The Color of a Jedi's Lightsaber
June 23, 1999
Something that has puzzled me for while is the significance of the colors of the lightsabers we see throughout the Star Wars movies. I thought about this seriously once I saw Episode I: The Phantom Menace. We know after seeing Jedi that the three colors of lightsaber are red, green and blue. Once I saw TPM, this was confirmed. My theory is that blue sabers represent pure good. Examples: Obi-Wan Kenobi (in ANH and TPM), Luke Skywalker (in ANH and ESB), and stretching a bit, Mace Windu (from the Kenner action figure). Mace Windu is a member of the Jedi Council, so he is obviously good. Obi-Wan was a Padawan Learner in TPM, and stuck to the Jedi code and thus was also pure good. He continued this trend of genuine goodness until his death in ANH. Luke Skywalker received his father's lightsaber, and until the end of ESB was pure good. He remained a young, naive, fledgeling Jedi until his destiny was decided in ROTJ.
On to the red saber. This one goes without saying, I think: all Dark Jedi have red lightsabers. We could go into the comics and books here about varying colors for Dark Jedi, but personally I don't think those sources hold as much weight as the movies. Darth Vader and Darth Maul both weilded the red saber, who are of pure evil. Now, we could also venture into the fact that Vader was also Anakin, and the once owner of a blue saber, but this was before Anakin turned to evil. When Vader was pure evil, and doing the emperor's bidding, he was using a red saber.
Now for the controversial green saber. Why green? Personally, I think it is an "in-between" color, neither red nor blue. It signifies a Jedi with an undecided path, I think. For example, Luke in ROTJ has not completely fulfilled his destiny. He surrenders to Vader in order to try and turn him back to the Light side. He is brought before the Emperor because Vader wants Luke to turn and join him. Notice in the final duel between Vader and Luke, when Luke is hiding beneath the stairs, his face is half in light, half in shadow. Luke is on the edge, and in the end, he lashes out at Vader while tapping into the Dark Side. However, he eventually stops fighting and returns back to the Light. Qui-Gon can be viewed in a similar manner. Obi-Wan mentions to him "Do not defy the council...", so it can be seen that Qui-Gon is somewhat of a rebellious Jedi. He is also very selfish in his motives, which can be seen when trying to convince the Jedi Council that Anakin is the chosen one. Qui-Gon dumps Obi-Wan without a second thought, just so he can train Anakin. Even though this isn't "evil" in the purest sense, it is still not pure good. Also notice that in the final duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul, it is Qui-Gon's green lightsaber that is used to kill Darth Maul. This could be because it was the only one available, but it is also a metaphor, since Obi-Wan was filled with anger at the sight of seeing his Master killed. As another theory, Qui-Gon has a green saber because of his high knowledge of the living force. Perhaps green signifies being more in touch with the Living Force, as opposed to the Unifying Force that we are familiair with. However, this does not explain Luke Skywalker's lightsaber.
As an aside note, the action figure for Ki-Adi-Mundi comes with a lightsaber. I originally thought it was blue, but it was brought to my attention that it may actually be purple. This throws another color into the fray. What is interesting here, is that purple is a mix between red and blue. Ki-Adi is the only Jedi Knight on the council, the rest are masters. Could this be another symbol? Ki-Adi is not pure good yet, but still gets to serve on the Jedi council? Also, in the Episode I Visual Dictionary the hilt of Yoda's lightsaber is shown but not the blade. Will Yoda have another unique color, or will it be blue? Perhaps we will see more in the coming prequels.
In summary, we know from reading about Jedi trainees that they must construct their own lightsabers as a part of their training. Thus, they must choose the crystals (and therefore, the color) for their lightsaber. We still do not know if they are forced to choose a color, relative to their stage in learning. We know Luke made his lightsaber from an old Jedi manual that was left at Ben Kenobi's house. Perhaps the answer lies in there. Until the remaining new prequels are released, we are left to guess.
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