Orange lightsabers are rare in the Star Wars universe, often wielded by highly skilled and powerful warriors. In this article, we will explore the meaning of orange lightsabers and talk about the users associated with them.
What Does an Orange Lightsaber Mean?
The orange lightsaber represents courage, balance, hope, power and strength.
- Balance: The orange lightsaber symbolizes a balance between the light side and dark sides of the Force. This balance is reflected in the wielder’s ability to harness both sides without being fully committed to either, making them a symbol of harmony and unity.
- Courage: The orange lightsaber is a symbol of bravery. Those who wield an orange lightsaber are often willing to stand up for what’s right, even when it’s difficult or dangerous. This shows their strong and fearless spirit.
- hope: The color orange represents optimism and renewal. When an orange lightsaber appears, it signals something special. The person wielding it usually brings new ideas and a fresh perspective, giving others hope for a better future and new possibilities.
- power and strength: The orange lightsaber signifies a skilled warrior. Wielders of this blade are formidable fighters, proficient in both lightsaber combat and Force abilities. The orange lightsaber indicates their readiness to face any challenge and demonstrate their impressive capabilities.
To learn more about the meanings behind lightsaber colors, check out our article Lightsaber Color Meanings.
Who Has an Orange Lightsaber in Star Wars?
Obi-Wan Kenobi, Cal Kestis, Darth Bane, Shin Hati, and Baylan Skoll are known to have orange lightsabers within the Star Wars universe. However, other characters have also wielded orange lightsabers. Here is a list of them:
- Obi-Wan Kenobi
- Cal Kestis (in “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order”)
- Darth Bane (his lightsaber pike)
- Shin Hati
- Baylan Skoll
- Yaddle
- Plo Koon
- Tulak Hord
- Azlyn Rae
- The Mandalorian Knights
- Yoshi Raph-Elan
- Drya Thornne
- Morvet Storm
- Picaroon C. Boodle, known as Pic
- The Brothers of the Sith
- Lar Le’Ung
- Kelbis Nu
- Michael Tandre (whose orange lightsaber is known as “The Sword of Honor”)
- Brakar
- Polvin Kut
- Torhaa Phaa
- Theen Fida
- Mace (Sith apprentice)
- Soon Bayts
Here are overviews of the most famous orange lightsaber users on the list:
1. Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi was a Force-sensitive human male Jedi Master who played a major role in the Clone Wars and was part of the Jedi High Council.
Known as “the Negotiator,” he fought against the Separatist Droid Army. However, when the Republic’s Chancellor, secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious, ordered the Great Jedi Purge, Kenobi went into hiding.
Kenobi was born on the planet Stewjon and joined the Jedi Order as a child. He trained under Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and became a Jedi Knight after defeating the Sith Lord Darth Maul. He then promised to train Anakin Skywalker, believed to be the Chosen One destined to destroy the Sith.
During the Clone Wars, Kenobi became a High Jedi General, commanding large military forces. His old enemy Maul returned seeking revenge, but Kenobi continued to resist him despite great personal losses.
Kenobi ended the Clone Wars by killing General Grievous but was forced into hiding after Anakin Skywalker turned to the dark side becoming Darth Vader. Kenobi defeated Vader in battle and went into exile on the planet Tatooine, watching over Anakin’s son Luke Skywalker.
Years later, Kenobi rescued Luke’s sister “Leia Organa” and confronted Vader and Maul again, ultimately killing Maul. He began training Luke in the ways of the Force but sacrificed himself to ensure Luke’s escape from Vader. In death, Kenobi continued to guide Luke through the Force.
Kenobi’s legacy lived on, influencing the fight against the Sith. He was remembered as a legendary Jedi Master, and even after his death, he helped in the final victory over the Sith on Exegol.
During his time as a Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi wielded three lightsabers. His first lightsaber, which had a blue blade, featured a hilt similar to that of his master, Qui-Gon Jinn. He used this weapon until Darth Maul kicked it into a deep shaft on Naboo. Subsequently, Obi-Wan constructed a new lightsaber with a similar design and blue blade.
After becoming a Jedi Master, he built a third lightsaber, also with a blue plasma blade. He used this final lightsaber until he sacrificed his life aboard the Death Star, allowing Darth Vader to strike him down so that Luke Skywalker could escape.
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s first lightsaber used a diatium power cell and had a notched hand grip. During a mission to Pijal, Obi-Wan briefly replaced the kyber crystal that powered the blade with a kohlen crystal, which turned the blade orange.
2. Cal Kestis
Cal Kestis was a human male with the ability to use the Force, he became a Jedi Knight when the Galactic Empire was in power.
After most of the Jedi were killed, Cal hid on the planet Bracca for many years, his peaceful life changed when he had a run-in with the Inquisitorius which made him fight back against the Empire.
Cal decided to reconnect with the Force and aimed to bring back the Jedi Order since the Empire’s Jedi hunters were chasing him.
Cal Kestis was a Padawan of Jedi Master Jaro Tapal and fought in the Clone Wars with him. Everything changed when the Grand Army of the Republic were ordered by Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine to carry out Order 66 turning against their Jedi officers.
The clone troopers of the 13th Battalion tried to kill Cal, but his master Tapal gave his life to protect him. After losing his master, Cal went into hiding on the planet Bracca, he worked for the Scrapper Guild until his hidden life ended when he was found by the Empire’s Inquisitors, the Second Sister and Ninth Sister.
Cal Kestis became part of the crew of the spaceship Stinger Mantis after they saved him from the Inquisitors. Cal made friends with a droid named BD-1, a former Jedi named Cere Junda, the ship’s captain Greez Dritus and a Nightsister named Merrin.
They set out to find a Jedi holocron that belong to Eno Cordova which had important information a new generation of Jedi, they got the holocron and survived an encounter with the evil Sith Lord Darth Vader, Cal decided to destroy it to keep the galaxy’s Force sensitive children safe from the Sith. By this time, Cal was recognized as a fully trained Jedi by his new mentor.
By 9 BBY, Cal was working with Saw Gerrera and other rebels against the Empire. The mercenary Bode Akuna gave him a LW-896 blaster pistol, they went on a mission to Coruscant to steal secret Imperial information but had to make a crash landing on Koboh to escape.
While on Koboh, Kestis found a droid named ZN-A4 in an old Jedi chamber and learned about the planet Tanalorr which he wanted to use as a safe place for those being hunted by the Empire. Kestis got his old crew back together and focused on finding a way through the dangerous Koboh Abyss to reach Tanalorr for the Hidden Path network.
During this time, Kestis and Merrin started a romantic relationship. Akuna later betrayed them on Jedha causing an Imperial attack on Junda’s archive, so Kestis chased Akuna to Tanalorr and defeated him in a lightsaber combat.
In “Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order”, the character Cal Kestis creates a new lightsaber on the planet Ilum, this happens after breaking his previous lightsaber which belonged to his former master Jaro Tapal.
Kestis constructs the new lightsaber from parts of Tapal’s saber and parts from Cere Junda’s lightsaber, he powers it with two kyber crystals that inexplicably split apart when he found them in the Crystal Cave on Ilum.
The lightsaber has a double-bladed design like Tapal’s weapon, one side has dual emitter shrouds on each end with a black grip in the middle, the other side has a flared emitter with a wrapped X-pattern.
Kestis can ignite just one blade or both blades at the same time, the lightsaber can also split apart into two separate single-blade weapons allowing Kestis to use the dual-blade fighting style Jar’Kai.
In the game players can customize Cal’s lightsaber appearance and color, available blade colors are: orange, blue, green, yellow, purple, magenta, indigo and cyan.
3. Darth Bane
Darth Bane was a human male Sith Lord and was the only one left after the Jedi destroyed the Brotherhood of Darkness in a war a thousand years before the Clone Wars.
Bane saw that fighting among the Sith made them weak enough for the Jedi to beat them. To fix this, Bane changed the Sith and made the Rule of Two. This rule said there could only be two Sith at a time: a Master and an apprentice.
These new Sith planned in secret to beat the Jedi and control the galaxy. When Bane lost to his student Darth Zannah on Ambria, the Jedi thought the Sith were gone and the galaxy had peace for a thousand years.
Darth Bane’s desire for revenge against the Jedi came true in the Clone Wars. Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, who was secretly the Sith Lord Darth Sidious and followed the Rule of Two, changed the Galactic Republic into the Galactic Empire in 19 BBY and wiped out the Jedi.
But this win didn’t last long. Anakin Skywalker, who had turned from the Sith Lord Darth Vader back to a Jedi Knight, defeated the Sith twenty-three years later. Finally, Sidious died in 35 ABY, and the Sith were gone for good.
Darth Bane dressed in old Sith armor that was blue, gray and red, with gold designs. This armor covered most of his body. His weapons included a red lightsaber and a orange lightsaber pike.
4. Shin Hati
Shin Hati was a Force-sensitive human woman and the eager apprentice of the Dark Jedi Baylan Skoll. They worked together as mercenaries with the witch Morgan Elsbeth to find Thrawn, the last missing Grand Admiral of the Imperial Starfleet.
She used a lightsaber that had an orange-red blade. She dueled Sabine Wren at least twice. The first fight happened on Lothal, outside the LothalNet communications tower where Wren was staying. Hati, with help from some HK-87 assassin droids, stole a star map from Wren.
Their second encounter was on Seatos, during a mission involving Wren and her master, Ahsoka Tano. Hati fought Wren again but was disarmed by the Mandalorian and ran into the forest.
After the duel, Hati went to Skoll, who was fighting Tano, but was knocked out. After Tano was defeated, Hati and Skoll were confronted by Wren, who threatened to destroy the star map. Skoll promised Wren safe passage to find her friend Ezra Bridger in exchange for the map. Hati took Wren prisoner, and they traveled to a distant galaxy using the Eye of Sion, a massive hyperspace ring.
On Peridea, Skoll reflected on stories he heard as a child in the Jedi Temple. Hati asked if their alliance with Thrawn would bring them power, but Skoll hoped to end the cycle of conflict. Hati met Grand Admiral Thrawn, who ordered them to destroy Wren and Bridger. They found the two with a group of Noti, and Hati contacted Thrawn, parting ways with Skoll due to differing ambitions.
Leading a group of bandits, Hati attacked Wren and Bridger. Reinforced by Night Troopers, Hati ordered them to kill the two but was ambushed by Ahsoka Tano. Outnumbered, Hati fled on her howler. Left with nowhere to turn, she was abandoned by Skoll, Elsbeth and Thrawn, who successfully escaped Peridea.
Shin Hati wielded an orange-red lightsaber. Built under Baylan Skoll’s guidance, Shin Hati’s lightsaber looked similar to a Jedi’s saber and had several classic design elements. Her lightsaber had a slim hilt, a handgrip wrapped in white leather, a round handguard and an emitter with three sharp points. The blade color fluctuated between red and orange, never fully settling on one color.
5. Baylan Skoll
Baylan Skoll was a Force-sensitive human man who was once a Jedi Knight and General in the Grand Army of the Republic, and he survived the Great Jedi Purge.
During the New Republic Era, Skoll and his apprentice Shin Hati worked with Morgan Elsbeth, a survivor of the Nightsisters who wanted to bring back Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire.
Their mission to find Thrawn intersected with Ahsoka Tano and her apprentice Sabine Wren, who were searching for the Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger. This led to a battle between Skoll and Tano on the planet Seatos, where Tano was defeated and Wren was captured.
Shortly after arriving at Peridea and sensing its connection to the Force, Skoll met with Grand Admiral Thrawn, but he didn’t really care about Thrawn’s plans. Thrawn sent Skoll and his apprentice Hati to find and destroy Bridger and Wren. However, Skoll and Hati started to have different ideas about the Force and their destinies.
When they found Bridger, Skoll and Hati went their separate ways because Skoll believed Hati wouldn’t fulfill her destiny by staying with him. Skoll briefly fought Ahsoka Tano again before escaping and continuing his quest to find his own destiny on the planet.
Baylan Skoll wore black robes and armor. He had an orange-red lightsaber, which he used to free Morgan Elsbeth and later fought Tano with. Skoll and his apprentice, Hati, traveled in an Eta-class shuttle.
6. Yaddle
Yaddle was a female being of the same species as Yoda and Grogu. She was a Jedi Master and trained young Jedi during the High Republic Era.
In 382 BBY, Yaddle and a student named Cippa Tarko fought against the Path of the Open Hand, a cult that hated the Jedi and Force users, in the devastating battle on Dalna known as the Night of Sorrow.
Yaddle was part of the Jedi High Council in the final years of the Galactic Republic. She trained Oppo Rancisis, a Thisspiasian Padawan, who later joined her on the High Council in 32 BBY.
That same year, Qui-Gon Jinn took Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One, to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where he met Yaddle and the other Jedi elders.
After the Battle of Naboo, Yaddle followed Jedi Master Dooku, who was acting suspiciously. She encountered Darth Sidious, who ordered Dooku to kill her. Dooku defeated and killed Yaddle, completing his turn to the dark side of the Force.
Yaddle wielded an orange lightsaber. Although she preferred using the Force in battle, she was very skilled in Form III and Form IV of lightsaber combat, making her one of the best duelists in the Jedi Order.
7. Plo Koon
Plo Koon was a Force-sensitive Jedi Master from the planet Dorin. In the last years of the Galactic Republic, he was part of the Jedi High Council.
During the Clone Wars, he was a Jedi General and led many risky missions with the 104th Battalion. To survive in different environments, he wore a special breath mask and goggles to protect his eyes.
After training his Padawan Bultar Swan to become a Jedi Knight, Plo Koon fought in the First Battle of Geonosis where almost 200 Jedi were killed, this battle started the Clone Wars.
Early in the war, he went on a mission to find the Separatist warship Malevolence. After several tries, Koon and other Jedi destroyed the ship. He often worked with Ahsoka Tano whom he had discovered before the war and shared a special bond with.
Koon played important roles in the battles of Felucia, Lola Sayu and Kadavo. During the war, Ahsoka was wrongly accused of bombing the Jedi Temple and was expelled from the Jedi Order. When the real culprit was found, Koon and the Council invited her to return, but she decided to leave the Order.
In the final days of the Clone Wars, after the battles of Coruscant and Utapau, Plo Koon led the 442nd Siege Battalion in the Battle of Cato Neimoidia. After winning the battle, he was flying over the bridge cities with a group of ARC-170 starfighters, this happened during Order 66 when Jedi were killed all over the galaxy. Plo Koon was shot down and killed by his own troops.
In “Jedi Power Battles”, Plo Koon uses a yellow lightsaber, which is also seen in the Episode I Plo Koon figure from the “Power of the Jedi” series. He also uses a yellow lightsaber in “Emissaries to Malastare”, but in “The Stark Hyperspace War”, “Jedi Council: Acts of War”, and “Obsession”, he uses an orange lightsaber.
8. Tulak Hord
Tulak Hord, known as “Master of the Gathering Darkness” and “the Lord of Hate”, was a Dark Lord of the Sith during the early Sith Empire.
He led large armies and excelled in both the dark side of the Force and lightsaber combat making him almost unbeatable. In battle, Hord wore a black mask, which made him very frightening.
Hord used a lightsaber with an orange blade. After his death, the lightsaber, along with many of his artifacts, was lost.
However, the Sith Lord Darth Marr found the lightsaber on the planet Dromund Fels before 3678 BBY, just before he joined the reformed Sith Empire’s ruling Dark Council.
9. Azlyn Rae
Azlyn Rae was a Human woman trained in the Force by both the Jedi and the Imperial Knights. As a child, she trained with Jedi Master Rasi Tuum on Ossus and became close to Cade Skywalker. Her training was interrupted when Darth Krayt’s Sith Order attacked and took over the galaxy.
Surviving the massacre, Rae thought Tuum and Skywalker were dead and became a bounty hunter. Later, she joined the Imperial Knights, pledging loyalty to Emperor Roan Fel.
Seven years after the Jedi were scattered, Rae discovered Skywalker was alive. She was sent to bring him to the Imperial fortress, revealing herself to him and earning his trust. They went to the Hidden Temple where she reunited with Tuum.
Rae joined Skywalker on a mission to kill Darth Krayt. They succeeded in mortally wounding Krayt, but Rae was severely injured. Skywalker took her to be healed, but she resisted, feeling angry and trapped in life-preserving armor.
Back at Bastion, she received better armor and went with her Emperor to peace talks with the Jedi. When Sith forces attacked, Rae and her allies tried but failed to rescue Marasiah Fel. They returned to Bastion and later helped defend the Hidden Temple from Krayt’s forces.
Rae joined the final battle on Coruscant, helping to win the war after Skywalker killed Krayt. She attended Emperor Fel’s funeral, who had fallen to the dark side and was killed during the battle.
As an Imperial Knight, Rae typically wore the Order’s red armor but often worked undercover, using plain clothes or bounty hunting gear. She crafted her own orange lightsaber, different from the usual white-silver ones used by Imperial Knights, to blend in better. While undercover, Rae flew her own starship and carried several homing beacons, a comlink and a heavy blaster pistol.
10. The Mandalorian Knights
The Mandalorian Knights were once Jedi Masters who disobeyed the Jedi High Council during the Mandalorian Wars and fought against the Mandalorian Neo-Crusaders under Jedi Revan’s leadership.
Unlike the Revanchists, these renegade masters secretly undermined the Galactic Republic’s war effort, led by the rogue ex-council member Dorjander Kace.
Believing the Republic was too corrupt to save, Kace and his followers adopted the Mandalorian way of life. The Mandalorian Knights used orange lightsabers.
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Tony Allen is a writer for LightsabersBlog.com, a website focused on everything related to lightsabers. Tony grew up in Austin, Texas, and went on to study Mechanical Engineering at the University of Texas. Passionate about science fiction and fantasy, Tony has always been deeply involved in hobbies like tabletop RPGs, sci-fi novels, miniature painting, and crafting. This love for creative pursuits drives Tony to write about lightsabers in a way that ignites the imagination of fans around the world.