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All the French Bulldogs colors (with pictures!)

french bulldog colors

Frenchies are quickly becoming one of the most popular dog breeds across America. As far as pups go, they're pretty perfect. They're seriously cute, good around children and other pets, are very alert, don't tend to bark that much, and are happy just spending all their time with you.

French Bulldogs have quite a square face which is softened by rolls of squishy skin. They've got big ears, little legs, and a flat face. Something else which differentiates these wonderful dogs is their coat color.

So, what are the French Bulldog colors and which are accepted by the American Kennel Club?

What does the American Kennel Club say?

When it comes to French Bulldog colors, the AKC only accepts white, cream, fawn, and any combination of these three. They also accept the following markings: black mask, ticked, piebald (pied), brindle, and white markings.

Apart from these colors, there are also many rarer French Bulldog colors that are not considered to be standard.

Is every coat color ethical?

Some pups are considered to be pretty rare, such as the blue French Bulldog. Because they're so iconic (and a really cute color) they're really desirable, which means you need to make sure you're getting one from a responsible breeder.

Rare colors such as pure black, isabella, and chocolate dogs are difficult to ensure, and even specialized breeders may only get one pup with that coat color a year.

Even if your heart is set on getting a blue French Bulldog, it's really important you do your research to make sure you're getting a responsibly bred dog that's healthy and won't cost you the earth in vets bills.

Standard French Bulldog colors

These are the colors accepted by the major kennel clubs.

Cream French Bulldog

cream french bulldog

To many people, the cream French Bulldog can look really similar to a white one, but if you put them side by side, you'll notice some obvious differences.

Cream pups are a warmer color and have dark lips and dark eye rims.

White dogs, however, have pinky lips and pinky eye rims. The cream French Bulldog was one of the most common colored Frenchies when the AKC approved color codes for French Bulldogs and you can still see them competing today.

Fawn French Bulldog

fawn french bulldog

The fawn color French Bulldog can be fairly light in color (almost a cream color) or dark fawn. The coat is normally uniform and they can have a mask – darker fur around their face which gives the impression that they're wearing a mask!

Dogs with a fawn coat can have a white chest and white markings over their body. Fawn and white French Bulldogs are accepted by the AKC.

White French Bulldog

white bulldog

The last of the standard colored French Bulldogs is the white one. They actually come in two types of white – off-white and piebald white.

Piebald white is often much brighter and it's common for these pups to have pinky eye rims and lips. Off-white pups, however, can have dark lips, noses, and eye rims.

Other/rare French Bulldog colors

Here are some rare French Bulldog colors which are just as beautiful as the standard ones!

Blue French Bulldog

blue french bulldog

Technically, Blue Frenchies are described as being ‘undesirable'.

That couldn't, actually, be further away from the truth. They're very popular and pretty rare. The blue coat (which is actually more a gray/slate color) is very beautiful and unique.

To get this coat color, the blue French Bulldog must inherit two copies of the dilute gene and the color can range from light gray to dark gray which almost looks black.

Some believe that these dogs are affected by health conditions because of the genetics behind their coat color.

For example, some dogs suffer from color dilution alopecia which causes patches of their fur to fall out.

Chocolate French Bulldog

Chocolate Frenchies get their beautiful coat coloring from a recessive gene which they must inherit from both parent dogs. Their coloring can range from light brown to a deep chocolate color and their eyes can be light, green, and even a really vibrant yellow!

Brindle French Bulldog

brindle french bulldog

Brindle is used to describe animals that have a coat that has hairs that are lighter at the bottom and darker at the tips.

When it comes to French Bulldogs, they can look almost tiger-like because they have a fawn base coat with black tips.

They can also be dark brindle which means they have a dark base coat with darker tips, giving them an overall almost black color. A dark brindle French Bulldog is fairly common, but the tiger ones are much rarer.

Black or Black Pied French Bulldog

black bulldog

Even though you may think black is a pretty common color amongst dogs, getting an all-black French Bulldog that doesn't have any brindle can be pretty difficult.

These jet black pups are really attractive and very desirable – just not by the AKC. They can also have pied markings as you can't really see black spots on a black base coat!

If you really want a black French Bulldog, make sure you get it from a trusted breeder as puppies often look black but grow to have brindle markings.

Lilac French Bulldog

lilac french bulldog

Lilac dogs are always beautiful, quite often because they just look so rare! And that's true for this pup too.

Lilac French Bulldogs have to inherit both the chocolate and blue gene (which are both rare themselves) so finding a dog that has this unique combination can be difficult – and expensive.

The dilute gene associated with the blue coloring dilutes the chocolate color, resulting in a pup that's almost silvery-looking! They generally have a pinkish tinge to their face and light-colored eyes.

Isabella French Bulldog

For those who aren't experts in French Bulldogs, the Isabella French Bulldog probably looks very similar to the Lilac one.

In fact, isabella pups are a shade of lilac and have the same chocolate and dilute genes. The key difference is that the chocolate gene can be tested and this has to happen for them to be an Isabella Frenchie.

Because they're so rare, they also come at a very high price… wait for it… up to $40,000!

Blue Fawn French Bulldog

blue fawn color french bulldog

Don't let the name deceive you, these French Bulldogs aren't actually blue (or rather gray) at all.

They have a beautiful fawn coat that's a light tan color. They're referred to as being blue because they carry the dilute gene and can have blue puppies.

Their face, ears, and paw pad color are lighter than regular fawn (because of the dilute) and they normally have light-colored eyes.

Merle French Bulldog

merle french bulldog

Merle French Bulldogs are easily recognizable because of their totally unique appearance.

These dogs have a gene that causes them to have mottled patches of color on a pied or solid coat. Most often with French Bulldogs that are merle, the dominant coat color is cream, fawn, or white mixed with dark gray and black to give them their unique look.

A really popular dog is the Blue Merle French Bulldog. They have a base coat of light gray with dark gray patches. Merles tend to have bright blue eyes and can have different eye colors.

These pups can be quite controversial as there are some health conditions associated with the merle gene. It's really important that Merle French Bulldogs are bred with a pup that has a solid coat color to prevent any future problems.

Black and Tan French Bulldog

One of the most popular French Bulldog colors is a black pup with tan markings – it kind of makes them look like mini, adorable Rottweilers.

These pups have a solid black coat with tan patches around their faces (quite often in the form of eyebrows) and sometimes on their tail.

Blue and Tan French Bulldog

These Frenchies are really cute and very popular. They have a blue coat with tan, fawn, or cream markings on the faces (again, little eyebrows), bellies, and legs.

They're rare French Bulldogs because they inherit a recessive gene that gives them their unique appearance.

Black and White French Bulldog

black and white french bulldog

Black and White French Bulldogs can easily be confused with Piebald pups – but they're actually different!

Piebald French Bulldogs are primarily white and can have patches of different colors. Black and White Frenchies are black with white areas (normally on their chest and neck but on their legs, belly, and face is also possible).

Sable French Bulldog

Sable Frenchies can vary a lot in color. They generally have a fawn-like base coat with hairs that have black tips, giving the impression they have a darker coat.

They can also have a more reddish tinge to their coat color which makes them different from fawn dogs. They're not a particularly rare French Bulldog color but they're still very pretty!


So, even though the American Kennel Club only accepts cream, fawn, and white pups, there are actually so many beautiful French Bulldog colors (and even more combinations that didn't make it onto the list)! Which ones are your favorite?

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