Colored hibonite-type oxides with a general formula CaAl 12-x M x O 19 were prepared by solid state reactions through M-site substitution of aluminum with various di-, tri-and tetravalent cations (M = Fe, Mn, Cr, Cu, Ga, In, Ti, Ge, Sn or any combination thereof), where Fe, Mn, Cr and Cu are chromophore ions. Neutron Rietveld refinements of CaAl 9.5 Fe 2.5 O 19 , CaAl 11.5 Mn 0.5 O 19 and CaAl 10 SnMnO 19 compounds show that Fe 3+ and Mn 2+ prefer to occupy the tetrahedral site, while Mn 3+ has an evident preference for both tetrahedral and octahedral sites and Sn 4+ for octahedral site in the hibonite structure. No oxygen vacancies are found by structural analyses, and magnetic measurement confirms divalent Mn for CaAl 11 Sn 0.5 Mn 0.5 O 19 and trivalent Mn for CaAl 11.5 Mn 0.5 O 19. Diffuse reflectance spectra reveal that the d-d transitions occurring in transition metal chromophores are mainly responsible for the observed colors. The colored powders exhibit fairly high reflectance in the near-infrared region (7502500 nm) which makes them potential candidates for cool pigment applications. Synthesis and characterization methods are briefly reviewed for hibonite type of oxides, especially those containing Fe, Mn, Cr and Cu.