Taking their inspiration from the Northern Lights, these color palettes showcase a magical spectrum of neons, pastels, and inky, icy hues.
Auroras, or polar lights, are a natural phenomenon occurring at the high-latitude regions of the world, around the Arctic and Antarctica. As solar winds disturb particles in the magnetosphere, charged protons and electrons enter the earth’s atmosphere and produce a spectrum of spectacular lights.
Different atoms in the atmosphere produce a variation of colored light effects, and dependent on altitude and the level of solar activity, it’s possible to see hugely different color shows depending on where you view them.
These 10 FREE color palettes take their inspiration from a variety of aurora hues—rare red auroras, ethereal blue, and green light displays. You’ll be sure to discover a magical palette to suit your next winter project, including airy pastels and vibrant neons.
Use your free color schemes to bring an atmospheric, wintery feel to a range of designs—greeting cards, December marketing campaigns, and so much more. The sky’s the limit!
Aurora: Nature’s Most Colorful Light Show
We might not all have the opportunity to witness the Northern Lights, but these magical color schemes can help transport your designs to polar glaciers or Nordic fjords in an instant.
Delicate pale pastels can bring frosty interest to print designs, while vibrant neons provide atmospheric impact for website designs and social posts.
Scroll down to discover electric color combinations that take their inspiration from Earth’s most spectacular light show, and learn a few fun facts about auroras along the way.
When you land on a color palette you love, simply right-click and save the image to your computer, or pin to a mood board to use in a project later.
Each color palette includes the HEX code swatches that allow you to use your color scheme for online designs. For print designs, you can convert these to CMYK swatches.
1. Blue Fjord
While most auroras feature green as their principle color (due to levels of oxygen in the atmosphere), sunlight sometimes hits the top of auroral rays, creating a faint blue color.
In this icy palette, pale azure blue is combined with blue gray to mimic this rare light display. The golden yellow houses of Greenland provide a sunny color accent.
2. Lime Light
The lime glow of after-dark fairgrounds and the mint green hues of the aurora inspire this teal-tinted palette.
Neon sea green is given more depth alongside bottle green and teal green, while acid lime brings a fresh energy to this all-green palette.
3. Nitrogen Pink
Pink auroras are much rarer than green displays, but when they do occur they’re utterly mesmerizing. The rosy hue is the result of solar storms, which allow solar particles to penetrate deeper into the earth’s atmosphere, where they in turn interact with nitrogen, creating a neon pink effect.
A rare pink aurora was witnessed in Norway in November 2022, and this palette pays tribute to that rare and special phenomenon, combining inky midnight blue, icy baby blue, pale pink, and neon magenta pink.
4. Polar Pastels
Ice cream hues shouldn’t be reserved for springtime alone. Breathe fresh air into wintertime designs with this pastel color scheme, inspired by the delicate green of daylight auroras.
Pastel blue and green combine with pale lemon and candy pink for a pretty, seasonal scheme.
5. Mink Mountain
While florescent pink auroras are rare, it is possible to see a pink tint to the lower part of the lights, caused by excited solar particles. The blush effect is magnified by rosy sunlight at dawn or dusk.
This chic winter color palette anchors pink’s saccharine nature with zinc gray and mossy mink gray.
6. Nordic Circle
Violet and neon aqua green are the accent colors in this aurora-inspired palette. The most commonly-seen hue in the Northern Lights spectacle, green is the most visible color to the human eye.
Set against a magical and mysterious violet purple backdrop, there’s nothing more awe-inspiring in the whole of the natural world.
7. Teal Glacier
Blue aspects to an aurora can sometimes be seen at the lower part of the display, where solar particles react with nitrogen. The reflection from icebergs and snow-swept glaciers magnifies the icy blue effect, which is softened in this palette by deep teal blue and pale powder pink.
8. Red Sky at Night
Red auroras are extremely rare, only occurring once every decade or so. The blood red glow is generated during periods of intense solar activity, during which solar particles interact with oxygen at much higher altitudes than normal, about 150 miles above the Earth.
Almost eerie and prophetic in appearance, red auroras are nonetheless still strikingly beautiful, and this palette combines the hues of this dramatic natural occurrence, with absinthe yellow, orange red, and vivid scarlet red.
9. Dawn Migration
As the rarely-seen winter sun rises over the Arctic, a coral glow lights up the tundra. With the dancing colors of the aurora faintly visible in the sky, this palette is a softer take on Arctic hues, featuring coral blue, periwinkle, dusty pink, and coral pink.
10. Husky Trail
Green and yellow are the most commonly seen colors in polar light displays, representing an energized interaction between solar particles and oxygen.
This verdant palette takes its inspiration from the green-hued auroras that appear above lower-altitude locations, such as Greenland and Iceland.
Deep dark purple combines with yellow green and neon lime green for an intriguing, moody color scheme.
License this cover image via contributor Ken Phung.
