15 Best 70s Color Palettes (from Genuine 1970s Photos)

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When you look around the web for 70s color palettes, many of the photos you see are actually from the 1950s or 60s, not the 1970s.

So that you can be sure that these color palettes are actually representative of the 70s, they have been taken from photos with a verified capture date from that decade.

All the photos are public domain works from the Documerica archives, a US-government project that aimed to document the 1970s for future generations.

Hex codes taken from each of the images are included in case you don’t want to go to the trouble of downloading each image yourself.

70s color palettes

1. Aug. 1973: Taxis on 5th Ave. near 48th Street, Manhattan

hex codes with an example of the 70s color palette
Hex Codes: #e5ad22, #916210, #9b928b, #040605
Photo by Dan McCoy

2. Aug. 1973: Women in wigs, the Bud Billiken Parade, Chicago

hex codes with an example of the 70s color palette
Hex Codes: #e396be, #6e172a, #e1d354, #4c3551
Photo by John H. White

3. Oct. 1974: Housewife in the kitchen of her mobile home

hex codes with an example of the 70s color palette
Hex Codes: #b72d2d, #efe1c7, #e6d083, #f8f060
Photo by Horacio Villalobos

4. Apr. 1973: Traffic jam, Herald Square, Manhattan

hex codes with an example of the 70s color palette
Hex Codes: #7a1215, #edc43e, #b76f20, #a2a6a8
Photo by Dan McCoy

5. Oct. 1972: Test of skill, Alabama State Fair

hex codes with an example of the 70s color palette
Hex Codes: #5e90c3, #87773a, #454651, #2a1618
Photo by Woodson LeRoy

6. Jul. 1973: Pink Floyd, Columbia, Maryland

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #770908, b52b3a, #e5643a, #a0e3b0
Photo by Erik Calonius

7. May 1974: Two men, Chicago’s South Side

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: ba6641, #cf9a56, #d0c1b7, #515972
Photo by John H. White

8. Jun. 1973: Beach at Little Duck Key, Key West, Florida

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #cf090b, #f19548, #fbc136, #eae7b3
Photo by Flip Schulke

9. Jun. 1973: Lunch in the car, Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #2b588a, #ffad6f, #d9dadf, #42a7b8
Photo by Arthur Tress

10. Feb. 1974: Gas station stop, Cascade Mountains

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #d7d892, #bab044, #c3a628, #94701a
Photo by David Falconer

11. July 1975: Couple on the street, Michigan Avenue, Chicago

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #cd2232, #660904, #5cb4fb, #0373b8
Photo by Perry Riddle

12. May 1974: Commuter, Philadelphia

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #251500, #1b1328, #fefecb, #88a562
Photo by Jim Pickerell

13. 1973: Traffic in the Herald Square area of Midtown Manhattan

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #263850, #ccb330, #c49c43, #4c68b1
Photo by Dan McCoy

14. Jun. 1974: Engineer of the Lone Star passenger train

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #f3351e, #c5dee1, #414546, #686d73
Photo by Charles O’Rear

15. May 1974: Refurbished interior of an Amtrak carriage

hex codes with an example of the 1970s color palette
Hex Codes: #c18b92, #c18939, #4e4447, #7d403b
Photo by Charles O’Rear

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Hi, I'm Tim Daniels, photographer and photo trainer, founder of Lapse of the Shutter and creator of the totally free Lightroom Develop System. I've travelled to (probably) 30 countries over the last few years, taking photos and licensing them around the world, and creating lots of free photography learning resources. Read More ...

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