Parts of a Candle – Wick, Wax, Flame and Flame Zones

All 8 parts on the diagram

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Whole candle 4

Flame Wax vapor burns here.
Wick Melted wax climbs the wick to the flame. Most wicks are braided cotton.
Wax pool The flame's heat melts it. This liquid wax is what the wick draws up.
Wax The flame uses it up a little at a time.

Flame enlarged 4

Outer zone (veil) It is the flame's hottest part. It is so faint that most of it cannot be seen.
Luminous zone Tiny specks of carbon glow here. It is the brightest zone, not the hottest, and is also called the yellow zone.
Dark zone It holds wax vapor that has not burned yet. That is because little air reaches it.
Blue zone Plenty of air reaches it, so the fuel burns cleanly. In a real flame it burns blue, which gives it the name.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it: National Candle Association, Candle Science, https://candles.org/candle-science/ (wax, wick, flame, how the liquid wax is drawn up the wick; the blue zone at the base, the dark region, the yellow region and the outer veil, which is the hottest part), and Elements of a Candle, https://candles.org/elements-of-a-candle/ (wax and wick); Wikipedia, text only, Candle, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle (wick, wax, wax pool; the blue zone, dark zone, luminous zone and outer zone or veil) and Candle wick, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle_wick (braided cotton, the pool of melted wax); Michael Faraday, The Chemical History of a Candle, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/14474/pg14474.txt (the cup of melted wax, the wick, capillary attraction, the dark part of the flame); and R. S. McDaniel, Essentially Candles (2001), read through the full-text search of https://archive.org/details/essentiallycandl0000mcda (wax pool). Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A candle has only a few parts: the wax, the wick and the flame, with a pool of melted wax between them. The flame has four zones, and the second drawing names each one.

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How the parts work together

The flame's heat melts wax close to the wick, which makes the wax pool. The wick draws the liquid wax up. Near the flame the wax turns to vapor, and the vapor is what burns.

The zones of the flame

The blue zone is at the base, where plenty of air gets in. The dark zone sits right above the wick. The luminous zone is the big bright part that gives the light. The outer zone, or veil, is a thin edge around the whole flame.

The brightest zone is not the hottest one. The luminous zone glows most; the faint outer zone is hotter.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a candle called?

The wax, which is the fuel; the wick, the string up the middle; and the flame. When the candle burns, a pool of melted wax forms around the wick.

What are the parts of a flame?

A candle flame has a blue zone at its base, a dark zone just above the wick, a large luminous zone that gives the light, and a thin outer zone, also called the veil.

What is the hottest part of a candle flame?

The outer zone, or veil: the faint edge where the flame meets the air. It reaches about 1,400 degrees Celsius, which is about 2,550 degrees Fahrenheit.

How does a candle burn?

The flame melts wax close to the wick. The liquid wax climbs the wick, and the heat turns it into a vapor. The vapor burns in the flame, and that heat melts more wax.

What is the string in a candle called?

The wick. Most wicks are braided cotton, and the wick carries the melted wax up to the flame.