Meaning of the colors in the Redmine Gantt chart and how they are decided

Updated on 2026-02-25 • Created on 2026-02-25 • ENDO Hiroyuki

In the Redmine Gantt chart, you can understand the state of a project at a glance from the color of the bars (horizontal bars) and the text color of the issue names.

Bar colors

A bar in the Gantt chart consists of three elements.

The red line is the progress line

Color	Meaning	Details
Green	Progress (completed part)	Shows how far the work has progressed from the start date, according to % Done.
Red	Delay	The part that is missing compared with "the amount that should be finished by today".
Gray	Planned period	The whole period from the "Start date" to the "Due date" of the issue.

2. Text color of issue names and numbers

The color of the text shown on the left side is decided in the following order of priority.

Gray (with strikethrough): closed

State: An issue whose status is a closed status
Note: If the issue is closed, the text is this color (gray), whatever the % Done value is

Orange: behind schedule

State: The work is behind the pace that is needed to finish the planned amount by today
Rule: The text is orange when "the planned completion date calculated from % Done" is today or earlier
Caution: Even if the due date is in the future (tomorrow or later), the text is orange if the pace of work is slow

Red: overdue

State: The due date has passed, but the status is not a closed status
Caution: Even if % Done is 100%, the text is red if the status is not a closed status

Blue: normal or planned for the future

State: None of the above applies
Rule: The issue is progressing well, or its start date has not come yet

3. Why does the text become orange or red?

Redmine decides the color automatically with the following logic.

First, check whether the issue is closed ➡ If it is closed, gray (highest priority)
Next, check the pace ➡ If the progress has not reached today, orange
Next, check the due date ➡ If the issue is overdue, red
If there is no problem ➡ blue

Orange means that Redmine is telling you, "At this pace, the issue will not be finished by the due date." For example, the text becomes orange when 4 days of a 5-day task have passed but % Done is only 10%.