Crayola Crayon Colors

A Timeline

1903

Binney & Smith Co. introduces the first Crayola Crayons. There are 8 colors in a box:

1949

There are 40 colors added:

There are now 48 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1958

There are 16 colors added:

There are now 64 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons. For the first time, the big box comes with a built-in sharpener.

In response to educators' requests, “Prussian blue” is renamed “midnight blue.” Teachers felt that children were no longer familiar enough with Prussian history to recognize that this crayon color referred to the famous deep-blue uniforms of Prussian soldiers.

1962

Partly in response to the civil rights movement, Crayola decides to change the name of the “flesh” crayon to “peach.” Renaming this crayon was a way of recognizing that skin comes in a variety of shades.

1972

There are 8 fluorescent colors added:

There are now 72 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1990

There are 16 colors added:

There are 8 colors retired:

There are now 80 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayola felt that the retired colors (and their names) were too dull to appeal to children today.

1993

There are 16 colors added:

There are now 96 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

Crayon lovers chose the 16 newest color names through Crayola's “Name the New Color Contest,” part of the company's 90th anniversary celebration.

1998

There are 24 colors added:

There are now 120 colors in the biggest box of Crayola Crayons.

1999

In response to educators' requests, “Indian red” is renamed “chestnut.” Contrary to popular belief, the original name of this color was not meant to represent the skin color of Native Americans. Instead, the name referred to a reddish pigment from India that was often used in oil paints.

The new name was the winner of a contest that attracted more than 250,000 entries. Other ideas for renaming the color included “crab claw red,” “mars red,” “baseball mitt,” “red clay,” and “old penny.”

2000

Thistle was removed and replaced by indigo; torch red was given a new name, scarlet.

A number of small “specialty sets” of Crayola Crayons are available. These include glitter crayons, pearl brite crayons, and techno-brite crayons.

2003

There are 4 colors added:

And 4 colors are retired:

To mark Crayola's 100th anniversary, crayon users named four new colors and voted out four other shades.