In colour illusion, when a perceptible object sensibly appears to have some colour quality it lacks, it is tempting to say that one is nonetheless aware of an actual instance of the ‘illusorily’ presented colour (the one that the object appears to have). Traditionally in the perception literature, sense-datum theorists have been able to accommodate this intuition, while direct realists – following J. L. Austin’s lead – have generally felt forced to reject it. In the present talk, I explain how direct realists can accommodate this intuition even within a broadly Austinian framework. The key will be to offer a novel analysis of what it takes for something to objectively look to possess a colour that it does not have.