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Red ocher and yellow ocher (pronounced /'əʊk.ə/, from the Greek ὄχρος, yellow) are pigments made from naturally tinted clay. It has been used worldwide since prehistoric times. Chemically, it is hydrated iron (III) oxide.

Ochers are non-toxic, and can be used to make an oil paint that dries quickly and covers surfaces thoroughly. Many people believe that the best ocher comes from the area of Roussillon, France.

To manufacture ground ocher, ocher clay is first mined from the ground. It is then washed in order to separate sand from ocher, which can be done by hand. The remaining ocher is then dried in the sun and sometimes burned to enhance the natural color.

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Ocher was one of the first pigments to be used by human beings. Pieces of hematite, worn down as though they had been used as crayons, have been found at 300,000 year old Homo heidelbergensis sites in France and Czechoslovakia. Neandertal burial sites sometimes include ocher as a grave good. The oldest evidence of mining activity, at the "Lion Cave" in Swaziland, is a 43,000 year old ocher mine. In Germanic rune lore, red ocher was often used in place of blood to redden, or tint, the runes and thereby instilling the spirit of life into the rune, enabling it to be used for magical purposes.

The clay used to produce red ocher is thought to be the "red earth" from which God created Adam in the Book of Genesis. In fact, the etymology of the name "Adam" is ancient Hebrew for "man of red earth."^{[citation needed]} Red ocher can be found in great quantities in the mountains rimming the river basin where archeologists place the biblical Garden of Eden^{[citation needed]}, now in modern day Iraq^{[citation needed]}. For the early writers of the Christian Bible, one can imagine the vibrant red color of this natural clay evoking the color of human blood^{[citation needed]}.

Ocher was commonly used as a pigment by many native peoples. In Newfoundland its use is most often associated with the Beothuk whereby they were referred to as the Red Indians by the first Europeans to Newfoundland. It was also used by the Maritime Archaic as evidenced by its discovery in the graves of over 100 individuals during an archeological excavation at Port au Choix.

Ocher was a popular coloring in France during the time of the French Empire, and many French citizens living in foreign colonies would import a great deal of ocher clay from France to make their new lands feel like home. As a result, after the period of French colonization ended ocher became associated with repression and fell out of favor. With the advent of synthetic dyes, ocher mining nearly stopped altogether. Recently, however, natural ocher paint has seen something of a comeback as an upscale house paint option.

In ancient Egypt red Ochre was used as a rouge, or lip gloss for women.

Exterior view of the John Quinton Limited Fish Store, Red Cliff, Bonavista Bay, Newfoundland, painted with traditional seal oil red ocher paint.

In Newfoundland, red ocher was the pigment of choice for use in vernacular outbuildings and work buildings associated with the cod fishery. Deposits of ocher are found throughout Newfoundland, notably near Fortune Harbor and at Ocher Pit Cove. While earliest settlers may have used locally collected ocher, people were later able to purchase pre-ground ocher through local merchants, largely imported from England.

The dry ingredient, ocher, was mixed with some type of liquid raw material to create a rough paint. The liquid material was usually seal oil or cod liver oil in Newfoundland and Labrador, while Scandinavian recipes sometimes called for linseed oil. Red ocher paint was sometimes prepared months in advance and allowed to sit, and the smell of ocher paint being prepared is still remembered by many today.

Variations in local recipes, shades of ore, and type of oil used resulted in regional variations in color. Because of this, it is difficult to pinpoint an exact shade or hue or red that would be considered the traditional “fishing stage red.” Oral tradition in the Bonavista Bay area maintains that seal oil would give a purer red color, while cod liver oil would give a “foxy” color, browner in hue.

Main article: Heraldry

Red ocher makes an innovative appearance in heraldry in the new national arms of South Africa.

• clay earth pigment
• Goethite, or brown ochre
• Iron(III) oxide
• List of colors

• Red Ocher and Yellow ocher, from Pigments through the ages.
• A recipe for red ocher paint from Finland.
• A recipe for red ocher paint using seal oil, from Newfoundland.
• Fuller, Carl; Natural Colored Iron Oxide Pigments, pp. 281-6. In: Pigment Handbook, 2nd Edition. Lewis, P. (ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1988.
• Thomas, Anne Wall. Colors From the Earth, New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1980.