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Primary Colours           Secondary Colours           Tertiary Colours

Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Colours

Colour

       is defined as "an attribute of things that results from the light they reflect, transmit, or emit in so far as this light causes a visual sensation that depends on its wavelengths" (The Free Dictionary, 2009).

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/colour

Primary Colours

These colours are the three colours that can not be created by mixing other colours. The colours are red, blue and yellow.
Primary colours can be combined to make secondary colours.

Image from:http://cemca.org/maldives/coloursmag.htm

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Secondary Colours

These colours consist of two primary colours mixed together. The three colours secondary colours are purple (also known as violet), green and orange.

• red + blue = purple
• red + yellow = orange
• yellow + blue = green

Image from:http://cemca.org/maldives/coloursmag.htm

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Tertiary Colours

These colours are made by mixing a primary colour with an adjacent secondary colour. When naming tertiary colours the primary and secondary colour names are joined by a dash (-) with the primary always being the first colour.

• yellow + orange = yellow-orange
• red + orange = red-orange
• red + purple (violet) = red-purple (red-violet)
• blue + purple (violet) = blue-purple (blue-violet)
• blue + green = blue-green
• yellow + green = yellow-green

Image from:http://www.offsight.co.uk/tutorials/graphics-design/colour/what-is-colour-theory/

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For more information on primary, secondary and tertiary colours visit the following links:

• http://www.sensationalcolor.com/color-theory/color-relationships-primary-secondary-tertiary-hues.html
• http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm