Star Wars features a wide array of lightsabers with each color signifying something different, but what do the less-common orange lightsabers mean in canon? Orange lightsabers made their live-action debut in Ahsoka with the show’s villains - Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati - wielding such a weapon. Most viewers assume lightsaber colors are symbolic, which naturally means there's intense speculation about what these mean - especially in light of the show's silence on the point.

When watching the Star Wars lightsaber types like the yellow pikes of the Jedi Temple Guards. Beyond this, Star Wars canon often neglected other lightsaber colors until Ahsoka brought the unique weapon into a mainstream property. Since then, questions have been raised over what orange lightsabers mean, what their purpose was in Legends stories, and how they have translated to canon.

Where Orange Lightsabers Have Appeared In Star Wars Canon

In the current Star Wars canon, the only known Jedi to wield an orange lightsaber is technically Cal Kestis. A Padawan survivor of Order 66, Kestis was first introduced in the Jedi: Fallen Order video game as he sought to revive the Jedi Order while evading the Empire. However, the word "technically" is key, as players were able to choose from a variety of unique colors. Orange was one such color, offered by developer Respawn Entertainment as a pre-order bonus. This means Kestis wielded an orange saber as much as he did any other color (whatever was selected for him).

Some Bedlam Raider bosses in Jedi: Survivor actually use orange lightsabers as well, and were likely given old Jedi blades from the High Republic Era by their leader, Rayvis. The Jedi of the High Republic Era were noted for their willingness to experiment with their lightsabers, and they seem to have used a wide range of crystals. A rare (but less efficient) kyber substitute, a kohlen crystal, is known for producing an orange blade as well - but these are weaker than normal lightsaber blades.

What Orange Lightsabers Meant In Star Wars Legends

Star Wars Legends stories define orange lightsabers more specifically. These weapons were most often wielded by Force-sensitives who identified as Gray Jedi. Rather than the Knights of the traditional Jedi Order, Gray Jedi had a foot in both sides of the Force, not committing fully to either the light or the dark. As such, their orange lightsaber blades were as rare as the Gray Jedi themselves, representing their middle-ground approach to understanding and wielding the Force and existing between the red of the Sith and the yellow used by the guards and scholars of the Jedi Temple.

However, there were also a handful of Jedi and Sith who initially had orange lightsabers. Master Plo Koon of the Jedi Council had an orange lightsaber in Legends comics with the Stark Hyperspace War before Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones and Star Wars: The Clone Wars confirmed blue as Koon’s canon lightsaber color; Yaddle had an orange blade, although it has been replaced with green in canon. Darth Bane, founder of the Sith Rule of Two, used an orange lightsaber blade at one point.

Do Lightsaber Colors Have Any Real Meaning In Disney Canon?

The interesting question is whether an orange lightsaber color actually does mean anything at all in Star Wars canon. It's striking that nobody called out the orange lightsaber blades in Ahsoka, suggesting none of the characters thought there was anything particularly important about them. It may well mean that orange lightsabers are just an affectation.

Alternatively, Star Wars sourcebooks have referred to some unusual crystals - such as kohlen crystals - that generate blades with different colors. It's possible that Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati used a different crystal for their lightsabers; kyber may well have become much harder to acquire after the rise of the Empire, particularly when Galen Erso figured out it could be used to focus the power of the Death Star superlaser. This is, however, only theoretical.

Why Do Ahsoka's Villains Use Orange Lightsabers?

Concerning Ahsoka’s orange lightsaber-wielders, Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati are an interesting case study. After Ahsoka season 1’s ending, it became clear that Baylan and Shin did not align with either the Sith or the Jedi. While not explicitly labeled as Gray Jedi from Legends, their actions seem to align with this type of character. As such, the orange tint of their blades is meant to distinguish them from both the Sith and the Jedi.

Baylan confirmed in Ahsoka that he trained Shin to be something different, something better, than both organizations. While the two were separated by Ahsoka’s ending, it was clear that Baylan wished to end the vicious cycle of power that continuously interchanged between the Jedi and their dark side counterparts. Therefore, Baylan and Shin’s orange lightsabers make much more sense, aligning Star Wars' canon explanation of the weapon closely with that of Legends stories.