Shock‐induced luminescence from lithium niobate has been studied in the stress range 1.6–21.0 GPa. Both fast‐framing photography and five‐channel optical pyrometry were used to observe the luminescence. The framing photography showed that the emission pattern is heterogeneous for stresses just above the dynamic yield point. A further increase of the stress resulted in a pattern which was essentially homogeneous to within the experimental spatial resolution of about 30 &mgr;m. Narrowband filters and photomultiplier tubes were used in the optical pyrometry experiments. A broadband spectrum with a peak near 700 nm was observed. A plot of the energy dissipated by the shock versus shock stress correlates very well with a plot of the 700‐nm intensity versus shock stress. The mechanism for light emission in lithium niobate appears to be closely related to the dynamic yielding process.