Eye Colour Explained

When we talk about eye colour it is actually the iris, a coloured ring around the pupil, which gives the eye it’s colour. The iris contains a pigment called melanin, which is a combination of black and yellow pigment. Varying amounts of these colours mix to give different eye colours, from palest blue to darkest brown. If you have a condition called albinism (albino) you will not have any melanin, so your eye will look pink as red blood vessels show through your clear iris.

You sometimes come across people with different coloured eyes, which could be caused by trauma while still in the womb, a genetic disorder, or simply that pigment was not transported correctly during the development of the eye.

Eye Colours

• Brown is the most dominant eye colour. Brown eyes have the most amount of pigment, and usually if you have brown eyes you will have brown or black hair.
• Hazel is the paler shade of brown, and will look different in different lights or apparently change against eye make up or clothing.
• Green is the rarest eye colour, usually found in German, Celtic or Slavic people.
• Blue is found in European people or those of European descent, such as Canadians, Australians or Americans. 8% of the world’s population have blue eyes.
• Grey is variation of blue, but is more dominant.