Module 044 · Chromatic Intelligence
The Colour Index
Morocco's chromatic DNA — a Pantone book for a country
Every colour in Morocco has a chemistry and a biography. Marrakech is red because the Haouz plain is rich in iron oxide. Chefchaouen is blue because Sephardic Jews fleeing the Inquisition painted their exile the colour of heaven. Fes is green because Islam reserves it for the sacred.
This index maps 24 colours to their mineral source, their craft tradition, and their meaning. Each swatch is a specimen. Click to open the field notes.
Featured colours — click to explore. Full index below.
24
Colours indexed
6
Colour categories
1122CE
Year the ramparts were built
75%
World's phosphate reserves
200,000
Flowers for 1 kg saffron
40+
Shades of green in Fes zellige
1,166
Years of green roof tiles at Qarawiyyin
800K
Visitors/year to Majorelle Garden
الحمراء
Marrakech Terracotta
Pigment Source
Iron oxide (Fe₂O₃) in Haouz plain clay
Where It Appears
Medina ramparts, riad walls, kasbahs of the south
Cultural Meaning
"The Red City" — al-Hamra. The colour IS the city. Planning law requires all buildings in the medina to match this hue.
Chemistry
Rammed earth (pisé/tabia): clay + sand + straw + lime compacted in wooden frames. The iron oxide in Al Haouz plain clay gives the characteristic salmon-red. Same technique as the 12th-century Almoravid ramparts — 10 miles of wall, 200 towers, 20 gates.
The Badii Palace (1578) pisé contains 5.21% Fe₂O₃. At sunset, the walls shift from salmon to burnt copper. Strict municipal code preserves the hue — even modern concrete must be tinted to match.
أزرق شفشاون
Chefchaouen Blue
أخضر فاسي
Fes Emerald
أزرق ماجوريل
Majorelle Blue
Essaouira White
Rabat Blonde
زرقة
Zellige Cobalt
Zellige Saffron
تادلاكت
Tadelakt Rose
Thuya Amber
ذهب الصحراء
Sahara Gold
Atlas Cedar
Red Ochre of Ait Benhaddou
Phosphate White
أخضر مولاي
Moulay Green
حناء
Henna Copper
كحل
Kohl Black
نيلة
Indigo of the Tuareg
رمان
Pomegranate Yellow
زعفران
Saffron Amber
Cochineal Crimson
رأس الحانوت
Ras el Hanout Umber
أركان
Argan Gold
نعناع
Mint Viridian
Preserved Lemon
Reading Notes
The Geology of Identity
Moroccan cities are coloured by what lies beneath them. Marrakech is red because the Haouz plain is red. Fes tiles are earth-toned because the Saïss basin provides specific clays. Essaouira is white because the Atlantic coast is limestone. Before branding, before municipal codes, before Instagram — geology was the stylist.
Exile Paints Cities
Chefchaouen's blue came from Jewish refugees. Essaouira's Portuguese fortifications brought European whitewash. Fes's Andalusian quarter carries design patterns from Córdoba and Granada. Morocco's most famous colours arrived with people who were forced to leave somewhere else. The palette is a map of displacement.
Chemistry Before Chemistry
Tadelakt is saponification — soap-making inside a wall. Zellige glazing is controlled oxidation of metal compounds at precise temperatures. Indigo dyeing is a fermentation process. Moroccan artisans were practicing industrial chemistry centuries before the periodic table existed. They just called it craft.
Sources & Methodology
Hex values are editorial approximations sampled from documentary photography, architectural surveys, and material specimens — not Pantone-certified measurements.
Marrakech pisé composition: El Fgaier et al. (2018), "Characterization of rammed-earth materials from the XVIth century Badii Palace in Marrakech." Zellige chemistry: Zellige de Fès certification documentation. Tadelakt process: Traditional Moroccan Lime Plaster guide (Marrakeche.com). Chefchaouen history: Wikipedia, AFAR Magazine, Times of Israel. Saffron data: Taliouine PDO documentation. Indigo chemistry: Artisans of Morocco. Phosphate reserves: OCP Group annual reports.
Pantone references are nearest visual matches, not official Pantone colour assignments. "Majorelle Blue" is a registered trademark of the Majorelle Garden / Fondation Jardin Majorelle.
© Dancing with Lions · dancingwithlions.com · All data editorial estimates unless otherwise sourced. This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.