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Module 5
ADVANCED LEVEL
Printed and bound by Alison Demarco.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
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INDEX
HISTORY
COLOUR IN HISTORY
COLOUR IN RELATION TO DEATH
HERALDRY
PIONEERS OF COLOUR
COLOUR IN WAR
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HISTORY
INTRODUCTION
The effects of colour on life must have been of great significance to early human beings, whose
very existence was governed by light and darkness. Most living things appear to be vitalised by the
bright reds, oranges and yellows of daylight, and calmed and rejuvenated by the blues, indigos and
violets of the night. For the ancients, the colours that make up sunlight were each considered to
show a different aspect of the divine and to influence different qualities of life. Colour is therefore
an important feature in the symbolism of ancient cultures throughout the world and the origins of
healing with colour in Western civilisation can be traced back to the mythology of ancient Egypt
and Greece.
THE ANCIENT WORLD
According to ancient Egyptian mythology, the art of healing with colour was founded by the God
Thoth. He was known to the Ancient Greeks as Hermes Trismegistus, literally ‘Hermes thricegreatest’, because he was also credited with various works on mysticism and magic. Teachings
attributed to him include the use of colour in healing. In the Hermetic tradition, the Ancient
Egyptians and Greeks used coloured minerals, stones, crystals, salves and dyes as remedies and
painted treatment sanctuaries in various shades of colour.
Animals that existed with man are depicted in cave drawings found in different parts of the world.
These were hunted by man for meat. This is shown in the form of art and some of these drawings
date back ten thousand years. Mineral pigments were used to paint these and they lasted throughout
the centuries due to the constant temperature and humidity of the limestone caves where they were
found. The making of these pigments was an advanced art for early man . The colours used were
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mostly browns, reds and blacks, which were made of natural clays and burnt charcoal. Everything
in life was coloured and man tried to symbolise and copy it. Identification was made with the sun,
the skies, the earth, the stars and the rainbow. Man looked upon these symbols and copied them.
Simple colours seemed to go with the primitive. When aniline dyestuffs were brought to the
Indians of the southwestern United States, their textiles became peacock blues, gaudy magentas and
sulphur yellows. Colour is a language and every hue has a definite significance. However, it is
difficult to find meanings attached to the colours of early man. Darwin wrote, “We know that the
colour of skin is regarded by men of all races as a highly important element of their beauty.” The
Egyptians chose extreme redness. For the peoples of the north, whiteness; for Orientals, yellowness
or goldness and for Negroes, extreme blackness.
The Egyptians used henna to stain their bodies red.
Red was exaggerated when they portrayed
themselves. The American Indian is popularly known today as a true Red Man. Red became the
most significant of colours. In the cultures that rose along the Nile in northern Africa and along the
Tigress and Euphrates in Asia Minor, red was dominant. Jewellery had its origin in mysticism.
Although rings, necklaces and bracelets enhanced appearance, they were used in general to protect
the wearer from disease and the “evil eye” and also to bring favor from the gods. The Egyptians
understood colour and used purple as the colour of the earth. Amethyst became the talisman of the
warrior and gave him courage and calm to go forward and be victorious. They used blue on the
ceilings of their temples with drawings of the constellations. Their floors were often green or blue,
relating to the meadows of the Nile.
The colour blue is associated with the Virgin Mary and relates to an ancient attitude. Many tribes
of Indians in America, including Apache and Cherokee, identify colour with the four quarters of the
earth. The American Indian has colour for the world to see as he sees it - generally black.
However, his higher world may be made up of many colours. The colours of the masks, the
tattooing of his face and the effigies they make are full of significance. He also applies colour to his
songs, ceremonies, games and prayers to invoke many different things - rain, harvest, peace and
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The Hopi, who are involved in painting, will place yellow colour, which
represents the north, first, then place the green or blue of the west, the red of the south and the
white of the east. The American Indian symbolises red for day and black for night. Red, yellow
and black are masculine, whilst white, blue and green are feminine colours. To the Cherokee, red is
for his success and triumph, while blue denotes defeat or turbulence. White is for happiness and
peace and black is for death. Their prayer sticks are bright green to call the rain and red in time of
war. The American Indian relates colour to the elements of fire, wind, water and earth. Evil was
thought to be repelled through certain rituals, charms, colours and chants. Marduke carried a red
stone shaped like an eye between his teeth to overcome all evil influences. The Egyptians wore the
crucifix to defy the red Satan.
Interests in the physical nature of colour developed in Ancient Greece alongside the concept of the
elements – air, fire, water and earth.
These fundamental constituents of the universe were
associated with the qualities of coldness, heat, wetness and dryness and also with four humours or
bodily fluids – choler or yellow bile, blood (red), phlegm (white) and melancholy or black bile.
These were thought to arise in four organs – the spleen, heart, liver and brain – and to determine
emotional and physical disposition. Health involved the proper balance of these humours and
disease would result if their mixture was in an unbalanced proportion. Colour was intrinsic to
healing, which involved restoring the balance. Coloured garments, oils, plasters, ointments and
salves were used to treat disease.
By the end of the Classical period in Greece, these principles were included in the scientific
framework that was to remain largely unchanged in the West until the Middle Ages. In the first
century AD, Aurelius Cornelius followed the doctrines established by Pythagoras and Hippocrates
and included the use of coloured ointments, plasters and flowers in several treatises on medicine.
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4500 B.C. To decorate the walls of their temples, which were constructed of limestone, sandstone,
alabaster and granite, the Egyptians made use of bright colours. Colour was also added to their
sculpture. Now the statue’s of Princesses showed red lips, black hair and eyebrows, as well as
coloured necklaces of mostly red and blue’s. The statue of Khafre is of stone covered with fine
stucco and painted. The statue of the Sheik el-Beled is of wood covered with fine linen and painted.
The walls of temples and tombs were covered with harmonious murals done in flat, even tones of
colour.
3000 B.C. The Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans and Persians built with clay bricks. They
covered these bricks with glazed tiles of brilliant colours on both the inside and outside of their
buildings. Their use of colour was adapted to their tropical or semi-tropical environment. Bright
colours were right for their clear skies and brilliant sunlight. They sought dazzling brilliance and
applied glazed tiles of bright colours to the facades of their buildings, which glistened in the
sunlight. Persian interior decorations were designed to be seen in shade and included rose, flame
red, white and gold on a lustrous blue ground. The Persians occupied a colorful region at high
altitude, where the air was clear, and they took full advantage of the situation. The beautiful glazed
tiles on their buildings made an imposing spectacle, visible from a considerable distance. Turquoise
blue, burnt-out pinks, pale greens, dull yellows, violets, blues, browns, ivory whites, lilacs, yellows,
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greens, both pure and in combination, were included in the colouring of their decorations and in
designs over white inscriptions and gold arabesques.
1500 B.C. The Egyptians had a high degree of civilization at this time. The walls of their temples,
inside and outside, were decorated with low relief’s painted in bright, flat colours. The bright
sunlight created deep shadows within and these shaded interiors were adorned in red, blue, green,
yellow, white and gold. Glazed tiles were applied to the ceilings and floors and were supplemented
by mural paintings. By this time, the Egyptians were producing colorful jewellery and glass vases.
A typical vase was dark blue, with a pattern in light blue, yellow and white. The temple of Karnak
at Thebes, a new structure at the time, was probably the most colorful edifice ever constructed by
man. All the colours used were strong - there were no tints.
Red, yellow, green and blue
predominated.
About 1500 B.C. the Greeks were enjoying a well-organized civilization. They decorated their
temples with black, brown, white, green, purple, yellow, red and blue. They applied flat, simple
and pure colour. It correlated with and was subordinate to the architectural design. White marbles
were coated with ivory wax. On the temples, the colour was applied mainly to the upper part of the
building. In the retaining walls, the peristyle, the column shaft and its base, there was little or no
colouring. The Greeks painted their statues and sculpted relief’s, but not to imitate nature. They
used colour in this connection for purposes of design and the relative position of the object, rather
than the subject itself, dictated the colour used. Thus, the hair and beard of a figure might be
painted blue or otherwise. The painting of such figures was a specialized art and was seldom done
by the sculptor. Ivory carvings were painted and gilded.
About 1500 B.C. the Romans constructed temples of concrete and brick, faced with marble and
stucco. Their use of colour was borrowed from the Greeks.
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450 B.C. The Greeks constructed marble buildings and decorated them with sculptured relief’s,
which were painted. Red and blue predominated, but were relieved by touches of green, yellow,
black and gilding. Although there is no trace of colour in the remains of the Parthenon now, it was
originally highly colourful.
The triglyphs and decorations above and below were in blue and the string courses, metopes and
undercutting of the cornice were in red. Greek players presenting Homer’s “Odyssey” were clothed
in purple to signify the sea wanderings of Ulysses. When presenting “The Iliad” the players wore
scarlet to represent bloody battles. Evil spirits were usually daubed with green, like reptiles, and the
bacchantes smeared themselves with wine dregs or mulberry juice.
A.D. 400 The ancient Greek town of Byzantium, renamed Constantinople, had been made the
capital of the Roman Empire during the 4th Century of the Christian Era. Christianity had become
the leading religion. Byzantine colouring was much influenced by the Persians, Egyptians and
Greeks, from whose buildings many treasures were “borrowed” to beautify the new capital city.
The temples were often altered for use as Christian churches. They were plain outside, but the
interiors were richly decorated with gilding and mosaics.
A.D. 500 For thousands of years civilizations had been developing all over the world and by the
year 500 many of them showed a high degree of perfection. In India, temples were resplendent
with elaborate carvings, brilliant colouring applied with paint, mosaics and inlays made from
precious stones. From various associations, through the ages colour had developed a symbolism in
the Far East and was used in accordance with that code. The roof tiles of Chinese royal buildings
were yellow.
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The roof tiles of private dwellings were green or blue, according to the rank of the owner. The
beams and underside of the projecting roof and the interiors were elaborately ornamented and
decorated with gold and vermilion lacquer and inlay. Blue was the predominating colour effect of
the temples and included tiles of deep cobalt. Pagodas were embellished with beautiful glazed tiles
in deep purplish blue, rich green, yellow, red and turquoise blue. Wooden statues were covered
with gesso and painted.
The exteriors of Japanese Buddhist temples were usually plain, but the interiors were lavishly
adorned. The timbers were decorated with vermilion, blue, green, gilding and lacquer and the walls
with fresco paintings. Mother-of-Pearl and silver were worked into the ceilings, rich colour and
gilding into the walls and black lacquer inlaid with ivory was used for partitions, etc.
A.D. 650 The Mohammedans in their mosques used wood, plaster and stone, ornamented with
ivory, marble and coloured glass inlay. Fresco paintings decorated the walls, reflecting strong reds,
yellows and blues, supplemented with gold.
A.D. 1000
The Christians were constructing their buildings of brick, stone and wood. The
ornamentation of the interiors was not only decorative, but had instructive value and was in the
mediums of colourful fresco paintings and mosaic. In Constantinople, in the Church of Santa
Sophia, built about 550, the interior was elaborately adorned and very colourful. Marbles of green,
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rose, white and deep red were used. The ceiling was of gold. Coloured enamels were applied and
ivory carvings were painted and gilded.
Where civilizations had developed in the Americas, bright colours abounded. The Mayans, who
occupied lands now known as Yucatan and Guatemala, built of limestone, cement and concrete.
Their structures were painted outside and inside with red, yellow, blue, black, purple and several
greens. Murals were painted in both wet and dry plaster.
The Aztecs in what is now Mexico built with concrete, faced with cut limestone. Their structures,
like those of the Mayans, were highly coloured both inside and outside with paint and mosaics.
The Incas, whose influence extended over a large part of south America and was concentrated in
what is now Peru, Bolivia and Chile, used colour lavishly. For the most part, they built with granite
and applied bright colours to all parts of their structures, like the peoples of central America. They
wove it into their fabrics and decorated their utensils and equipment with it.
The peoples of central Africa and Polynesia, the American Indian and the Eskimo all found colour
to be indispensable to their happiness and have invariably made lavish use of bright pure colours on
their edifices, tents, boats, utensils, apparel, etc.
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Europe of the Renaissance and After
In most of the smaller European buildings, colour has been frequently applied to the exteriors.
These structures have mostly been constructed of wood and plaster. After the Renaissance, larger
stone buildings bore no other exterior decoration than unpainted carving.
Venetian architecture included facades of various coloured marbles, with sculptured ornament
enhanced by gold leaf, which were applied on flat grounds of ultramarine blue.
Stained glass windows played an important part in the decorative scheme of the Gothic cathedrals
of France. In addition to these windows, the walls, capitals, statues and ornamental details of the
churches were coloured and gilded.
In the sixteenth century in Spain the working of iron became a fine art. The skilled artisans applied
or inlaid brass, copper, gold and other contrasting metals to the iron for decoration. They also
employed enamels and gilding. Red velvet was found effective - or stained wood - as a background
for pierced work or for pieces in which the motif was of an open design.
God was supposed to have given Moses five mystic colours. These were red, blue, purple, white
and gold. The usage of these was prescribed by divine command (Sarum ritual). Only two colours
were used by the Greek church, of which red was for Lent. The Roman church used red, green,
violet, black and white. Red has been the usual Sunday colour in church, as well as the colour of
penitence on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, Easter Even, Whitsun Even, etc. White has become
symbolic of Eastertide; yellow of confessional feasts; brown or gray, with violet, of penitence.
Violet or amethyst has been associated with passion and suffering in the church, as related to love
and truth. The trinity of colour was red (divine love), blue (truth and constancy), and yellow or
gold (divine glory).
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Through the ages, the use of colour has been characteristic of the nature of the people and the
political, social, and economic conditions under which they lived. It has reflected their energy,
power, wealth and cultural development.
Red – Blood
As used by the church in festivals of martyred saints and the Holy Cross, red signifies divine love,
charity, martyrdom for faith. The emblem of human life - Adam - means red. Red stands for health
(India). It also represents tragedy, anger (seeing red), shame (scarlet woman), courage, bravery,
battle, strength, passion, love, guilt (red-handed).
By association with blood and fire, red
symbolizes heat, war, hate, cruelty, power, destruction (Japan), danger, anarchy, revolution. Red is
used by the Chinese in connection with marriage. In England, it is the colour of the Royal Family.
Red stone was always used by the American Indian for his calumet. Pink is associated with beauty,
tenderness and femininity.
Orange – Autumn
Orange symbolizes rich harvests, plenty, abundance and completeness of life. Because it is the
colour of flame, it signifies also light and heat.
Yellow - Fire and Sunlight
Warmth, light, sun, marriage, fruitfulness (India), gaudiness, gaiety, luster, enlivenment and glory
(divine) are all included in the symbolic use of yellow. It is the royal colour of the Ch’ing dynasty
of China, the colour sacred to Brahma, Confucius and Buddha.
Further meanings are derived from the colour of gold - glory, power, wealth and greed; from the
yellow robes of Athena, wisdom; from the treachery of Judas - portrayed by early artists as wearing
a dull yellow robe - deceit, cowardice, inconstancy. In France in the tenth Century, the doors of the
houses of criminals were painted yellow. Saffron robes were used by confessors in the church.
From the association with cowardice, we use the expressions: “He’s yellow”; “he shows a yellow
streak”. To indicate indecency, we speak of “yellow journalism”. From the association with
sickness and disease, we use a yellow flag for quarantine.
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Brown - Rocks, Trees, Earth, etc.
Solidity, strength, vigor, maturity and concentration (brown study) are symbolized by brown. It is,
besides, a colour of penitence in the church.
Green - Grass, Foliage of Springtime, etc.
Youth, freshness, life, adolescence, growth, cheerfulness, hope, plenty, immortality (Egypt), faith,
contemplation, memory, baptism (pale green), immaturity and inexperience (greenhorn). It is used
by the church from Trinity to Advent Sunday. In early history in some instances green was
considered a sacred colour (Druids of England). A Mohammedan wears green on his turban when
he has made the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is the colour of Ireland (shamrock), the colour of victory
(palm branch), the colour of peace (olive branch), the colour of Neptune (green sea). It is also the
royal colour of the Ming dynasty. Green is sometimes associated with jealousy (the green-eyed
monster).
Blue – Sky
Serenity (bluebird of happiness), loyalty (true blue), courage, fidelity, constancy, sincerity, piety,
love of good works, hope, heaven, dignity, truth, generosity, divinity, peace, Christian prudence,
sedateness, intelligence, aristocracy (blue blood), melancholy (feeling blue, blues singer). To the
Cherokee Indian, it is the sign of tribulation and in Mexico it is the colour of mourning.
Purple and Violet
Probably because of its costliness, purple in early history was used only by royalty or the state. It
was used by Roman Emperors (personification of Jupiter). It signifies secrets, dignity of justice,
mysteries, heroic virtue. Purple is the colour of penitence in the church in connection with the
saints, Advent, Lent, etc.
White - Snow, etc.
In the church, white has long been used in connection with festivals of angels, the Virgin Mary,
Christ, the saints and also with matrimonial ceremonies. It symbolizes purity, simplicity, the
uncontaminated, the untouched, the unadulterated, innocence, truth, chastity, modesty, light,
liveliness (without gaiety). The Chinese use it for mourning. Purity (lily), peace (dove), outward
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purity only (whitewash), surrender and humility (white flag), timidity (white feather), untried
manhood (white shield), the delicate (white skin), the feminine, are all symbolized by white.
Black - Absence of Light
Associated with darkness, fear, gloom, terror, dread, death, mourning, woe, wickedness, crime, evil,
horror, as indicated in expressions such as: “black sheep”, “black tidings”, “black soul”, “black
looks”, “black art” - a term applied to witchcraft, secret wisdom, diabolical power; “black flag” to
piracy and lawlessness. In the church, black is a symbol associated with Good Friday, funerals and
memorial services. In combination, black and white signify humility, melancholy, resolution,
solemnity, prudence and secrecy.
Grey
Grey, having the attributes of black and white, at times denotes tribulation, penance, humility, age,
matured judgment, sadness, quietude, dreariness, fear, solitude, death, sobriety and depression.
COLOUR IN HISTORY
Blood and bandages are symbolized by the red and white stripes of the barber’s pole, from a time
when the barber also served as a surgeon. Three gold balls are the sign of the pawnbroker. Red
lights indicate the establishments of “scarlet women”.
Red is also used universally by fire
departments. Green lights mark some police headquarters. The Red Cross symbolizes a broad
humanitarian service. Blue is most widely used in uniforms. Undertakers and religious workers
wear black. Dairy vehicles are usually white. Doctors and nurses wear white. Black or brown
shirts have symbolized certain political groups. The symbol of the clerk in business is the white
collar. Gaudy colours and colour combinations are associated with sports and the circus. In some
places, broad black and white stripes are the mark of the prisoner.
“True Blue” originally referred to a staunch Presbyterian, because the Covenanters adopted blue for
their colour, as opposed to red, the royal colour. “Blue Ribbon” comes from the blue ribbon worn
by the Knights of the Garter. It is the highest mark of distinction that can be worn. (Encyclopedia
Britannica).
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The universities and colleges of America have used the following hues on gown, braid or tassel to
identify major faculties since 1893:

scarlet - theology

blue - philosophy

white - arts and letters

green - medicine

purple - law

golden yellow - science

orange - engineering

pink - music
In Greek mythology, Iris, the goddess of the rainbow and the messenger of Zeus and Hera in
Homer’s “Iliad”, was the personification of the rainbow and was portrayed as a young virgin
clothed in bright colours, wearing golden wings and carrying a staff and a vase.
In Norse
mythology, the rainbow was the bridge between Midgard (home of man) and Asgard (home of the
gods).
Animals that existed with man are depicted in cave drawings found in different parts of the world.
These were hunted by man for meat. This is shown in the form of art and some of these drawings
date back ten thousand years. Mineral pigments were used to paint these and they lasted throughout
the centuries due to the constant temperature and humidity of the limestone caves where they were
found. The making of these pigments was an advanced art for early man . The colours used were
mostly browns, reds and blacks, which were made of natural clays and burnt charcoal. Everything
in life was coloured and man tried to symbolise and copy it. Identification was made with the sun,
the skies, the earth, the stars and the rainbow. Man looked upon these symbols and copied them.
Simple colours seemed to go with the primitive. When aniline dyestuffs were brought to the
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Indians of the southwestern United States, their textiles became peacock blues, gaudy magentas and
sulphur yellows. Colour is a language and every hue has a definite significance. However, it is
difficult to find meanings attached to the colours of early man. Darwin wrote, “We know that the
colour of skin is regarded by men of all races as a highly important element of their beauty.” The
Egyptians chose extreme redness.
For the peoples of the north, whiteness;
for Orientals,
yellowness or goldness and for Negroes, extreme blackness.
The Egyptians used henna to stain their bodies red.
Red was exaggerated when they portrayed
themselves. The American Indian is popularly known today as a true Red Man. Red became the
most significant of colours. In the cultures that rose along the Nile in northern Africa and along the
Tigress and Euphrates in Asia Minor, red was dominant. Jewellery had its origin in mysticism.
Although rings, necklaces and bracelets enhanced appearance, they were used in general to protect
the wearer from disease and the “evil eye” and also to bring favor from the gods. The Egyptians
understood colour and used purple as the colour of the earth. Amethyst became the talisman of the
warrior and gave him courage and calm to go forward and be victorious. They used blue on the
ceilings of their temples with drawings of the constellations. Their floors were often green or blue,
relating to the meadows of the Nile.
The Tibetan world mountain is like a pyramid with the top broken off. The sides face the four
points of the compass and are coloured and shine like jewels. North is yellow; south blue; east
white and west red.
In each of these directions lies a continent in a salty sea. The shapes of the continents and islands
resemble the faces of the people who dwell upon them. To the south, the people have oval faces; to
the north square; to the west round and to the east crescent shaped. This colour compass symbolism
has been found in Ireland, China, America and Egypt. In Ireland, north is black; south white; east
purple and west dun coloured. There are also guardians. In China, the Guardian of the North has a
black face and is named Mo-li Shou. He carries a bag, which contains a creature that takes on the
form of a snake or white-winged elephant and devours men. Mo-li Hung is the Guardian of the
South and has a red face. He holds the umbrella of chaos. When the umbrella is opened, there is
darkness, thunder and earthquake. Mo-li Ch’ing is the Guardian of the East and has a green face.
He is very fierce and has a beard, which looks like copper wire. He carries a sword and when he
waves it, it raises a black wind whose many spears destroy the bodies of men. Mo-li Hei is the
Guardian of the West and has a white face. When he plays his guitar the world listens and the
camps of his enemies take fire.
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All these are linked to the belief in Divine powers and superstition. The colour blue is associated
with the Virgin Mary and relates to an ancient attitude. Many tribes of Indians in America,
including Apache and Cherokee, identify colour with the four quarters of the earth. The American
Indian has colour for the world to see as he sees it - generally black. However, his higher world
may be made up of many colours. The colours of the masks, the tattooing of his face and the
effigies they make are full of significance. He also applies colour to his songs, ceremonies, games
and prayers to invoke many different things - rain, harvest, peace and victory, fertility. The Hopi,
who are involved in painting, will place yellow colour, which represents the north, first, then place
the green or blue of the west, the red of the south and the white of the east. The American Indian
symbolises red for day and black for night. Red, yellow and black are masculine, whilst white, blue
and green are feminine colours. To the Cherokee, red is for his success and triumph, while blue
denotes defeat or turbulence. White is for happiness and peace and black is for death. Their prayer
sticks are bright green to call the rain and red in time of war. The American Indian relates colour to
the elements of fire, wind, water and earth. Evil was thought to be repelled through certain rituals,
charms, colours and chants. Marduke carried a red stone shaped like an eye between his teeth to
overcome all evil influences. The Egyptians wore the crucifix to defy the red Satan.
Some primitive people wore blue disks pieced together with beads and painted with an eye for
protection. Turquoise was placed in the eye of a sacrificial lamb in Persia. When the animal was
cooked, the stone was cooked in a case then sewn into a child’s headdress. There is also some
evidence that magicians protected themselves with jet. A Hindu mother would dab black on the
nose and forehead, or perhaps the eyelids, of her baby and would also tie a piece of white or blue
cloth to her own dress. In Scotland a newborn child was protected from the evil eye by a piece of
red ribbon tied about its neck. In England, a ring of red was worn. Coral was used in Italy. In 9601127 AD the royal colour of the Sung Dynasty was brown. For the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644, it
was green. For the Ch’ing Dynasty, 1644-1911, it was yellow. Only the Emperor was allowed to
wear that colour. Ranks were distinguished by a coloured button, worn on the top of a cap. The
first rank was coral, then blue, purple, crystal, white and gold. The Emperor’s grandson rode in
purple sedans. The sedans of higher officials were blue. For lower officials they were green. This
led to customs in dress. The Chinese Emperor worshipped the sky - he wore azure blue. He wore
yellow garments in honoring the earth. Red was sacred to the sun and white sacred to the moon.
The educated person wore deep purple; the respectable wore sober hues, soft blues, grays and
browns - men preferring deep blue and black. Pink, green and blue were almost universally
feminine.
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The Caesars wore purple as the royal hue. The Emperor usually had gold depicted on his purple
robes and his chariot would be drawn by white horses. He carried a branch of laurel in his right
hand and in his left hand he held an ivory scepter topped with an eagle.
He had a wreath of laurel on his head, his face reddened with vermilion and a slave holding a crown
of gold resembling oak leaves over his head. As late as the 2nd Century, he would be clad in
purple, while the Roman lady wore white. This gave the impression of virtue and purity. Nero
wore purple and his servants wore red.
The ancient Druids and Gauls clothed their slaves in blue. This later became common with many
servants.
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Christians despised yellow. The hue of Judas was yellow. Venetians once forced Jews to wear
yellow hats. In France in the 10th Century the doors of criminals and traitors were painted yellow,
the stigma of Judas. As late as World War Two, Hitler used yellow in his persecution of Jews,
making them wear yellow armbands and restricting them to painted yellow benches in public parks.
Purple was worn in the baptismal stole of the Christian priest in Europe. The ancient Jewish
marriage ceremony was performed under a golden silk robe supported by four pillars.
In India, blood and red paint were used. In the case of the Hindu bride, six days before her wedding
she would wear old, tattered yellow garments to drive away evil spirits. At the ceremony, she wore
yellow clothes and so too did the priest. After the marriage, the wife wore yellow whenever her
husband returned from a long journey.
The bride wore red in China, with embroidered dragons. She would be carried in a red chair, which
had lanterns around it, and her husband-to-be’s family name would be in red. She also held a red
parasol. Red fireworks were exploded on her behalf. During the marriage the bride and groom
would drink wine and honey from two cups tied together with a red cord.
In Egypt, red and yellow were the marriage colours, also in the Orient, in Russia and the Balkans.
In Western countries, blue is associated with marriage ceremonies and there is the rhyme:
“something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
Turquoise was for
harmony. It was also thought to cause a change of heart and to reconcile man and woman.
In Morocco, a blue spot was painted behind the bridegroom’s ear to eliminate the powers of evil. In
Ireland, the devil would curse the newly-weds if somebody attended a wedding ceremony with a red
handkerchief tied in knots. In Algeria, black hens were sacrificed to promote fertility. In the
eastern area of central Africa, the native wife who wanted to have a baby would wear blue beads
and carry a black hen on her back. In Japan, red and white offered protection during pregnancy,
while in France blue and white were used.
Red’s association to sacrifice and blood relates to religion. Blue denotes divinity and truth and is
proper for philosophy and the purity of white for the arts. The immortality and balance of green is
for medicine. The virtues of purple relating to dignity and law have much in common.
A physician in Brazil wears an emerald ring, a lawyer a ruby ring and an engineer a sapphire ring.
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Colours also represent prizes. The first prize award is a blue ribbon. The second prize a red ribbon,
the third a yellow, the fourth white. Purple is sometimes used for Winner Over All The Classes and
green is used for special prizes.
Red is associated with Christmas and St. Valentine’s Day, green for St. Patrick’s Day, yellow and
purple for Easter, orange for Thanksgiving and Halloween. On Mother’s Day, the red carnation is
for the living and the white for the deceased.
One reads in the Koran, “as to those who believe and do good work, for them are prepared gardens
of eternal abode. They shall be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and shall be clothed in green
garments, fine silks and brocades, reposing themselves on thrones.” In Christian and Hebrew lore,
colour is no less glorified. Blue is the colour of the Lord Jehovah’s. In Exodus: “then up went
Moses and Arron and Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel and these saw the God of
Israel and there was under his feet, as if it were paved work of sapphire stones, and as if it were
heaven for clearness.” In Judism, red, blue, purple and white are the divine hues. Josephus wrote:
“the veils too, which were composed of four things, declared the four elements.” White linen was
proper to signify the earth, because the flax grows out of the earth. Purple signified the sea because
the colour is dyed with the blood of sea shellfish. Blue is fit to signify the air. Scarlet will naturally
signify fire. To the Christians, however, blue is less significant than green and it is seldom used in
church ritual. According to St. John the Divine, the Holy Grail was emerald. “He that sat was to
look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone and there was a rainbow round that throne in sight like
unto an emerald.”
The word Zodiak is derived from the Greek Zodiakos Kuklos, meaning “circle of little animals”.
The Zodiak and astrology held the secrets of divination of life and death. The Zodiak presumes the
existence of a zone in the sky through which the sun, moon and planets travel - the twelve houses,
or constellations, which the sun visited each year. Each Zodiak sign has its own colour and symbol.
Aries - red; Taurus - dark green; Gemini - brown; Cancer - silver; Leo - gold; Virgo - variegated
hues; Libra - clear green; Scorpio - vermilion; Sagittarius - sky blue; Capricorn - black; Aquarius
- gray; Pisces - sea blue.
From a record of three thousand persons suffering from Dementia Praecox, it is interesting to note
that more birthdays were in February/March than any other months.
Who’s Who shows a
predominance of September/October birthdays, the months of conception being December and
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January. A January birth seems to influence a person towards the clergy and August towards
chemistry. Multiple births occur mainly in May, June and July. June and July births are the lowest
in number.
Purple dye extracted from Murex shells was used to check the overgrowth of granulation tissue and
to draw pus from boils. The formation of calcium oxide made this work.
Colour was also important in magic. The magicians usually wrote their formulae in red ink. This is
also true of the rites and ceremonies found in the famous Egyptian “Book of the Dead”. In the
resistance of evil, colour had a powerful force and was used to overthrow the demons. It is certain
that brass bosses and ornaments which decorate the harness of carthorses and shire stallions were,
like the great brass horns which rise from their collar, originally intended to protect the animal from
the evil eye. They have now become mere ornaments.
In Cairo and Tanttah large pottery beads glazed blue and a full half-inch in diameter used to be sold
to caravan men who made band lets out of them and tied them to the foreheads of the camels before
they set out across the desert. It was their belief that the evil eye would be attracted to the beads
and averted from the camels.
Colours were also associated with disease, because disease produced colours. Plants, flowers,
minerals, were presumably efficacious when their hues resembled the pallor of the flesh or sores on
it. Red, yellow and black were therefore of great medicinal value for they were identified with
fever, plague and death respectively.
For many centuries scarlet cloth has been used to stop bleeding. Avicenna dressed and covered his
patients with red in the 11th Century. To thwart smallpox, Edward II’s physician directed that
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everything about the room should be red. Francis I was treated in a scarlet blanket for the same
affliction. During an attack of this disease, the children of the Mikados were surrounded by red in
all furnishings. Red foods and medicines were prescribed so that everything the patient saw was
crimson. English physicians wore scarlet cloaks as a distinguishing mark of their profession. In
rural districts of Massachusetts, a red flag was once displayed to call a doctor who was making his
rounds. In Ireland and Russia, red flannel was a remedy for scarlet fever. In Scotland, red wool
was applied to relieve strains, to prevent fevers in Macedonia and for sore throats in Ireland. Red
thread was thought necessary for English children during teething. The breath of the red ox was
relied upon as a palliative in convulsions. In certain eruptions, red sealing wax held strange powers.
Red coral relieved head troubles and kept teeth from loosening in England.
Jaundice was banished to yellow-bodied creatures and things such as the sun in India. The red
vigorous colour of health was drawn from a bull after recitations from a priest. An affliction called
gold disease was treating in Greece by having the patient drink wine in which a gold piece had been
placed.
The Ancient Greeks believed that the eggs of a raven would restore blackness to their hair. To ward
off the evil eye and to spare the wearer from the visitations of demons, green was used.
Blue
ribbon was used in Ireland for croup and indigestion was relieved when a person measured his waist
with a green thread in the name of the Trinity and then ate three dandelion leaves on bread and
butter for three consecutive mornings.
Red-headed youths and red oxen were sacrificed to the gods in Egypt to assure an abundant harvest.
A Bavarian sower wore a gold ring to endow his grain with rich colour. In Ireland, a storm was
quelled by burning the pelt of a dog and scattering the ashes downwind. The sacrifice of black
animals, like the black cloud, drew water from the sky. The sun was brought forth by white beasts.
Red strings and bits of cloth were tied to animals to protect them from death in Scotland, Hungary,
Norway, Portugal, Germany and Denmark.
Blue performed the same magic in Afghanistan,
Macedonia and Syria. In Jerusalem, a blue hand was painted on the walls or doors of dwellings. A
red hand shielded a family from harm in Ireland, India, Constantinople, and Mexico. A black insect
was portentous in Spain and the black cat and white insect were omens of good fortune in
Yorkshire. The white moth was a harbinger of death in parts of Castille and Galica.
Hatred and malice are indicated by black clouds. Depression and fear are indicated by gray.
Crimson shows a loving nature. Pride and ambition are revealed by orange. Yellow emanates from
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the aura of an intelligent person. Dull brown indicates avarice. A grayish-brown means selfishness
and a greenish-brown means jealousy, sensuality and anger.
Dark blue denotes religion and
devotion to noble ideas.
Red causes an immediate increase in blood pressure generally and acts as a stimulator. However, it
is later followed by depression. Blue causes the blood pressure to drop, which may in time by
trailed by an accelerated reaction.
As regards the healing of wounds, Dr. Menju used blue dye to absorb the red light and healing was
quickened. The red dye, which absorbed the blue light, retarded healing. Red rays affect to prevent
the growth and blue rays affect slightly to accelerate the growth of tumour tissue.
COLOUR IN RELATION TO DEATH
A purple stone was carried by the Egyptian warrior. The Chinese carried a red stone as did the
Scottish and Indian soldiers. English soldiers chose blue. In eastern Africa, if a member of a tribe
killed a member of another tribe he would paint that part of his body, spear and sword red and the
other side white. He believed this would protect him from the spirit of his victim. When a native in
Fiji clubbed a man to death, he was smeared with red from head to foot by the chief of his tribe.
In South Africa, a lion killer painted his body white and would go into retreat. Four days later, he
would return to his village with his skin painted red.
In China, jade was used in the burial services of important persons. They used the number six and
they all had to be in jade. There would also be a round, green symbol and they would pay respects
to heaven. They also used a yellow symbol which paid respects to the earth. Green jade was used
in the region in the east, while red was used to the south, white to the west and black to the north.
In different countries, different colours are used for mourning. In China the accepted colour is
white. Visiting cards while someone is in mourning would be light brown or red.
In Japan, white is also the colour of death. When worn in marriage, it signifies in Japan that the
bride is dead to her family and she belongs only to her husband.
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In Borneo, white or dark blue is used for the bereaved.
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In Mexico, and some parts of Germany, blue is also used.
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In Guatemala, widows have been known to dye their bodies yellow.
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In most western countries, black is the colour of mourning.
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Certain primitives dye their teeth black after the death of a relation.
HERALDRY
Heraldry is centuries old. It incorporates emblems and standards associated with different armies,
races and nations.
The eagle and dragon of the Romans; the Egyptian ox and the Athenian owl were symbolic. The
standards of the 12 Jewish tribes were mentioned in the Bible as was the symbolism and mysticism
that was part of them.
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Judah was assigned the colour scarlet and the lion.
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Issacher was given the colour blue and the ass.
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Zebulon was purple and a ship.
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Reuben was red and a man.
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Simeon was yellow and a sword.
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Gadd was white and a troop of horsemen.
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Ephraim was green and an ox.
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Mannassen was flesh-coloured and a vine.
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Benjamin was green and a wolf.
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Dan was green and an eagle.
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Asher was purple and a cup.
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Nephali was blue and a hind.
Heraldry had its origins in the 12th Century in Germany. It went through France and into England.
In the Crusades, soldiers of different nations bore their emblems.
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The English soldier had a white cross depicted on his right shoulder. A Frenchman had a red cross
and the Fleming a green one. Crusaders from the Roman area used two keys as their symbol. At
first, this was used as a reward when soldiers had been in battle or a tournament. These became
known as coats of arms.
In heraldry, the colours used are called tinctures. They consist of five hues and two metals. Gold or
yellow is called Or; silver - argent; red - gules; blue - azure; black - sable; green - vert; purple purpure. Rarely, two other colours were used. Tenne is an orange colour and murrey is reddishpurple.
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Honour and royalty are represented by or (yellow and gold).
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Faith and purity are represented by argent (silver).
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Courage and zeal are represented by gules (red).
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Piety and sincerity are represented by azure (blue).
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Grief and penitence are represented by sable (black).
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Youth and hope are represented by vert (green).
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Loyalty and rank are represented by purpure (purple).
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Strength and endurance are represented by tenne (orange).
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Sacrifice is represented by murrey (red-purple).
Heraldry denotes that colour shall never by used upon colour, nor metal upon metal.
The Coats of Arms are part of the titles of the royal families. These have also been extended to
certain large corporations, e.g. schools, colleges, Lloyds, the Olympic Games.
The symbol of Ireland is the shamrock or the harp. The thistle is the emblem of Scotland. Two
plumes or a daffodil are the symbols for Wales.
Custom denotes that scarlet is solely for royal livery. The lesser nobility use claret, maroon or
brown. Gold and silver are also for the high and sometimes yellow (the equivalent of gold). The
hues are usually taken from the family Coat of Arms, with the exception of gold, silver and scarlet.
English teams generally wear white jerseys, Scottish teams wear dark blue, Welsh teams wear red
and Irish teams wear green.
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Flags date back further than Coats of Arms and are also part of heraldry. They may have come
from Egypt. Homer tells that Armageddon used a purple veil to rally his men. The dragon, which
relates to the Chinese was used against Rome by the Barbarians and was later taken by the Romans.
Richard I had a shield with three golden lions on a red ground. Edward III later quartered the shield
and placed the arms of France in the first and fourth quarters.
The English flag underwent many changes. The Royal Standard today preserves the Arms of
Richard. In the first and fourth quarters are golden lions on a red ground. In the second quarter are
the Arms of Scotland - a red lion rampant on a golden ground - and in the third quarter are the Arms
of Ireland - an azure harp or stringent argent - a gold and silver harp on a blue ground.
The Arms of Wales have no place on the emblem. Wales is not a Kingdom of the Empire. Our
present Union Jack comprises the St. George of England cross, the St. Andrew of Scotland cross
and the St. Patrick of Ireland cross, in the familiar red, white and blue.
When he took command of the colonial army, Washington was interested in a single national
emblem. The Grand Union flag was produced and combined the British Jack with thirteen red and
white stripes. John Paul Jones flew it for more than a year. In June 1777, a year after the
Declaration of Independence, the stars and stripes were created. Thirteen white stars were arranged
in a circle upon a blue ground and thirteen red and white stripes. It was similar to the flag of
Washington. However, in the following years, the flag underwent several changes. At certain
times, there would be seven stripes and six red stripes. At other times, the stars on the blue field
would be arranged in lines rather than a circle. In 1790 and 1792, when Vermont and Kentucky
entered the Union, there were fifteen stars and fifteen stripes. This was the flag that the Star
Spangled Banner was written about. In 1818 it was decided that thirteen stripes was to be the flag
and that each new state would be honored by the addition of a new star.
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PIONEERS OF COLOUR
S. PANCOAST
In the late 19th Century in America, Edwin D. Babbitt and S. Pancoast began to find and explore
colour. Pancoast published his “Blue and Red Light” in 1877 and this bore a resemblance to the
wisdom of ancient philosophers and Kabbalistic literature. He believed that white is a colour of the
quintessence of light towards its negative pole; that it is condensed in blue and fixed in black
towards its positive pole; that it is condensed in yellow and fixed in red. He also believed that blue
is for repose or slumber; black for absolute rest, i.e. the sleep of death; that yellow is for activity
and red the motion of life.
White is the equilibrium of healthful activity and motion. The progress of life goes from black to
red - red being the prime and black the decline, with white the healthful maturity. Pancoast worked
with sunlight, which he passed through panes of blue or red glass. The red ray was used to
accelerate the nervous system and the blue was used to relax the nervous system.
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EDWIN D. BABBITT
Edwin D Babbitt was a mystic, physician, artist and scientist. He had a huge interest in life and
wrote “The Principles of Light and Colour”, first published in 1878, which won him world fame.
He also introduced red, blue and yellow window panes to Victorian homes to deal with many
difficult illnesses.
Babbitt chose three primaries - red was the center of heat and the ruling spectrum of hydrogen, a
heat-producing or thermal colour. Yellow was the center of luminosity. Blue was the center of
electricity - the ruling spectrum of oxygen. He believed that in colour therapy there must be unity
and affinity, thus each hue had its complement - red with blue, red-orange with indigo blue, orange
with indigo, yellow-orange with violet-indigo, yellow with violet, yellow-green with dark violet.
Babbitt summed up his major doctrine thus:
“There is a trianal series of gradations in the peculiar potency of colours. The center and climax of
electrical action which is soothing to the vascular system is blue. The climax of luminosity is in
yellow and the climax of heat being in red. The red colour has a principle of warmth, the blue and
violet a principle of cold and electricity.
There are many styles of climatic action with the
progression of hues of light and shades of fineness and coarseness, of electrical power, luminous
power, thermal power, and so on.”
Babbitt invented the Thermolune, which was a special cabinet for healing purposes and made use of
natural sunlight. He also used a Chromodisk, which was a funnel-shaped instrument that took in
light and special coloured filters could be fitted to it. He used blue light for inflammation, wounds
and hemorrhages; yellow light was localized on the brain, abdomen and liver; red increased and
stimulated the action of the warm red principle in the human system, the arterial blood and it also
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harmonized the cold, blue principle relating to blueness of veins. He prescribed red for paralysis,
physical exhaustion, chronic rheumatism and consumption.
Babbitt saw red light like red drugs. He saw it as the warming element of sunlight and having an
effect on the nerves and the blood, which was good in cases of paralysis and various chronic
conditions. Yellow and orange stimulate the nerves and yellow is the central principle nerve
stimulant as well as the exciting principle of the brain, the foundation head of the nerves. Yellow
was a laxative and purgative and was used with bronchial conditions and hemorrhoids. Yellow with
red acted as a diuretic, with a little red as a cerebral stimulant. Half and half, in general, it helps the
human system.
ARISTOTLE’S WRITINGS
Aristotle De Coloribus developed the theory that all colours were derived from a mixture of black
and white. For centuries his idea persisted and, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary,
even Johann Wolfgang Van Gogh supported it.
Aristotle described the hues of water and rock, flora and fauna. He established their laws and tied
them up into neat little parcels. The colour black occurs when water and air are thoroughly burned
by fire. In an orderly fashion, he described all his hues from his primary colours of black and white.
According to Aristotle, the different shades of violet and crimson depended on differences in the
strength of their constituents. Whilst blending is exemplified by a mixture of black and white
which gives crimson, black mixed with sunlight or firelight always turns crimson and black objects
heated in a fire all change to a crimson colour - charcoal, etc.
A blend of sunlight and dusky white produces bright violet. Aristotle’s theory was verification
from observations of similarities and from experience. These are necessary if we are to arrive at
clear conclusions about the origins of different colours and the chief ground of similarities is a
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common origin of nearly all colours, blends of different strengths of sunlight and firelight, air and
water.
Aristotle spoke of black, white, gray, crimson, pink, yellow, gold, brown and violet, but never
mentioned the colour blue.
PLINY
Pliny, who had a similar doctrine, wrote four centuries later: “I remark that the following are the
three principle colours - red that of kermes, for instance, which begins in the tints of rose, reflects
when viewed sideways and held up to the light the shades that are found in the tyrian purple
amethyst colour, which is borrowed from the violet and a third known as conchyliated colour, but
which comprehends a variety of shades such as the tints of the heliotropium and others of a deeper
colour, the hues of the mallow inclining to a full purple and the colours of the late violet.”
He omitted any reference to yellow in this and stated: “In most ancient times yellow was held in
high esteem, but was exclusively for nuptial veils of females. This is why we do not find it
included amongst the principle colours, these being used in common by males and females. Indeed,
it is the circumstances of their being used by both sexes in common that gives them their rank as
principle colours.”
Pliny then went on to study the heavens and account for the colours of the stars and planets. He
said they acquire a resemblance to those planets into the vapor of which they are carried, the orbit
of each tingeing those that approach it in each direction. He felt that a colder planet would render
one that approaches it paler. A hotter one would render it redder. A windy planet would give it a
lowering aspect, which the sun at the union of the apsides of extremity of their orbits completely
obscures. Each planet has its own peculiar colour:
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Saturn is white
Jupiter is brilliant
Mars is fiery
Lucifer is glowing
Vesper is refulgent
Mercury is sparkling
The moon is mild.
The sun when he rises is blazing.
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Da Vinci painted and related his experience of colour by writing:
“The first of all simple colours is white, although philosophers will not acknowledge either white or
black to be colours, because the first is the cause or the receiver of colours, the other totally
deprived of them. As painters cannot do without them, we shall place them amongst the others and
will place white first, yellow second, green third, blue fourth, red fifth and black sixth. We shall set
down white as the representative of light, without which no colour can be seen. Yellow for the
earth. Green for the water. Blue for the air. Red for fire and black for total darkness.” The
primary colours were red, yellow, green and blue.
This was stated to be a true element in the late 19th Century and the idea that laws of vibration ruled
all colour phenomena was taken up by other people in other years.
In the 17th Century, men continued to see colour as a blend of light and shade and Plato talked
about flame-like particles darted by objects against the eye.
In 1596-1650, René Descartes denounced Aristotle’s theory and abandoned it in its entirety. All
space was pervaded by the ether, the “Plenum” and light was essentially a pressure transmitted
through a dense mass of invisible particles and diversities of colour and light were due to the
different ways in which the matter moved. Different rotary speeds were attributed to various hues rapid for red, slow for blue.
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BOYLE AND NEWTON
Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
Boyle wrote the book: “Experiments and Consideration Touching Colours”. In it he wrote: “I have
not found that by any mixture of white and true black there can be a blue, a yellow, or a red.”
He assumed the existence of the ether, because light had to travel in or upon something, that all
hues were contained in white light, distorted by objects, to produce colours. He also assumed that
colours were of two different types - atmospheric, as in the sky or the rainbow, and structural, as in
rocks or flowers. He called the former apparent hues and the latter genuine hues.
Genuine colours seemed to be produced in opacous bodies by reflection, while apparent ones in
diaphanous bodies were principally by refraction. He agreed with the chemists of his time that
colours were produced by impulses made upon the eyes and said: “I think we may probably enough
conceive in general that the eye may be variously affected, not only by the entire beams of light that
fall upon it as they are such, but by the order and by the degrees of swiftness and in a word by the
manner according to which the particles that compose each particular beam arrive at the sensory.”
He believed that white is that which discharges a copious light equally clear in every direction and
that black is that which does not emit light at all, or which does so very sparingly. Red is that
which emits a light more clear than usual, but interrupted by shady interstices. Blue is that which
discharges a rarefied light, as in bodies which consist of white and black particles arranged
alternatively. Green is nearly allied to blue. Yellow is a mixture of much white and a little red.
Purple consists of a great deal of blue mixed with a small amount of red.
The blue colour of the sea arises from the blackness of the pure water and the whiteness of the salt it
contains dissolved in it. The blueness of the shadows of bodies seen at the same time by daylight
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and by candlelight arises from the whiteness of the paper mixed with a faint line of blackness of
twilight.
Sir Isaac Newton
In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton observed the phenomenon of refraction whilst experimenting with a
prism. He watched a beam of light convert into a rainbow and began to formulate his doctrine that
white light is not simple. It was a mixture of rays which the prism separated. He saw seven
colours. Perhaps he saw an analogy with music with the harmony of the spheres and the seven
planets due to his classical schooling. His seven colours became those of the rainbow. He wrote a
famous book called “Optics” in 1730, wherein he noted the visual similarity of red to violet, the two
extreme bands of the spectrum and arranged his hues to form the original colour circle. He then
went on to discover the phenomena of defraction and interference - the bending of light.
Newton was an atomist. He put together his theory of corpuscles of light in which light was
generated by emissions of particles which spun about and moved forward in a straight line. For
each of the seven colours there were primary atoms. Red particles were large, violet particles small.
He then wrote: “Do not several sorts of rays make vibration of several big nesses, which according
to their bigness excite sensation of several colours much after the manner that the vibrations of air
according to the several big nesses excite sensations of several sounds?”
Two centuries passed before his discoveries were extended and capitalized upon.
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VOLTAIRE
Voltaire wrote: “Elemens De La Philosophie De Newton” which, due to apparent heresy, was
promptly banned in France. He left the book with a publisher in Amsterdam and soon forgot about
it. However, the publishers had a writer touch up the volume and they published it in 1738 without
Voltaire’s knowledge or permission.
The work is still prominent as one of the great curiosities of the literature of colour.
GOETHE
Johann Wolfgang Van Goethe investigated art and theorized about the subject and was amongst
those who took up the cause of the dying mystic. He went against Newton when he painted still life.
Professor Buettner sent him optical instruments and prisms and referred him to Isaac Newton’s
writings. However, Goethe had made up his mind he would contradict Newton. When looking
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through a prism, he did not see a whole spectrum as Newton had, but bands of colour around the
edges of objects. He concluded that colour was a product of the intermingling of darkness and light
and was not contained solely in light.
Aristotle and Da Vinci had stated this doctrine centuries before. Da Vinci had written: “Blue and
green are not simple colours in their nature, for blue is composed of light and dark such as the azure
of the sky. Perfect black and perfect white similarly.” Goethe was convinced that colour originated
in this way. Black was not negative, but positive and he noted that no colour was brighter than
white. According to Goethe, the spectrum merged from white into yellow, then into other hues and
faded out through blue and violet into blackness.
Goethe wrote: “If you move a dark boundary towards a light surface the yellow border is foremost
and a narrower yellowed edge falls close to the outline. If you move a light boundary towards a
dark surface, the broader violet border is foremost and the narrower blue edge follows.”
BIRREN
Birren devised a colour safety code.
Some government plants during the war cut their accident
rates from 46.14 to 5.58 per thousand, according to the US Army serving forces. Birren’s work
with the US Navy has been described as the largest single colour co-ordination job ever undertaken.
For almost everything found in or on a naval shore establishment he devised a colour specification,
even as far as altering the colour scheme of the helmets worn by men who worked in docks and on
ships. The Navy lowered its accident frequency rates from 6.4 to 4.6 in only three years, a drop of
28%.
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Birren’s safety colour code has become accepted internationally in countries such as England, Italy,
Japan, Argentina and Uruguay. His work has been acknowledged and recommended by the Council
of Industrial Health of the American Medical Association.
He still has an office in London where his specifications have been applied to paints, tiles, plastics,
etc. for use in commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. The US State Department sent him
to an environmental congress in Rome on productivity, industrial health and safety in 1955 - he
was then the leading authority on colour.
The American Standards Association has a impressive history using colour coding. Yellow, or
yellow and black bands, are painted on obstructions, low beams, dead ends, edges of platforms, pits,
etc. to warn against stumbling or falling hazards. Yellow is the colour of the highest visibility in
the spectrum and it is conspicuous under all lighting conditions. It is therefore well adapted to the
foregoing purposes.
Orange is the standard for acute hazards likely to burn, cut, crush or shock the worker and it is
painted around the edges of cutting machines and rollers, on the inside edges of machine guards and
electric switch boxes.
Green is the standard to identify first aid equipment, medicines, gas masks, cabinets for stretchers,
etc.
Red is used exclusively for the markings of fire protection devices and is painted on walls behind
extinguishers, on floors to prevent obstruction, on valves and fittings for hose connection.
Blue is the standard for caution. In factories, it is placed as a symbol on equipment, machines,
tanks, elevators, ovens, etc. which are cut down for repair and it may be used on switch control
boxes as an unobtrusive and silent reminder that the worker’s machine is clear before he operates it.
The railway industry uses it to mark cars which should not be moved.
White, gray, or black are standard for traffic control and good housekeeping where they are used for
aisle marks, painted on waste receptacles, used as white corners or baseboards to discourage
littering and to get sweepers to dig into corners.
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NIKOLA TESLA
In 1891, Tesla demonstrated his latest inventions before a symposium on high frequency
phenomena. He introduced both wireless fluorescent lighting and his new high-voltage Tesla coil.
He shot sparks from his fingertips, lit bulbs and melted metals by high voltage passed through his
body.
His coil was a modification of the spark-gap resonator used by Heinrich Hertz. In 1888 Hertz
demonstrated the existence of electromagnetic waves by using a spark-gap resonator to induce
sparks in another located some distance from the first. Tesla eliminated the magnetic core in Hertz’s
coil and used a large gauge spiral inductor in the primary of the final step-up transformer, thereby
enhancing the maximum voltage and power achievable. By eliminating points of arcing and other
losses, higher power was made possible.
COLOUR IN WAR
During the First World War, colour was applied to ships and other objects for the purpose of
confusing the enemy. An arrangement of areas was produced to distort the perspective and this
camouflage was intended to trick and mislead the eye.
In the Second World War, the purpose of camouflage was to conceal. Both moving and stationary
objects were rendered less visible by the colours applied to them and for this the practices of nature
were closely followed. To blend with the sky, the undersides of Navy planes were painted light sky
blue and the topsides were painted to correspond with the general colour of the area they would be
flying over. For example, this might be dull blue, green, sand, or earth colour.
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Olive drab was found to be the most generally satisfactory colour for guns, tanks, trucks, etc., as it
blended best with most surroundings on land. However, for protection at sea, such objects would
be coloured to blend with the ocean and, in the desert, to blend with sand, etc. Factories and other
buildings were painted both to conceal them from the enemy in the air and to confuse.
The
difference between green paint and green foliage, however, can be detected by an infrared filter
used in aerial cameras. Green paint registers almost black, whereas green leaves, which contain
chlorophyll, appear almost white when this filter is used.
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