diff --git a/colour.cpp b/colour.cpp
index 70a514e7..80d5eba5 100644
--- a/colour.cpp
+++ b/colour.cpp
@@ -28,22 +28,6 @@ using util::colour3f;
 using util::colour4f;
 
 
-//-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-#define CONSTANT_COLOUR(NAME,R,G,B)     \
-template <size_t S, typename T>         \
-const util::colour<S,T>                 \
-util::colour<S,T>::NAME =               \
-    util::colour<4,float> (R,G,B,1)     \
-    .template redim<S> ()               \
-    .template cast<T> ()
-
-CONSTANT_COLOUR(WHITE,1,1,1);
-CONSTANT_COLOUR(BLACK,0,0,0);
-CONSTANT_COLOUR(RED,  1,0,0);
-CONSTANT_COLOUR(GREEN,0,1,0);
-CONSTANT_COLOUR(BLUE, 0,0,1);
-
-
 //-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 static const std::map<std::string, colour<4,uint8_t>>
 HTML_COLOURS { {
diff --git a/colour.hpp b/colour.hpp
index 28e81699..faf42f40 100644
--- a/colour.hpp
+++ b/colour.hpp
@@ -34,12 +34,6 @@ namespace util {
         colour<S,U>
         cast (void) const;
 
-        static const colour WHITE;
-        static const colour BLACK;
-        static const colour RED;
-        static const colour BLUE;
-        static const colour GREEN;
-
         static colour from_html (const std::string&);
         static colour from_x11  (const std::string&);
         static colour from_string (const std::string&);
diff --git a/test/colour.cpp b/test/colour.cpp
index 15b9d7e8..7bf4f932 100644
--- a/test/colour.cpp
+++ b/test/colour.cpp
@@ -8,9 +8,6 @@ main (int, char**)
 {
     util::TAP::logger tap;
 
-    // Simple check for symbol visibility
-    tap.expect_eq (util::colour4f::WHITE, util::colour4f (1), "WHITE available");
-
     // Check casting works between intergral and floating formats
     {
         util::colour4f f (1);
@@ -20,8 +17,8 @@ main (int, char**)
     }
 
     // Check lookups are working
-    tap.expect_eq (util::colour4f::from_html ("white"), util::colour4f::WHITE, "HTML lookup");
-    tap.expect_eq ( util::colour4f::from_x11  ("white"), util::colour4f::WHITE, "X11 lookup");
+    tap.expect_eq (util::colour4f::from_html  ("white"), util::colour4f {1}, "HTML lookup");
+    tap.expect_eq ( util::colour4f::from_x11  ("white"), util::colour4f {1}, "X11 lookup");
 
     // Check HSV conversions
     {