Cannon blade colours

[Tony89]

Hi everyone, I'm not great at knowing what is cannon and what isn't and was wondering if anyone knew or could point me in the direction of what colour bladed saber jedi and sith alike would use and why or is it just whatever colour they want? I know sith are always pictured with red light sabers but I have seen a picture or Darth Raven with a red and purple one, I don't know if that is cannon or not. Can anyone explain this to me please?

Thanks

[Lady Revan]

Hi everyone, I'm not great at knowing what is cannon and what isn't and was wondering if anyone knew or could point me in the direction of what colour bladed saber jedi and sith alike would use and why or is it just whatever colour they want? I know sith are always pictured with red light sabers but I have seen a picture or Darth Raven with a red and purple one, I don't know if that is cannon or not. Can anyone explain this to me please?

Thanks

Sith are canonically red. There are some exceptions (Revan being one of them) but most of those technically aren’t “canon” but EU. Off the top of my head, Revan and Lumiya (had a yellow lightwhip) and less significant Jedi seen/fought in the first KotOR game.

Jedi have a much wider variety of colors (pretty much anything other than red)

[Taegin Roan]

Minor spoilers for TCW if you still have not watched it yet (GET ON IT!!)

Within canon, we have seen red, yellow, green, blue, teal, silver, lime purple and black colored sabers. The reason Sith are always using Red (to the best of my knowledge) is because it is basically an initiation process where they bleed a crystal, imbuing it with the Dark Side and thus turning it Red. However, as we well know from the movies, Anakin Skywalker (fallen) used a blue lightsaber after turning to the Dark Side in Revenge of the Sith. We have also seen Obi-Wan using red lightsabers (that belonged to Asajj Ventress) when he did not have access to his own blue saber. Again, we have seen Bariss Offee using red sabers after she stole them from Asajj. So though the color does generally tell you whether or not a character is Jedi or Sith (or in the case of Rey and Kylo, neither), you must put into context why a saber is being used. In ROTS, Anakin/Vader had not had the chance to bleed a crystal before he fought Obi-Wan, and thus still was using a blue saber. In the case of Obi-Wan using Ventress' red saber, Darth Maul had taken his blue away from him, and he had no other way to defend himself.

[LSUJedi]

SO, when you say "canon" you are technically saying everything under the Disneyverse, aka The Skywalker Saga, including RO and Solo, TCW, Rebels, and the various novels, comics, etc that have come out under their banner. That gives you alot of colors to choose from still, but all this is to say that I think you should consider the Expanded Universe, or Legends, or whatever they're calling all of the countless publications that came out in between ROTJ and Disney's purchase of Lucasfilm, which were disregarded in terms of continuing the Star Wars story, mostly on the big screen, but nonetheless should serve as suitable inspiration in choosing your saber color. There are great, and arguably better, stories that include more practitioners of the force in the grey area (pun intended) between the Jedi and the Sith.

[Darth Tepes]

In Legends Sith used Synthetic Crystals they forged in furnaces channeling their hate into the formation which made them red.

Within Canon (IE After Disney took over) The Sith have to take a Kyber Crystal from a Jedi they have killed and bend it to their will (nicknamed bleeding) and once they do it takes on a red hue.  Revan is not canon (yet) but if  remember (Lady Revan can correct me if I'm wrong), his purple Saber was his saber from when he was a Jedi.  Basic rule as I see it.  If the character built the lightsaber after becoming Sith...it will most likely be Red.   Jedi of course seem to have the wider ranger of color...even Black.

[Saso Is-kor]

I'll echo what everyone has said and also point you towards Wookiepedia for assistance. Since they have a "Canon" and "Legends" tab for nearly all their entries it is a LOAD easier to find your way in the confusing mess that Disney has caused.

[Tony89]

Thank you all so much for your reply's and the wealth of knowledge you have shared it is very much appreciated.