Sunflower
Retired2001-2026 · Color No. 320
Introducing Sunflower, made by The Fiesta Tableware Company from 2001 to 2026. It's a cheerful and vibrant shade of yellow, reminiscent of bright sunflowers swaying in the summer breeze. Sunflower adds a burst of energy and warmth to any tablescape. Mix and match Sunflower with colors like Cobalt and Shamrock for a lively and dynamic table setting, or pair it with Plum and Slate for a more subdued yet sophisticated combination.
Production
Sunflower was retired in 2026, so it is a hunt for secondhand pieces now. Fiesta Factory Direct is where the colors still being made are, if you are filling a set.
Shop Fiesta Factory Direct (opens in a new tab)Notes on Sunflower
Sunflower had a twenty-five-year run, 2001 to 2026, making it one of the longest-lived colors in the modern line - and it only just retired, alongside Twilight, when Lavender arrived for the ninetieth anniversary. It's a warm, bright yellow with real saturation. Because it was made for so long, it's easy to find second-hand and will stay that way, which makes it one of the safest retired colors to build around. It's also close enough to the Post 86 Yellow it replaced (ΔE 4) that the two mix without any visible seam.
Using Sunflower on a table
Sunflower carries enough color to lead a table on its own. Use it for the plates and let quieter pieces do the rest; two or three settings of it go a long way. At L* 88 it is one of the paler glazes in the line: dark food reads sharply against it, pale food much less so. It nearly disappears against a white cloth (1.4:1), so it shows best on dark wood or a colored runner.
Below, 5 combinations built only from colors Fiesta has actually produced. Each says which rule it follows, and which pieces you can still buy today.
The pairing in its own description
Named in the descriptionThese colors are named alongside Sunflower in this guide's description of it.
Buy these to go with it
Sunflower was retired in 2026, but these are all in production now - the set you can actually finish buying.
Opposite on the wheel
Sapphire sits roughly opposite Sunflower in hue, which is the highest-contrast pairing the palette offers. The neutrals keep it from shouting.
Three-way split
Sea Mist Green and Mulberry sit about a third of the way around the color wheel from Sunflower in each direction. Evenly spaced hues stay lively without any one taking over.
- White
- Sea Mist Green
-
Your color Sunflower
- Mulberry
Next-door hues
These sit within about 55° of Sunflower on the color wheel. Neighboring hues blend instead of competing, which suits a table you want to feel warm rather than sharp.
-
Your color Sunflower
- Flamingo
- Forest Green
- Chocolate
Where Sunflower sits in the line
Sunflower arrived while Yellow, 1987-2002 was still in production, and is noticeably more vivid than it - a close relative rather than a reformulation (ΔE 4.4). It has been in production 25 years against a median of 7 for its era - one of the colors the company kept. In 2001 it arrived alongside Plum and took the place of Pearl Gray and Juniper on the shelf. What else happened in 2001 →
Closest colors in the palette
Ranked by CIEDE2000 (ΔE) against Sunflower. Under about ΔE 5 two colors are hard to tell apart side by side - useful when you are identifying an unmarked piece.
On the table alongside Sunflower
41 colors were in production at the same time. The 10 nearest in the timeline: