Tongue color is an important diagnostic observation in traditional Chinese veterinary medicine (TCVM). Often described in simple but vague terms, such as pale, red and purple, tongue color may vary with individual visual interpretation. For the past 10 years, the author has used a color chart, created from Sherwin-Williams® paint color swatches, to detect subtle variations in these basic tongue color descriptions. In the author’s experience, comparing the tongue color to a standard color chart provides a more objective and repeatable method to evaluate tongue color, than visual interpretation alone. Sherwin-Williams® paint swatch colors are standard among the nearly 4,000 stores nationwide, readily available and free. According to the company, the names of the colors are unlikely to change over time. TCVM practitioners can create their own color chart by collecting 8 Sherwin-Williams® paint color swatches. Each of the 8 paint swatches contains 1 or more related colors and the author presents the tongue colors in 246 dogs and 43 horses using 22 Sherwin-Williams® paint swatch color names. In the author’s experience, normal dog tongues are Sherwin-Williams® “Memorable Rose” in color and normal horse tongues are Sherwin-Williams® “Resounding Rose” in color. The author and the animal’s caretaker decide together which paint swatch best matches the tongue color. The tongue color is recorded in the medical record for future reference to more accurately detect subtle color changes. Further studies are needed to compare specific Sherwin- Williams® tongue colors to the TCVM pattern diagnoses.