10 Maine Coon Colors

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The Maine Coon is a regal-looking cat with a strong face. This impressive cat can have all sorts of coat colors to make it look even better!

Here are some of the most common Main Coon colors:

  1. Black
  2. Blue
  3. Brown
  4. Cream
  5. Red
  6. White
  7. Bi-colored
  8. Tri-colored
  9. Tabby
  10. Smoke

Before you read about the different Maine Coon colors, you should first find out about their coats. Although this list only has 10 items, the Main Coon actually has five coat patterns: solid, bi-color, calico, tabby, and smoke. With all the colors under those patterns combined, the Maine Coon can have around 85 color combinations. Now, let’s get started on the actual Maine Coon colors.

Black

Black Maine Coons have a fur pigmentation that looks like its descriptive color, black. A black Maine Coon will have a solid black color that covers its entire body from head to toe. While this coat is solid in color, black Maine Coons can have a wide array of eye colors. Their eyes can be amber, copper, orange, gold, green, green amber, or yellow.

This shade of color is one of the most popular among Maine Coon coats because of its naturally elegant look. Black Maine Coons are often mistaken for being expressionless or often annoyed because of their dark color and lack of markings. However, these cats are just as expressive and silly as any other Maine Coon with different coat colors. Black Maine Coons are sociable and affectionate with their owners.

For a Maine Coon to have a black coat, it must be born from two Maine Coon parents that carry the dominant black coat color gene and a recessive non-agouti gene which prevents any tabby markings from appearing. It’s possible for two black Maine Coon parents to produce kittens with different colors if they carry any recessive genes that can alter their appearance.

Blue

It sounds farfetched but yes, there is such a thing as a blue Maine Coon. The blue Maine Coon is also known as a grey Maine Coon because it appears to have a grey coat. However, under natural light, it gives off a blue sheen.

A blue Maine Coon will have a solid color coat, with fur that is blue from the root to tip. It also covers the entire body in varying shades from a light silver-like color to a dark grey. Along with its solid coat color, the blue Maine Coon can have eyes that are amber, copper, green, or yellow. It can also have odd-colored eyes, like yellow and blue, if its coat has a bit of white in it.

The blue Maine Coon is a diluted black Maine Coon. The pigmentation is caused by a gene that dilutes or lightens the darker black color. Contrary to popular belief, the blue Maine Coon isn’t that rare. It’s about as common as other solid-colored Maine Coons. However, this coat does have variations that are rarer than most.

For a Maine Coon to have a blue coat, it must have blue Maine Coon parents or black Maine Coon parents with the dilute gene. It must also have a recessive non-agouti gene that will prevent it from having any tabby markings.

Brown

Another solid color that Maine Coons can have is brown. A brown Maine Coon will have a chocolate-like coat. The brown Maine Coon has a solid-colored coat that can have varying shades across the body. The most popular version of the brown Maine Coon has a light brown body and a darker shade of brown around the face, legs, and tail.

To breed a brown Maine Coon, the kitten’s parents will need to have a gene called the “B gene” that separates black fur from other fur colors. To have a completely brown coat, a Maine Coon kitten will need at least 2 copies of that gene in its DNA.

This color is difficult to achieve and so when talking about brown Maine Coons, most people think of the brown tabby Maine Coon. A solid brown Maine Coon is quite rare but its color variations, on the other hand, are common.

Cream

If you’re looking for a light-colored Maine Coon, then consider the cream Maine Coon. The cream color is one of the official and certified colors of the Maine Coon. This color is sometimes known as buff and covers the Maine Coon’s entire body in a single color.

Cream Maine Coons also have pink noses and paw pads to match their adorable color. Solid Cream Maine Coons will have a light tan or caramel-like color covering their entire bodies. The cream shade can vary from a light shade that’s close to white to a darker shade of cream that resembles red or orange.

The cream color that Maine Coons can have is the result of a cat with red coat genes also carrying a dilute gene. The dilute gene causes the red color to appear lighter which is what creates the cream color.

Red

Although the red Maine Coon is classified as a solid color, it has faint tabby markings. It is one of the most striking Maine Coon colors, featuring a bright orange shade. The red Maine Coon is also known as the orange, ginger, or marmalade Maine Coon. Red Maine Coons also have orange noses and paw pads that can appear to be a dark shade of pink.

Most red Maine Coons are male due to their genes. This is because it’s difficult for female Maine Coons to acquire the red coat. For a female Maine Coon to have red fur, it must have a dam that has the red coat gene and a sire that has a red coat. On the other hand, male Maine Coons can turn out to have a red coat if even just one of its parents has the gene.

Red Maine Coons are fairly common, except solid red Maine Coons. The variations of this coat are more well-known compared to the solid color because a solid red Maine Coon is difficult to produce and identify.

White

The final solid coat color that a Maine Coon can have is white. White Maine Coons are arguably the most beautiful among the solid-colored Maine Coons. This cat has a strikingly white coat that makes the Maine Coon look like a walking cloud. This color is often related to purity and innocence so most cat lovers believe that the white Maine Coon has an angelic appearance.

To produce a white Maine Coon, at least one of the kitten’s parents must have a white coat. Some believe that this color is caused by albinism but for a cat to be an albino, both of its parents have to carry the albino gene.

You can differentiate a white Maine Coon from an albino Maine Coon by looking at its eyes. White Maine Coons normally have eyes that are yellow, green, blue, or odd-colored. Albino Maine Coons will have pale blue or pinkish eyes that look that way because of a lack of color. The blue or pinkish shade is caused by the exposure of vessels in the cat’s eyes.

Like the other solid colors, a solid white Maine Coon is rarer compared to white Maine Coons with some variation. It’s unlikely that you will come across a pure white Maine Coon but you have probably seen white Maine Coons with patches of other colors like red and cream.

Bi-Colored

The first color pattern you’re learning about is the bi-color coat pattern. As the name implies, bi-color Maine Coons are Maine Coons that have two colors present in their coats. These two colors are normally a combination of white and one other solid color. The most famous version of the bi-color coat pattern is the black and white Maine Coon, also known as the Tuxedo Maine Coon.

These are the types of ci-colored Maine Coon colors:

  • Black and white
  • Blue and white
  • Brown and white
  • Cream and white
  • Red and white

Bi-color Maine Coons can have either black or pink nose pads and paws. Sometimes, their paws will have a combination of those two colors, just like their coats. An interesting thing to know about this fur color is that when it comes to male Maine Coons, they will always inherit the bi-color gene from their dams. On the other hand, bi-color female Maine Coons are the product of a combination of both her parents’ colors. This makes their color easier to predict compared to their male counterparts.

Tri-Colored

Tri-color Maine Coons are Maine Coons that have three colors in their coats. This includes Calicos, Tortoiseshells, and Torbies. Calico Maine Coons will have fur that is 25% to 75% white with patches of orange and black. Tortoiseshell Maine Coons have patchy black fur with flecks of red and white that resemble that of a tortoise’s shell. Torbie Maine Coons are a crossbreed of Tortoiseshell Maine Coons and Tabby Maine Coons. This tri-color pattern looks like a regular tortoiseshell pattern but with patches of tabby markings or stripes.

Around 90% of tri-color cats are female because the X chromosome that determines a cat’s sex is also the gene that makes it possible for a cat to have three coat colors. Two X chromosomes are needed both for a cat to be female and to have the tri-color coat.

Male cats have XY chromosomes and so they can’t have three coat colors. A male cat can only have a tri-color coat if its chromosomes are XXY which also leads to them being sterile and unable to reproduce.

Tabby

Rather than being a color, tabby refers to the markings on a cat’s coat. The most distinctive mark on a tabby Maine Coon is the “M” shaped stripe on its forehead. All tabbies have this famous marking along with stripes or markings along the entire body.

Tabby Maine Coons can have any of the solid colors that a Maine Coon can have, except for white. They can also appear on Maine Coons with tri-color coats.

Here are some of the color variations of tabby Maine Coons:

  • Black/Brown tabby
  • Blue Classic tabby
  • Cream Classic tabby
  • Red Classic tabby
  • Silver Classic tabby
  • Tortie Mac tabby

Tabby Maine Coons can also have different types of tabby marks. This is because there are five types of tabby patterns. Your tabby Main Coon can be a classic tabby, mackerel tabby, spotted tabby, ticked tabby, and patched tabby.

Smoke

Last but not least among the Maine Coon coat patterns is the smoke coat. Smoke Maine Coons appear to have solid coats but they have fur that is light on the root and darker at the tip. In other words, they have a light undercoat and a dark or colored topcoat. The name of this coat pattern comes from the fact that it makes a Maine Coon’s coat look like it’s smoky or has an ash shade.

Here are some of the color variations of smoke Maine Coons:

  • Black smoke
  • Blue smoke
  • Blue Tortie smoke
  • Cream smoke
  • Red smoke
  • Tortie smoke
  • White smoke

This coat is known to be the “illusionist’s coat” because to the naked eye, it appears to shift in color as the Maine Coon moves. You have quite the list to choose from because Smoke Maine Coons can have up to 16 different color variations depending on what you prefer.

Final Thoughts

As a cat lover myself, I would love to one day have my own Maine Coon. I’ve always been stunned by these cats because of their naturally intimidating looks. If I had to choose what color Maine Coon I’d have, I’d go for any of the tri-color patterns.

Keep in mind that all cat coat colors stem from three main colors: black, white, and red. Every other coat color is a variation of those three colors caused by variations in the cat’s genes. These genes cause different shades, markings, or patterns found in a cat’s color.

If you’re still undecided on which Maine Coon you want, think about which color speaks to you. You should also think about what you can afford because rarer Maine Coon colors tend to be almost twice as expensive as more common ones. Regardless of its color, your Maine Coon is sure to become your next best friend.