Merida Coloring Pages
By:
Jennifer Thoa – Content Editor & Designer
Updated:
Free Merida coloring pages: 28 printable PDF designs featuring Merida in archery scenes, classic portraits, and moments with her horse Angus. Each page can be downloaded as a PDF to print or colored online in the browser.
Merida comes from Pixar’s 2012 film Brave, co-directed by Brenda Chapman, who became Pixar’s first female director, and Mark Andrews, who took over the project partway through production. She is the first Disney Princess created by Pixar rather than Walt Disney Animation Studios, and the only one in the lineup voiced by a Scottish actress, Kelly Macdonald, matching her setting in the mythical kingdom of DunBroch. This collection colors the same archer princess and her world across dozens of scenes.
This set works well for a conversation about a different kind of princess story, since Brave centers on Merida’s relationship with her mother rather than a romance, a departure Pixar made on purpose. The archery and horseback pages give an older child more action and detail to work through, while the simpler portraits suit a child just starting to color a face and curly hair.
What Is Inside This Collection
The 28 pages fall into a few clear groups, built around Merida’s expressions, her archery, her horse Angus, and the Scottish Highlands around her.
Classic Merida Portraits
A large share of the set is solo portraits showing Merida standing or posed in her classic look. Color her hair a bright Red-Orange with loose, curly strands, her dress Forest Green over a Blue underlayer, and keep this combination consistent across every portrait so she stays instantly recognizable.
Merida in Action: Archery
Several pages catch Merida mid-motion with her bow, drawing an arrow, or holding her bow and sword together. Color her bow a warm Brown or Gold, and keep her quiver visible with a simple Tan strap, since these action pages are built around her skill as an archer rather than a posed portrait.
Merida and Angus
A group of pages shows Merida with her Clydesdale horse, Angus, riding, cleaning him, or standing together. Color Angus a deep Black or dark Brown, the standard Clydesdale coat, with lighter feathering near the hooves if the design shows it.
Merida in the Scottish Highlands
The rest of the set places Merida in the misty hills and forests of the Highlands, sometimes with the glowing will-o’-the-wisps that guide her through the story. Use soft Blue-Green for the wisps and deep Greens and Grays for the hills so the background reads as misty rather than flat.
What Merida Coloring Pages Do
Curls that wind back on themselves. Merida’s defining feature, animated with a hair system Pixar built specifically for her, is dozens of individual spiraling curls, and coloring them by hand asks a child to follow a line that loops and doubles back rather than running straight, exactly the kind of fine control the American Academy of Pediatrics points to as a core benefit of structured coloring for children ages 2 through 7.
A story about a mother and daughter, not a romance. Brave was written around Merida’s relationship with her mother, Queen Elinor, rather than a love interest, a deliberate break from most princess stories. Coloring pages that show Merida alone or with her family, rather than paired with a prince, reflect that difference.
Steady focus, on and off the page. Merida’s own skill depends on a steady hand and sustained attention, the same qualities a 2005 Art Therapy Journal study linked to structured coloring, which produced measurably lower anxiety than free drawing in the people who tried it. Coloring one of her archery scenes carefully mirrors the focus her character needs to hit a target.
An introduction to Scottish folklore. Will-o’-the-wisps, ancient stone circles, and Highland clan gatherings all draw on real Scottish and British folklore and history, loosely adapted for the film. Coloring these background details gives a child early exposure to a cultural setting outside the more common Western European castle backdrop.
How to Color Merida Pages Well
- Bright red-orange curls: Color her hair a bright Red-Orange or Auburn, and if the design allows for texture, use lighter and darker shades within the same hue to suggest individual curls rather than one flat color.
- Forest green and blue dress: Color her dress Forest Green over a Blue underlayer, her most consistent look throughout the film.
- Warm brown bow: Color her bow and arrows a warm Brown or Tan, keeping the string a thin Gray or Black line so it stays visible against the wood tone.
- Angus in Clydesdale colors: Color her horse Angus a deep Black or dark Brown with lighter Tan feathering near the hooves, the standard look of a Clydesdale horse breed.
- Tartan patterns in blue and green: On pages showing her clan’s tartan, use a mix of Blue, Green, and Black in a simple crossed-line pattern rather than a single flat color, since tartan is defined by its layered stripes.
- Misty Highlands in cool tones: On background-heavy pages, use cool Grays and muted Greens for distant hills to create a sense of Highland mist, saving warmer tones for Merida herself so she stands out.
5 Creative Craft Ideas With Merida Coloring Pages
- Target Practice Wall Poster. Materials: a colored Merida archery page, poster board, glue, and a marker. Glue the colored page to the poster board and draw a simple target beside it with a marker, then mark an X each time a real-life goal or practiced skill is completed.
- Curl Texture Study Card. Materials: two or three copies of a simple Merida portrait, colored pencils in red and orange shades, and cardstock. Color each copy’s hair using a different technique: tight spirals, layered shading, short scribbled strokes, and mount them side by side to compare which technique looks most like real curls.
- Angus Stable Diorama. Materials: a colored Merida and Angus page, a small box, brown paper or cardboard, scissors, and glue. Cut out the colored figures, glue strips of brown cardboard inside the box to look like stable rails, and stand the figures inside for a simple stable scene.
- Tartan Pattern Swatch Cards. Materials: several small squares of cardstock, rulers, and colored pencils in blue, green, and black. Draw simple crossed lines on each square to build a tartan-style pattern, using a different color combination on each card, then use the finished set as a matching or sorting game.
- Family Tapestry Banner. Materials: two or three colored Merida-and-family pages, scissors, a long strip of fabric-like paper, and glue. Cut out each colored scene and glue them in a row along the strip to make a simple hanging banner, echoing the woven tapestry that plays a part in Merida’s story.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Merida coloring pages?
Merida coloring pages are printable designs featuring the Brave character in archery scenes, portraits, and moments with her horse, Angus. This collection offers 28 free designs as printable PDFs or online coloring pages.
Who created Merida, and when did the film debut?
Merida appeared in Pixar’s Brave, released in 2012. Brenda Chapman, Pixar’s first female director, and Mark Andrews co-directed the film, with Kelly Macdonald voicing Merida.
What colors does Merida wear?
Merida has bright red-orange curly hair and typically wears a forest green dress over a blue underlayer, her most consistent color combination in the film.
Why is Merida different from earlier Disney princesses?
Brave centers on Merida’s relationship with her mother rather than a romance, and she was the first Disney Princess created by Pixar instead of Walt Disney Animation Studios.
What is the story behind Disney’s 2013 Merida redesign controversy?
Disney briefly gave Merida a slimmer, more glamorous makeover for official Princess merchandise in 2013. Public backlash, including a petition with over 250,000 signatures, led Disney to restore her original film design.
Who is Angus?
Angus is Merida’s Clydesdale horse, her closest companion throughout the film, and a frequent presence across this coloring collection.
Are Merida coloring pages suitable for young children?
The simple portraits suit ages 3 and 4. The archery and horseback scenes, with more detail, suit ages 5 and up.
What age group are the archery and action scenes best for?
These pages include smaller details like arrows, bowstrings, and motion, so they suit children ages 6 and up with some coloring experience.
Start Coloring
Download any page by clicking the design. No account, email, or payment is required. Pages print directly from the browser at full resolution or open in the online coloring tool for screen use. Share finished pages on Facebook or Pinterest with the share buttons at the top of each design page.
