In this work, we have synthesized a new kind of inorganic yellow pigments Y2Ce2-xFexO7+delta (x = 0.00, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15) with high near-infrared (NIR) reflectance, using the Sol-Gel method. The substitution of Fe3+ for Ce4+ in Y2Ce2O7 decreased the band gap of pigments from 3.28 eV to 3.15 eV attributed to O-2p to Fe-3d charge transfer transitions, which resulted in the color of powder pigments samples changing from ivory white to light yellow. The pigments possess high NIR reflectance (>80.6%) in the range of 700-2500 nm, and the coatings colored with pigments also possess high values (>65.3%) of the solar reflectance too. We have evaluated the indoor air temperature difference of pigment coatings used as building roof materials. In conclusion, these pigments could well serve as cool colorants. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.