What is more basic than learning the colors in any language? Not much! Picture having a conversation with someone in American Sign Language and trying to describe any common object without using a color. Or how about playing the game “I Spy” on a road trip without using any color to help your family members know what you have picked outside your car window? How boring life would be without the brilliance of color!

In this blog post, we will be teaching signs for all the colors of the rainbow and then some, so get ready for some colorful insight! Our hope is that you not only learn colors, but that you can also learn how to ask a question and answer appropriately in American Sign Language by the time you are done watching these example videos. Don’t forget to practice with a loved one or in front of a mirror.  That way you can catch any mistakes you may be making, and you can gain confidence in your expressive skills!

In each video below, you will learn a new sign and a correlating phrase in American Sign Language from one of the ASL WonderKids, with the help of a member from our team. Each video is clearly labeled so that you will know exactly what you’ll be learning. We decided to use the same repetitive question and answer format for each ASL practice phrase video in this series, so that you can really nail it by the end of this post!

Something to note when it comes to ASL and colors, is that there are specific signs for most of the basic colors but not for the more detailed ones. We will teach the colors: red, yellow, green, blue, pink, brown, orange, purple, black, grey, and white. We did not include signs for tan, gold, silver etc., but we plan to make another color post with more added in the future! When it comes to colors that are uncommon, you can sign the two colors that make up the more complicated hue, and/or fingerspell the actual color. For example, if your favorite color is turquoise, then you could choose to sign green and blue, then fingerspell t-u-r-q-u-o-i-s-e. This useful tidbit will help you make progress in the goal of mastering the beautiful expressive language known as ASL.

We’re excited that you will be able to learn these new signs and be able to express yourself in ASL! Colors are commonly used in our daily life, so we hope you and your loved ones can use ASL to tell each other what your favorite colors are, and point out the colors of objects around your home or surroundings! Remember ASL is a “use it or lose it” skill so practice makes perfect.