The Maine Coon is a breed known for its striking coat colors and patterns. You may have read that there are over 75 Maine Coon colors – but this isn’t actually correct. However, there are over 100 official Maine Coon color and pattern combinations as evidenced in this PDF created by the CFA (Cat Fanciers’ Association.)
Maine Coons come in a wide range of colors and patterns. Solid-colored Maine Coons can be black, blue, red, cream or white. Maine Coons with two or more of these colors are classified as bi-colored, parti-colored, tabby, tortoiseshell, or calico depending on their pattern. You’ll also notice terms such as smoke, shaded, patched, and shell thrown into the mix – it really is a minefield.
Certain colors such as red, blue and cream can vary in shade from dark to light. Red is sometimes referred to as ginger or orange and cream is a dilute version of red. Blue is also known as grey or silver and is really a dilute version of black.
White Maine Coon fur is the result of a masking gene blocking the actual color it was genetically coded to be.
Maine Coon cat colors
Genetically, a Maine Coon’s fur can grow in one of five colors:
- Black
- Blue
- Red
- Cream
- White
Technically speaking, there are actually only two true Maine Coon colors: black, and red because blue is simply a diluted form of black, cream
Solid Maine Coon coat colors
To be classed as a solid color, a Maine Coon cat must have fur of exactly one color with no shading or patches of other colors.
The most common solid-colored Maine Coon is black and the rarest is red because there’s usually a slight hint of a tabby pattern in what looks like a solid red coat.
Smoke Maine Coon coat colors
A smoke Maine Coon cat has fur of one color or pattern on the tips but its roots, are white or cream.
You might see:
- Black smoke
- Blue smoke
- Red smoke
- Cream smoke
- Tortie smoke
- Blue Tortie smoke
Tabby Maine Coon colors
A tabby Maine Coon cat has fur that is mottled or streaked with stripes, ticks, or whirls. Tabby is one of the most popular Maine Coon patterns. They are split into the following five categories:
Classic Tabby Colors
A classic tabby Maine Coon cat has whirls of patterns. The classic tabby colors are:
- Black
- Blue
- Red
- Cream
Mackerel Tabby colors
Mackerel tabbies have a striped coat pattern with one of the following colors:
- Black
- Blue
- Red
- Cream
Silver Classic Tabby colors
- Black and Silver
- Blue and Silver
- Red and Silver
- Cream and Silver
Silver Mackerel Tabby colors
- Black and Silver
- Blue and Silver
- Red and Silver
- Cream and Silver
Silver Shaded Tabby colors
- Black and Silver Shaded
- Blue and Silver Shaded
- Red and Silver Shaded
- Cream and Silver Shaded
Bi-color Maine Coon Coats
Bi-colored Maine Coon cats are a combination of white and another color. They may or may not have white on their faces but always have white on their bib (chest area), their tummies, and all four paws. Here are the range of bi-colors:
- Black and white
- Blue and white
- Red and white
- Cream and white
Shaded and patched Maine Coons
When a Maine Coon is described as patched this means it has patches of solid color. For example, a blue patched tabby will have a blue tabby pattern and dark blue patches.
The term shaded is used to describe a Maine Coon pattern with a white undercoat and shading in another color white down the sides of its face and tail.
She
Tortoiseshell Maine Coon
Tortoiseshell Maine Coons have red and black fur intermingled and often have a blaze of red on one side of their face. They are mostly females.
There’s also a blue tortoiseshell Maine Coon with blue and cream fur instead of black and red.
Both tortoiseshell Maine Coon colors can have smoke variations.
Calico Maine Coons
Calico Maine Coons have red, black and white coats where each color is in distinct patches of a solid color. They can also be dilute where the colors are cream, blue, and white.
They can also have shaded, shell, or smoke varieties.
What color combinations do Maine Coons come in?
Maine Coons can come in a combination of black, red, blue, cream and white. With all the different coat patterns there are over 100 possibilities.
The black and white tuxedo Maine Coon is one example of a Maine Coon with a bi-color coat, a calico has three colors, tabbies are usually two colors as are tortoiseshell Maine Coons.
Interesting facts (and fiction) about Maine Coon coat colors
Genetics
According to the CFA, there are several interesting facts about coat color genetics.
Male kittens always obtain both color genes from their mother. The male offspring in a litter will always be either the color of the mother or the dilute (less intense) form of her color.
Female kittens will be a combination of both parents’ colors. This makes it easy to predict the colors of kittens to expect from a particular pair of parents.
Paws and noses
Maine Coon cats can have pink or black noses and paw pads, and sometimes a combination.
Eyes
The Maine Coon has beautiful eyes. They are large, round, wide-set, and have a slightly oblique setting.
Their eye color may be shades of green, gold, or amber but there is no relationship between eye color and coat color, except in solid white cats, which may be blue-eyed, amber-eyed, green-eyed, or odd-eyed.
Color and Personality
I have been looking all day and can find no hard evidence that there is a link between color and personality. But some people are convinced that there is.
This may be because they have had two Maine Coons of different colors and found their personalities are poles apart. And, of course, different cats can have different personality traits.
We have two Maine Coon boys. They are both 14 years old and came from the same litter. Charlie is an orange-eyed white and is nervous around strangers.
He is very loving towards us and loves to sit on our laps. He runs and hides, leaving carnage in his wake when he is taken by surprise.
Harry is a red tabby with amber eyes. He is feisty and confident. He isn’t as cuddly as Charlie but he’ll be anybody’s friend and as far as I’m concerned he’s in possession of the “naughty ginger gene”.
But I bet there are other people with Maine Coons of these colors with completely different natures.
People are often of the opinion that black Maine Coon cats are cool creatures but I’ve read several posts today where people have described their particular black Maine Coon cat as a loveable goon or crazy loon.
So I think it’s safe to say don’t believe you can get a Maine Coon with a specific personality by picking a specific color.
What is the rarest Maine Coon color?
There is much debate surrounding the rarest Maine Coon color because it’s difficult to really know. There is no record of every Maine Coon currently in existence and no data had been correlated.
A solid red Maine Coon is very rarely seen as the dominant tabby pattern always seems to show through slightly.
I’ve spent some time researching rare Maine Coon colors by speaking to a variety of breeders and you can see my findings in this article.
What is the most popular Maine Coon Color?
The Maine Coon that many people yearn to own is the black smoke. This is basically a black Maine Coon with paler roots that give a fabulous smoky look to the cat’s coat.
A fabulous and famous example is Mr. Vivo who’s owned by a breeder living in Hong Kong.
The most popular Maine Coon pattern is the black (AKA brown) mackerel tabby which is consequently also the earliest known pattern.
Conclusion
Contrary to what you might read elsewhere, Maine Coons only come in five colors: black, blue, white, cream, or red.
Other than the five solid coats in these colors, according to the CFA Maine Coon Breed Standard, there are more than 100 color and pattern combinations consisting of two or more of these colors.
In fact, there doesn’t seem to be a color or color combination that you can’t get a Maine Coon in. So if you want one to match your hair, your sofa, or your carpet you will probably find one that does.
If you want one that’s of a particular personality, don’t be fooled into thinking a particular color will come with particular behavioral traits.
Whatever color you finally choose, one thing is for sure – I know you’ll be totally smitten instantly.
