In judo, belt colour shows rank. The sequence used in France, and widely across continental Europe, has six belts before black: white, yellow, orange, green, blue and brown. Children also move through two-colour belts in between. After black, a handful of very senior judoka wear a red and white belt, and finally a red one.
This guide follows the French federation (France Judo). Grading systems differ from country to country: British Judo, USA Judo and Judo Canada each set their own belt colours and requirements, so check with your club.
The order of coloured belts
Grades below black belt are called kyu, and they count down. White is 6th kyu, yellow 5th, orange 4th, green 3rd, blue 2nd and brown 1st kyu. So 1st kyu is the last step before black, not the first.
From black belt on, grades are dan, which count up: 1st dan, 2nd dan and so on up to 10th dan.
Two-colour belts for children
To let children see progress every season, French clubs have used half-step belts since the early 1990s: white-yellow, yellow-orange and orange-green. They apply up to the minimes age group (13 and 14). The full order then reads: white, white-yellow, yellow, yellow-orange, orange, orange-green, green, blue, brown.
The youngest children, aged 4 and 5, sometimes wear a white belt with coloured horizontal stripes. At that age the belt rewards turning up and joining in; it is not a test.
What age for each belt?
Clubs affiliated to France Judo work from a minimum-age table: white-yellow at 7, yellow at 8, yellow-orange at 9, orange at 10, orange-green at 11, green at 12, blue at 13 and brown at 14. Black belt, 1st dan, is not awarded before 15.
The table sets the usual pace: roughly one belt a season for a child who starts around 6. Adult beginners are not bound by these ages. They go through the solid-colour belts only, at a pace set by their instructor.
Who awards coloured belts?
Kyu grades are awarded in the club by a qualified instructor, usually at a grading held at the end of a term or season. There is no national exam for coloured belts.
The instructor looks at the techniques on each belt's syllabus (breakfalls, throws or nage-waza, groundwork or ne-waza) and at behaviour on the mat: respect for your partner and the bow.
Black belt: the 1st dan grading
In France, the Sports Code reserves the award of dan grades to a special committee of the governing federation, the CSDGE of France Judo. Gradings are run by the regional leagues in front of a panel, and no judge may examine their own students.
The exam is split into units. First comes kata: on the competition track, candidates perform the first three sets of the nage-no-kata; on the technical track, open to older candidates (born in 2007 or earlier for the 2024-25 season), they perform the full nage-no-kata or the kodokan-goshin-jitsu. Then a technical test: 12 techniques, 6 throws and 4 groundwork techniques chosen by the panel, plus 2 self-defence responses of the candidate's choice.
On top of that come fighting effectiveness and a commitment unit: a half-day course as a competition official and helping run an official event over two half-days. That last unit can be completed from brown belt onwards.
Beyond black: red and white, then red
From 1st to 5th dan the belt stays black. Minimum ages rise with each grade: 17 for 2nd dan, 20 for 3rd, 24 for 4th and 29 for 5th, according to French club grading booklets. From 6th to 8th dan a red and white belt may be worn; 9th and 10th dan wear red. France Judo's rules still include gradings up to 7th dan, judged against criteria suited to the rank: a 5th dan candidate is not assessed like a 1st dan candidate.
Where do the colours come from?
The kyu and dan system comes from Jigoro Kano, who founded Kodokan judo in Tokyo. But coloured belts did not exist in Japanese judo: in Japan, adults below dan grade still wear white, then brown.
The colours are a Western invention. Mikinosuke Kawaishi, who opened the Club Franco-Japonais in Paris in July 1936, took up a system devised by the English judoka around Gunji Koizumi and attached a teaching syllabus to it. His reasoning: European students needed to see progress more often. The success of the Kawaishi method spread the colours through France and much of the world.
How to tie and care for your belt
The belt goes twice around the waist and is tied flat with a square knot, both ends the same length. It sits over the jacket at hip level, not at the waist like a trouser belt. When you move up a grade, the instructor often hands over the new belt in front of the group at the end of class.
Frequently asked questions
What is the order of judo belts?
In the French system: white (6th kyu), yellow (5th), orange (4th), green (3rd), blue (2nd), brown (1st kyu), then black (1st dan). Children also go through two-colour belts: white-yellow, yellow-orange and orange-green.
How old do you have to be for a judo black belt?
In France, at least 15. A child who starts around 6 can reach brown belt at 14 at the earliest. Other national federations set their own age rules.
Who awards judo belts?
Coloured belts are awarded by the club instructor. Dan grades, from black belt up, can only be awarded by the national federation: in France, the CSDGE committee of France Judo.
What does a red and white judo belt mean?
It may be worn from 6th to 8th dan, grades that recognise decades of teaching or service to judo. 9th and 10th dan wear a red belt.
Why do children wear two-colour belts?
Half-step belts let children mark progress every season instead of waiting years for the next solid colour. French clubs have used them since the early 1990s, up to age 14.
This guide was written with the help of artificial intelligence, then reviewed and approved by our editors.