There is provided a white light illumination system including a radiation source, a first luminescent material having a peak emission wavelength of about 570 to about 620 nm, and a second luminescent material having a peak emission wavelength of about 480 to about 500 nm, which is different from the first luminescent material. The LED may be a UV LED and the luminescent materials may be a blend of two phosphors. The first phosphor may be an orange emitting Eu.sup.2+, Mn.sup.2+ doped strontium pyrophosphate, (Sr.sub.0.8 Eu.sub.0.1 Mn.sub.0.1).sub.2 P.sub.2 O.sub.7. The second phosphor may be a blue-green emitting Eu.sup.2+ doped SAE, (Sr.sub.0.90-0.99 Eu.sub.0.01-0.1).sub.4 Al.sub.14 O.sub.25. A human observer perceives the combination of the orange and the blue-green phosphor emissions as white light.