green
#478800

Olympic Pine
#486358

Mahogany
#4a0100

Paris Green
#50c87c

Slate
#516572

Sea Green
#53fca1

Brown Stone
#593c39

Moss Green
#638b27

Olive Drab
#6f7632

Drab Green
#749551

Walden Blue
#789bb6

Cadmium Violet
#7f3e98

Maroon
#800000

Victorian Pewter
#828388

Light Ultramarine
#83ccd2

Sage
#87ae73

Crimson
#8c000f

Victorian Plum
#8e6278

Grant Drab
#8f8461

Mauve Taupe
#915f6d

Heliotrope
#ab98a9

Stone
#ada587

Victorian Valentine
#ae6aa1

Victorian Violet
#b079a7

Egyptian Brown
#b26530

Tapestry
#b37084

Chrome Red
#b4151c

Mars Red
#bc2731

Viridian Green
#bcd7d4

French Grey
#bfbdc1

Ruby
#ca0147

Terracotta
#cb6843

Yellow Stone
#cbbb92

Tan
#d1b26f

Victorian Rouge
#d28085

Gold
#d3af37

French Mauve
#d473d4

Victorian Cottage
#d4c5ca

Victoriana
#d6b2ad

Paris Pink
#da6d91

Mauve
#e0b0ff

Zinc White
#e2e5de

Cadmium Red
#e30022

Alizarin Crimson
#e32636

Rose Madder
#e33636

Indian Yellow
#e3a857

Straw
#e4d96f

Manganese Red
#e52b50

Cadmium Orange
#ed872d

Titanium Yellow
#eee600

Victorian Lace
#efe1cd

Buff
#f0dc82

Cream
#f0e9d6

Lead White
#f4f5f0

Rose
#fc8aaa

Camisole
#fcd9c7

Aureolin
#fdee00

Canary
#fdff63

Whitewash
#fefffc

Salmon
#ff8c69

Marigold
#ff8d00

Tangerine
#ff9300

Peach
#ffb07c

Chrome Yellow
#ffc300

Cadmium Yellow
#fff600

Lemon
#fff700

Notes

Unbelievably, Egyptian Brown pigment was made with white pitch, myrrh and the ground-up remains of Ancient Egyptian mummies. Beginning around 1900, people started to boycott this color as its production involved destroying antiquities. It was sold until at least 1915 in Britain. This color is also known as Mummy Brown.

Fashions, particular ball gowns, where also made with poisonous pigments in the Victorian era.

Indian yellow was originally produced with the urine of cows fed a diet of mango leaves. This was a cruel process that caused malnutrition in the animals that was banned in 1908. This lead to the development of synthetic equivalents made with nickel azo, hansa yellow, and burnt orange.

Victorian architecture was a series of revival styles that were loosely based on classical and medieval European architecture. As such, they often used colors that simulated the look of stone.

Many of the colors above were sourced from paint samples and advertisements produced in the 1890s and may differ from modern interpretations of the same color name.

In addition to poisonous pigments, 19th century paints included other hazardous materials such as asbestos.