Holiday Colors for WLED: Hex Codes, Effects and Presets for Every Holiday
Exact hex and RGB values that look right on LED strips, plus WLED effects and paste-able preset JSON for Thanksgiving, Advent, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year, Holi, July 4th, Pride and more.
Written by Jamie Conde, who builds WLED Max at MeowScript. WLED Max is an independent app and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the official WLED project.
Search for a holiday’s colors and you get hex codes made for screens. Type those into WLED and a lot of them look wrong: orange turns yellow, navy turns into a dim purple, pastels come out almost white. This page has, for each holiday, the colors as people usually publish them, the values I’d actually type into WLED, an effect or two that suits it, and preset JSON you can paste.
Christmas and Diwali have their own page with segment recipes: WLED Christmas and Diwali patterns. Halloween does too: WLED Halloween effects.
Holidays on this page: Thanksgiving · Advent · Hanukkah · Lucia · Kwanzaa · Diwali · Lunar New Year · Valentine’s Day · St. Patrick’s Day · Easter · Ramadan and Eid · Holi · Fourth of July · Canada Day · Pride · Team colors
How to use the colors and presets
Why the LED values differ. LED strips have very strong red, green and blue and no real way to make dark or muted colors. In practice:
- Oranges need more red than you’d think. FF5000 reads as orange, FFA500 reads as yellow.
- Dark colors (navy, maroon, forest green) just look dim. Use the bright version of the hue and lower the brightness.
- Pastels wash out to white. Keep them saturated and dim the light a bit, or on RGBW strips add some of the white channel.
- Black is “off” and brown is a dim orange. Use dark gaps between colored LEDs instead of black.
Where the colors go. WLED has three color slots per segment. Most patterns here use Solid Pattern (effect 83: Speed + 1 LEDs of color 1, then Intensity + 1 LEDs of color 2) or Solid Pattern Tri (effect 84: three colors in equal blocks, block size from the Size slider, 0 to 31 is one LED each). Patterns with more colors or dark gaps use stacked segments, explained in the 2 red 1 white guide.
Pasting a preset. In the web UI open Presets, tap + Preset, untick Use current state, paste the JSON into the API command box, name it and save. Presets with only "id":0 change the first segment and work on any strip length. Presets that list start and stop are written for the LED count mentioned next to them, so change those numbers for your strip.
Running it on the right days. WLED timers can be limited to a date range, so the holiday look starts at sunset and stops at bedtime only on those days. On WLED 16 every timer has a date range; on 0.14 and 0.15 only the 8 regular timers do. Steps in turn WLED on at sunset.
Thanksgiving
Thursday, November 26, 2026. Harvest colors: pumpkin, gold and cranberry, with warm white.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Pumpkin | FF7518 | FF5000 (255, 80, 0) |
| Harvest gold | DAA520 | FFB400 (255, 180, 0) |
| Cranberry | 9F000F | B40000 (180, 0, 0) |
| Warm white | FFB45A (255, 180, 90) |
Effects: Candle Multi (102) in warm white looks like a table full of candles. Colortwinkles (74) with the Autumn palette (39) gives a slow mix of rust, gold and amber.
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":84,"ix":64,"pal":0,"col":[[255,80,0],[255,180,0],[180,0,0]]}]}That’s Solid Pattern Tri with pumpkin, gold and cranberry, three LEDs each.
Advent
The first Sunday of Advent is November 29, 2026, then December 6, 13 and 20. Four candles, one more lit each Sunday. Traditional colors are purple with a pink candle on the third Sunday. In Germany and much of Europe the Advent wreath usually has red candles or white ones.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Advent purple | 6A0DAD | 7800FF (120, 0, 255) |
| Rose (third Sunday) | FF66CC | FF2080 (255, 32, 128) |
| Candle red | C8102E | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| Candle flame | FF7814 (255, 120, 20) |
The wreath idea: split the strip into four equal segments and give each Sunday its own preset that lights one more of them with the Candle effect. For a 120 LED strip, the second Sunday looks like this:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"start":0,"stop":30,"on":true,"fx":88,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,120,20],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":1,"start":30,"stop":60,"on":true,"fx":88,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,120,20],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":2,"start":60,"stop":90,"on":false},{"id":3,"start":90,"stop":120,"on":false}]}Copy it four times. For the first week set segment 1 to "on":false too, and for the third and fourth weeks give segments 2 and 3 the same "on":true, "fx":88, speed, intensity and col as segment 0. Then add one timer per preset with a one week date range (November 29 to December 5 for the first, and so on). Candle flickers each segment as one flame. Use Candle Multi (102) if every LED should flicker on its own.
Hanukkah
Evening of Friday, December 4, through Saturday, December 12, 2026. Blue and white, eight nights plus the shamash.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | 0038B8 | 0040FF (0, 64, 255) |
| White | FFFFFF | FFFFFF, or the white channel on RGBW |
| Silver | C0C0C0 | C8DCFF (200, 220, 255) at lower brightness |
Blue and white, two LEDs each:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":83,"sx":1,"ix":1,"pal":0,"col":[[0,64,255],[255,255,255],[0,0,0]]}]}A menorah that counts the nights. Split a 90 LED strip into eight candles of 10 LEDs and a shamash at the end (LEDs 80 to 90). Each night’s preset lights 10 more LEDs. Night 3:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"start":0,"stop":30,"on":true,"fx":102,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,150,40],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":1,"start":30,"stop":80,"on":false},{"id":2,"start":80,"stop":90,"on":true,"fx":102,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,150,40],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}For night N, change both 30s to 10 × N. Night 8 has no dark part left, so give segment 1 start 70, stop 80, "on":true and the same effect and color as segment 0. The candles light at nightfall, so on WLED 16 give each night a Sunset timer with a one day date range: December 4 runs night 1, December 11 runs night 8. On 0.14 and 0.15 use regular timers at about dusk, since there’s only one sunset slot.
Lucia
December 13, Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia. Candlelight, white dresses and a red sash.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Candlelight | FFB45A (255, 180, 90) | |
| White | FFFFFF | FFFFFF, or the white channel |
| Sash red | C8102E | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
Candle Multi in candlelight is the whole look. Many Swedish windows have a warm white candle bridge from Advent to Christmas anyway, and this matches it:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":102,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,180,90],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Kwanzaa
December 26 to January 1. Red, black and green, and a kinara with seven candles: three red, one black in the middle, three green.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Red | C8102E | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| Black | 000000 | dark gap (LEDs off) |
| Green | 008000 | 00C828 (0, 200, 40) |
The kinara as a repeating pattern: three red, one dark, three green. That’s a repeat of 7 and needs three stacked segments. For a 147 LED strip (21 repeats):
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"start":0,"stop":147,"grp":3,"spc":4,"fx":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":1,"start":3,"stop":147,"grp":1,"spc":6,"fx":0,"col":[[0,0,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":2,"start":4,"stop":147,"grp":3,"spc":4,"fx":0,"col":[[0,200,40],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Two repeats of the kinara pattern.
Set Stop to a multiple of 7 for your strip so the last repeat is complete.
Diwali
Sunday, November 8, 2026, with the festival running over five days around it. Warm diya gold and flame orange, with magenta and deep red for the bright, festive side.
| Color | WLED value |
|---|---|
| Diya gold | FFB400 (255, 180, 0) |
| Flame orange | FF8000 (255, 128, 0) |
| Deep red | B40000 (180, 0, 0) |
| Magenta | FF00C0 (255, 0, 192) |
| Green | 00FF00 (0, 255, 0) |
The diya pattern with dark gaps and the four color festive pattern, both with segment tables, are on the Christmas and Diwali page. For something quick, Candle Multi in diya gold:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":102,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,180,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Lunar New Year
Saturday, February 6, 2027. Red for luck and gold for wealth.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Lucky red | DE2910 | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| Gold | FFD700 | FFB400 (255, 180, 0) |
Red lanterns with a gold one every fourth LED (Solid Pattern, Speed 2, Intensity 0):
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":83,"sx":2,"ix":0,"pal":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[255,180,0],[0,0,0]]}]}For the evening itself, Fireworks Starburst (89) on its default Rainbow palette, or with the ”* Color 1” palette (2), color 1 red and color 2 black, for red bursts. Color 2 is the sky, so keep it black.
Valentine’s Day
February 14. Red and pink. Light pink (FFB6C1) is the color that suffers most on LEDs: it comes out as plain white. Use a strong pink and let brightness do the rest.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Red | FF0000 | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| Pink | FFC0CB | FF2060 (255, 32, 96) |
| Hot pink | FF69B4 | FF0080 (255, 0, 128) |
Breathe (2) fades between color 2 and color 1, so red and pink gives a slow heartbeat-like glow:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":2,"sx":60,"pal":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[255,32,96],[0,0,0]]}]}St. Patrick’s Day
March 17. Green above all, plus the white and orange of the Irish flag.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Shamrock green | 009A44 | 00FF30 (0, 255, 48) |
| Flag green | 169B62 | 00C850 (0, 200, 80) |
| White | FFFFFF | FFFFFF |
| Flag orange | FF883E | FF5A00 (255, 90, 0) |
Green, white and orange in flag order, two LEDs each:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":84,"ix":32,"pal":0,"col":[[0,200,80],[255,255,255],[255,90,0]]}]}Or all green twinkles: Colortwinkles (74) with the ”* Color 1” palette (2) and color 1 green.
Easter
Sunday, March 28, 2027. Pastels, which are hard on LED strips. Keep the hue strong, take some brightness off, and on RGBW strips mix in a little of the white channel.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Pastel pink | FFD1DC | FF6090 (255, 96, 144) |
| Lavender | E6E6FA | A060FF (160, 96, 255) |
| Mint | AAF0D1 | 40FF90 (64, 255, 144) |
| Pastel yellow | FDFD96 | FFE040 (255, 224, 64) |
| Sky blue | 87CEEB | 40A0FF (64, 160, 255) |
The Sherbet palette (27) runs through peach, pink, white and pale green, which is close to Easter on its own. Use it with Colortwinkles:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":74,"sx":128,"ix":128,"pal":27}]}Ramadan and Eid
Ramadan 2027 is expected to begin around February 8, Eid al-Fitr around March 9 or 10, and Eid al-Adha around May 16. The exact days depend on the moon sighting where you live. Lantern gold for the evenings of Ramadan, then green, gold and white for Eid.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Lantern gold | FFA000 (255, 160, 0) | |
| Green | 00C850 (0, 200, 80) | |
| White | FFFFFF | FFFFFF |
Ramadan lanterns (Candle Multi in lantern gold):
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":102,"sx":96,"ix":224,"pal":0,"col":[[255,160,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Eid in green and gold, three LEDs each:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":83,"sx":2,"ix":2,"pal":0,"col":[[0,200,80],[255,160,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Holi
Monday, March 22, 2027, with Holika Dahan the evening before. Holi is the festival of colors, so the brighter and more mixed, the better.
| Color | WLED value |
|---|---|
| Magenta | FF00C0 (255, 0, 192) |
| Yellow | FFE000 (255, 224, 0) |
| Green | 00FF40 (0, 255, 64) |
| Blue | 0050FF (0, 80, 255) |
| Orange | FF6000 (255, 96, 0) |
| Purple | 9000FF (144, 0, 255) |
Colortwinkles with the Party palette (6) and a high spawn speed throws color all over the strip:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":74,"sx":160,"ix":200,"pal":6}]}Popcorn (95) and Juggle (64) with the same palette are busier alternatives.
Fourth of July
July 4, and the same colors for Memorial Day (May 31, 2027). The flag’s red and blue are dark, so they need brightening for LEDs.
| Color | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Old Glory red | B22234 | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| White | FFFFFF | FFFFFF |
| Old Glory blue | 3C3B6E | 0020FF (0, 32, 255) |
Red, white and blue, three LEDs each:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":84,"ix":64,"pal":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[255,255,255],[0,32,255]]}]}Red, white and blue twinkles. The ”* Colors Only” palette (5) is built from the three color slots, and Colortwinkles fades them in and out on black:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":74,"sx":128,"ix":128,"pal":5,"col":[[255,0,0],[255,255,255],[0,32,255]]}]}For the fireworks hour, Fireworks Starburst (89) with color 2 black. On a 2D matrix, Fireworks (42) and Fireworks 1D (90) look like the real thing.
Canada Day
July 1. Red and white. The flag is red, white, red, which on a strip is the same thing as the 2 red, 1 white pattern:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":83,"sx":1,"ix":0,"pal":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[255,255,255],[0,0,0]]}]}The 2 red 1 white guide explains why Speed 1 and Intensity 0 give exactly that.
Pride
June. The six stripe rainbow flag:
| Stripe | Usual hex | WLED value |
|---|---|---|
| Red | E40303 | FF0000 (255, 0, 0) |
| Orange | FF8C00 | FF4000 (255, 64, 0) |
| Yellow | FFED00 | FFC000 (255, 192, 0) |
| Green | 008026 | 00FF00 (0, 255, 0) |
| Blue | 24408E | 0000FF (0, 0, 255) |
| Violet | 732982 | 8000FF (128, 0, 255) |
The quick version is the Rainbow effect (9), which runs a moving rainbow along the strip. For the flag as fixed stripes, use six stacked segments. With blocks of 5 LEDs (a repeat of 30) on a 150 LED strip:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"start":0,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[255,0,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":1,"start":5,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[255,64,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":2,"start":10,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[255,192,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":3,"start":15,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[0,255,0],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":4,"start":20,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[0,0,255],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]},{"id":5,"start":25,"stop":150,"grp":5,"spc":25,"fx":0,"col":[[128,0,255],[0,0,0],[0,0,0]]}]}The six stripes, one bulb per block here; each block is 5 LEDs in the JSON.
For the Progress flag, add white, light pink (FF6090 on LEDs), light blue (40A0FF), brown (a dim orange) and black (a dark gap) as more segments. An ESP8266 allows 16 segments and an ESP32 at least 20, so it fits.
Team colors
There’s no table here, because every team is different. Look up your team’s published hex codes, then fix them for LEDs:
- Navy becomes a bright blue (0020FF) and maroon a strong red (C00010). Both look dim and muddy if you type the screen values.
- Silver and gray become a cool white (C8DCFF) at lower brightness.
- Gold and yellow both work best around FFB400.
- Kelly green and forest green both become 00C828 or so.
Then pick the look. Two colors in blocks of five (Solid Pattern, Speed 4, Intensity 4) reads well from the street. For game time, Chase 2 (37) or Running (15) with the same two colors moves. Here’s navy and orange as an example:
{"on":true,"seg":[{"id":0,"fx":83,"sx":4,"ix":4,"pal":0,"col":[[0,32,255],[255,80,0],[0,0,0]]}]}Make a preset for the game, put it in a playlist with a twinkle in the same colors, and point a timer at it for game days only.
FAQ
Does WLED have holiday presets built in? No. WLED ships with effects and palettes, not holiday presets. The JSON on this page and on the Halloween page is meant to fill that gap.
What does “Enable custom Holidays list” in WLED do? It only changes the background image of the web interface on the dates you list in holidays.json. It doesn’t change your lights. For the lights, use timers with a date range.
Why does my orange look yellow? Screen orange (FFA500) has a lot of green, and LED green is very strong. Use FF5000 or FF6000.