Symptoms

Symptoms of color blindness can vary. Different people see different shades of colors. You may not be able to see red, green, and blue or variations of those colors. If the color vision problem is not severe, you may not realize that you are seeing something different than a person who has normal color vision.

People with less severe color vision problems see variations of colors. They may not be able to tell the difference between red and green but can see blue and yellow.

People with severe color vision problems cannot see color at all. They see only shades of gray, black, and white.

Inherited color vision problems affect both eyes equally; acquired color vision problems may occur in only one eye or may affect one eye more than the other. Inherited problems with color vision are usually present at birth and do not change. An acquired color vision problem may change over time as a person ages or during the course of the disease or injury that causes the problem.