What is in the "Color Palettes for Logos" collection?

Color Palettes for Logos is a curated collection of 24 historical color palettes from Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933). Combinations that hold at favicon scale and expand to full system.

Can I embed or share the "Color Palettes for Logos" collection?

Yes. Use the embed iframe (560×320) shown on the page for blogs, Notion pages, or design reviews. Each embedded palette links back to its full detail page. Share image (1200×630) auto-generated per collection. License: CC BY 4.0.

Where does the "Color Palettes for Logos" source material come from?

Source: Sanzo Wada, "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). The Wada catalog is in the public domain. Curation, descriptions, and groupings here are CC BY 4.0 licensed.

Collection · 24 palettes

Color Palettes for Logos

Q: How was the "Color Palettes for Logos" collection curated?

Editorial curation by colorcombinations.org. A logo palette has different requirements than a web palette or a print palette: it must work in one color, two colors, and full color; it must hold at 16px and at billboard scale; it must survive against white, black, and competing backgrounds. The Wada combinations that make the best logo palettes are the ones with extreme contrast — the deep kon indigo against off-white kinari, the saturated kurenai crimson against ink black, the complex three-tone combinations that read as a single recognizable shape at small sizes. Every palette here has been chosen for structural reliability: the kind of combination a logo designer reaches for on the day they need it to work. Palettes are grouped by thematic resonance — mood, era, or visual language — not algorithmic similarity.

Combinations that hold at favicon scale and expand to full system.

A logo palette has different requirements than a web palette or a print palette: it must work in one color, two colors, and full color; it must hold at 16px and at billboard scale; it must survive against white, black, and competing backgrounds. The Wada combinations that make the best logo palettes are the ones with extreme contrast — the deep kon indigo against off-white kinari, the saturated kurenai crimson against ink black, the complex three-tone combinations that read as a single recognizable shape at small sizes. Every palette here has been chosen for structural reliability: the kind of combination a logo designer reaches for on the day they need it to work.

Heian era

Crimson & Navy— 紅と紺

Deep safflower crimson against navy — the courtly contrast of Heian-era robes and formal Edo textiles.

Kamakura era

Red Lead & Ink— 鉛丹と墨

The dense orange-red of lead oxide pigment struck against ink black.

Kamakura era

Vermillion, Black, Gold— 朱・黒・金

The ceremonial triad of temple lacquerware — vermillion, lacquer black, gold leaf.

Kamakura era

Spring Green & Ink— 萌黄と墨

Young shoot green against sumi ink — the two extremes of the Japanese calligrapher's world.

Kamakura era

Ultramarine & Chalk White— 群青と胡粉

The deep ultramarine of Buddhist mineral pigment against temple chalk white.

Meiji era

Deep Indigo & Cream— 紺と生成

The darkest indigo against unbleached cream — the color of a Meiji schoolboy's uniform.

Muromachi era

Scorched Brown & Unbleached— 焦茶と生成

The dark brown of scorched wood against unbleached hemp — quiet materials.

Edo era

Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱

The faded blue of Shinsengumi jackets against shrine-gate vermillion — restrained power.

Heian era

Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀

Imperial purple set against lunar silver — Heian courtly luxury at its quietest.

Edo era

Bitter Orange & Navy— 橙と紺

The sharp orange of the daidai citrus set off by deep indigo navy.

Edo era

Madder Red & Evergreen— 茜と常磐

The rooted red of madder-dyed cotton set against enduring pine green.

Heian era

Lapis & Chalk— 瑠璃と胡粉

Lapis lazuli blue against oyster-shell white — the color of Buddhist scripture.

Muromachi era

Bellflower & Ink— 桔梗と墨

The deep violet of the bellflower set against ink — formal, discreet.

Edo era

Sky Blue & Vermillion— 空と朱

Clear sky blue against shrine-gate vermillion — a New Year morning.

Edo era

Indigo Blue & Silver— 縹と銀

Mid-grade indigo with the quiet sheen of silver — an understated Edo merchant robe.

Edo era

Crimson Lake & Pine— 臙脂と松葉

The deep lake crimson of cochineal against pine needle green — winter evergreen.

Edo era

Edo Purple & Mouse Grey— 江戸紫と鼠

The cool Edo purple worn by kabuki actors against mouse grey — theatrical understatement.

Showa era

Cossack Green & Vandar Poel's Blue

Plate 5 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cossack Green, Vandar Poel's Blue.

Showa era

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Plate 24 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Sepia, Veronia Purple.

Showa era

Madder Brown & Deep Indigo

Plate 28 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Madder Brown, Deep Indigo.

Showa era

Raw Sienna & Slate Color

Plate 33 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Raw Sienna, Slate Color.

Showa era

Brick Red & Red Violet

Plate 37 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Brick Red, Red Violet.

Showa era

Diamine Green & Deep Lyons Blue

Plate 38 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Diamine Green, Deep Lyons Blue.

Showa era

Orange & Black

Plate 46 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Orange, Black.

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From the archive

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues

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Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.

Library

Colour books worth owning

The theory and reference behind palettes like this — recommended on Amazon.

Kassia St. Clair

The Secret Lives of Color

Penguin, 2017.

Seventy-five individual colors, each with a short history. Reads like a cabinet of curiosities.

View on Amazon
Victoria Finlay

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Random House, 2004.

Investigative travelogue through dye sources — indigo farms, lapis mines, safflower fields. The journey of kurenai.

View on Amazon
Stella Paul

Chromaphilia

Phaidon, 2017.

240 artworks organized by color. A visual counterpart to Wada's dictionary.

View on Amazon

Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Color Palettes for Logos

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Crimson & Navy— 紅と紺

Red Lead & Ink— 鉛丹と墨

Vermillion, Black, Gold— 朱・黒・金

Spring Green & Ink— 萌黄と墨

Ultramarine & Chalk White— 群青と胡粉

Deep Indigo & Cream— 紺と生成

Scorched Brown & Unbleached— 焦茶と生成

Pale Blue & Vermillion— 浅葱と朱

Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀

Bitter Orange & Navy— 橙と紺

Madder Red & Evergreen— 茜と常磐

Lapis & Chalk— 瑠璃と胡粉

Bellflower & Ink— 桔梗と墨

Sky Blue & Vermillion— 空と朱

Indigo Blue & Silver— 縹と銀

Crimson Lake & Pine— 臙脂と松葉

Edo Purple & Mouse Grey— 江戸紫と鼠

Cossack Green & Vandar Poel's Blue

Sepia & Veronia Purple

Madder Brown & Deep Indigo

Raw Sienna & Slate Color

Brick Red & Red Violet

Diamine Green & Deep Lyons Blue

Orange & Black

Embed this collection

Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.

The Secret Lives of Color

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Chromaphilia

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