Jedi With Yellow Lightsabers: A Special Class of Jedi

Among the ranks of the Jedi, yellow lightsaber users hold a special place or role within the Order. In some cases, this role is a special designation, as seen with the Jedi Temple Guard. However, the yellow lightsaber’s meaning is also believed to encompass more than a role — signifying a Jedi’s ascension or transition to a new phase of their journey. As seen with Rey Skywalker at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, her use of a yellow lightsaber could symbolize the balance she found within herself as well as the idea that she is the hope for the future of the Jedi, tasked with forging a new path forward after the deaths of Leia Organa Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Kylo Ren.

Other Yellow Lightsaber Wielders

The yellow lightsaber has never been widely seen, but it does have a significant history behind it, albeit a history that has been partly pushed into non-canon Legends status. Here are a few sightings of yellow lightsabers:

• Jedi Sentinels: The Jedi Sentinel were known for their use of the yellow lightsaber. In the Jedi Order, the Sentinels essentially stood between the Jedi Guardians (who emphasized fighting skills) and the Jedi Consulars (who emphasized diplomatic abilities), and blended aspects of each. The Jedi Sentinel are now considered non-canon.
• Jedi Temple Guard: The Jedi Temple Guard wielded yellow lightsabers while performing their duties as protectors of the Jedi Temple. These masked guards, considered part of the current Canon, can be seen with their yellow sabers in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
• Asajj Ventress: Some fans may point to bounty hunter Asajj Ventress’ yellow lightsaber as a symbolic embodiment behind the meaning or idea of this blade color. This former Sith Apprentice acquired her yellow lightsaber on the black market. As she did not craft it herself, it’s fair to say that Asajj Ventress’ wielding of a yellow lightsaber is coincidental at best.
• Ahsoka Tano is widely credited with using a short yellow lightsaber, or shoto, during the Clone Wars, but some commentators have pointed out that its coloration is really yellow-green. If so, Ahsoka’s saber should not be judged to have the same symbolic significance as a true yellow lightsaber.

Luke Skywalker’s Yellow Lightsaber

In recent years, Marvel Comics, which is owned by Disney, picked up the story gap in between Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi. In the Star Wars comics, Luke Skywalker mulls over the utility of a lightsaber after losing his hand in a duel against his father, Darth Vader. In the aftermath of Cloud City, Luke discovers a replacement yellow lightsaber to wield before the construction of his final green lightsaber.

It’s in this storyline that Luke Skywalker slowly realizes that the lightsaber is more than just a tool; it can be a symbol of all that the Jedi stand for, of hope, unity, and growth. Similar to how it’s depicted with Rey, Luke Skywalker’s yellow lightsaber embodies the balance and development he’s gone through. Whereas Rey ends with a yellow lightsaber, Luke will wield it, presumably, until he grows into his final role as a Jedi Consular and beacon of peace.

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The Future of the Yellow Lightsaber?

Due to the events of The Rise of Skywalker, the yellow lightsaber is likely to become chiefly linked to Rey. After all, she is the one Jedi believed to have constructed her own yellow lightsaber in the current Canon. Even Luke, who wielded a yellow lightsaber briefly in the comics, found his rather than creating his own. It remains to be seen what the future holds for Rey and her newly created saber, but there is no doubt that yellow has always been associated with the Jedi cause. In all likelihood, it will remain so. But it’s also likely that Rey’s influence will eventually expand the meaning of yellow as a lightsaber color.

Perhaps it is not a coincidence that the color yellow is situated between green (the Jedi color) and red (the Sith color) on the visible spectrum and stands closer to the former than the latter. That would certainly befit an individual who is a blood relative of the odious Emperor Palpatine (Darth Sidious) but rejects everything he stood for. 

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