Novel environmentally friendly inorganic orange pigments based on Ca-14(Al1-xFex)(10)Zn6O35 (0 <= x <= 0.30) were synthesized using a solid-state reaction method. The Fe3+-doped samples strongly absorbed visible light at wavelengths from 380 to 490 nm due to the d-d ((6)A(1) -> E-4) transition of Fe3+. In addition, the optical absorption around 600 nm, corresponding to the (6)A(1) -> T-4(2) transition of Fe3+, also increased with increasing the Fe3+ concentration. The sample color gradually turned from yellow to orange as the Fe3+ content increased.