This article is about the type of fireworks. For the 1994 album by Elliott Smith, see Roman Candle (album). For the band from Chapel Hill, NC see Roman Candle (band).

A roman candle.

Roman candle fired in a circular pattern.

Roman candle is a type of firework, with a long, thick paper tube that contains layers of "stars" and lifting charges. When ignited, pyrotechnic stars shoot from the tube one at a time. For the self-titled album, see Elliott Smith (album). ... Roman Candle was Elliott Smiths debut album as a solo artist, even though he was still a singer and guitarist for the band Heatmiser. ... Roman candle is a rock and roll band from Chapel Hill, NC. They released The Wee Hours Revue on V2 Records in June 2006. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 780 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1600 × 1200 pixel, file size: 780 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Fourth of July fireworks in San Diego, California New Years Day fireworks at Seaport Village, California Preparing fireworks at Sayn Castle 4th of July fireworks in Portland, Oregon Fireworks at Epcot Center, Florida, USA. See the Video. ...

Roman candles come in a variety of sizes, from small 1/4" diameter for consumers, and up to 3" diameter in professional fireworks displays.

Roman candles are banned in some countries due to their disposition to cause accidents.

Construction and ignition

A Roman candle is a firework constructed with bentonite, lifting charge, pyrotechnic star, black powder, and delay powder. The device is ignited from the top. The delay powder is packed tightly in the tube, so that the flame cannot reach around the sides of the plug of delay composition. It therefore burns slowly; as it is consumed, the flame moves down through the tube. When the flame reaches the topmost pyrotechnic star, the star is ignited. Because the star fits loosely in the tube, the fire spreads around it and ignites the lift charge. The lift charge burns quickly, propelling the star out of the tube, like a bullet from a gun. In doing so it also ignites the layer of delay powder beneath it, and the process repeats. There are several variations on this: Bentonite - USGS Bentonite is an absorbent aluminium phyllosilicate generally impure clay consisting mostly of montmorillonite. ... A lifting charge is an explosive charge, usually consisting of gunpowder, whose primary purpose is to lift pyrotechnic effects into the air. ... Pyrotechnic stars are pellets or simply pieces of pyrotechnic composition which may contain metal powders, salts or other compounds that, when ignited, burn a certain colour or exude a spark effect. ... Black powder was the original gunpowder and practically the only known propellant and explosive until the middle of the 19th century. ...

• Many Chinese Roman candles use clay instead of delay powder and run a length of fuse down the inside of the candle to time the lifts.
• Larger Roman candles will usually add more lift to the highest layers and less to the lower layers in order to cause the stars to lift to the same altitude. This is due to the shorter length of tube available for accelerating the higher stars (see firearms internal ballistics).
• Some very large candles will load comet shells instead of stars.