---
title: "Woad"
description: "Woad is a European plant, Isatis tinctoria, and the blue dye made from its leaves, chemically the same colourant as indigo."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/woad
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Woad

*Woad is a European plant, Isatis tinctoria, and the blue dye made from its leaves, chemically the same colourant as indigo.*

Woad was Europe’s main blue dye for centuries. Its leaves were crushed, balled and fermented, and the dye they yield is the same compound as [indigo](https://teazle.art/glossary/indigo.md), only in lower concentration.

## What happened to it?

Imported indigo, richer in colourant, gradually displaced woad from the seventeenth century, despite attempts in several countries to protect the local crop, and synthetic indigo finished it as an industry.


## Sources

1. [Woad (AAT 300013080)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300013080). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Woad (Q46520157)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q46520157). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/woad