#!/usr/bin/env python import numpy as np import matplotlib.cm as cm from matplotlib.pyplot import figure, show, rc # force square figure and square axes looks better for polar, IMO fig = figure(figsize=(8,8)) ax = fig.add_axes([0.1, 0.1, 0.8, 0.8], polar=True) N = 20 theta = np.arange(0.0, 2*np.pi, 2*np.pi/N) radii = 10*np.random.rand(N) width = np.pi/4*np.random.rand(N) bars = ax.bar(theta, radii, width=width, bottom=0.0) for r,bar in zip(radii, bars): bar.set_facecolor( cm.jet(r/10.)) bar.set_alpha(0.5) show()