There are five Chow Chows Colours that the dog is usually recognised as being bred in - red, cinnamon, black, blue, and cream. Whilst many people believe that there are other Colours of the breed - primarily champagne, silver, lilac, butterscotch, lavender, chocolate, blue-cream, silvertip and white - these shades of the original five Colours are not recognised as breed standard.
Each Chow Chow colour can vary quite considerably. The red Chow Chow colour covers a wide range of shades, from a light golden red with close to white shadings on the tail, to a solid deep mahogany version.
The black Chow Chows can have silver shadings in part of their coat, but mostly the breed is purely black. Similarly, whilst the cream Chow Chow's coat can consist of a butterscotch shade, it is almost always a pure cream.
Sometimes appearing as a steel grey shade, blue Chow Chow coats can also have a very sought after light silver tint, as well as an almost black appearance.
Less popular, the cinnamon Chow Chows coat colour can be difficult to explain without first seeing it, as the colour can vary from being light beige to a matt, dark grey.