Star Wars
What do the lightsaber colors represent in Star Wars? Red, blue, green, yellow…
We’ve all wanted to have a lightsaber, no matter what age we are. But with so many colors to choose from, how do we know which one is right? Well, they each have a meaning.
If you’ve ever seen or heard of Star Wars, then you know two things are certain: Imperial Stormtroopers have awful aim, and lightsabers are freaking cool. It’s ok, you want one, your kids want one, your parents want one… There’s something that everyone loves about a blazing sword made of energy that the Jedi and Sith wield to have epic space wizard fights in everything Star Wars related that keeps calling fans back to them. So then you also know that there is quite a variety of colors.
As the canon of the universe has expanded, shrunk down, changed and adapted, so has the lore behind the legendary weapons of force users. There once was a time where we had all kinds of light-based weapons, from broadswords to laser whips, to lances and pikes and of course, the humble lightsaber. But before that there where only two colors. Nowadays all of those are regarded as “Legends” content and no longer canon, instead now being substituted by what we know today from the movies and series after Disney bought the license: There’s many lightsaber colors, and they each represent some ideals and emotions that coincide with their users.
Where does a lightsaber’s color come from?
Lightsabers are weapons powered by a specific type of crystal called “Kyber crystals”. These are special gems found on very few planets (mostly Ilum), which have the special ability to resonate with the Force.Ancient Jedi found them and infused them with their powers, leading to them finding that the crystal technically chooses its user, calling to it in a specific frequency. The Force user must spend days in meditation with the Crystal to empower them, and should the ritual work, it can then be used to power a lightsaber.
During this process, the emotions of the user resonate with the crystal, and that in turn paints it a specific hue that dictates the color of the blade.
What are all the lightsaber colors, and what do they mean?
Right now, there’s some very specific colors that a lightsaber can be. There’s always the possibility of new colors being added, but as it stands in the official lore, the only colors possible (and what they represent) are the following:
- Blue - loyalty, stability, truth, justice
- Green - growth, safety, harmony
- Red - power, anger, hatred
- Purple - nobility and wisdom
- Yellow - goodness, warmth, energy
- Orange - creativity, ambition, resourcefulness
- White - purity, peace, positivity, neutrality
- Black - power, darkness, aggression, mystery - The Darksaber is a unique weapon and the only known lightsaber to have this color.
