Green is the color of emeralds, jade, and growing grass.[5] In the continuum of colors of visible light it is located between yellow and blue. Green is the color most commonly associated with nature and the environmental movement, Ireland, Islam, spring, hope and envy. (SONY VGP-BPS13 battery)
The word green comes from the Middle English and Old English word grene, which, like the German word grün, has the same root as the words grass and grow.[8] It is from a Common Germanic *gronja-, which is also reflected in Old Norse grænn, Old High German gruoni (but unattested in East Germanic), ultimately from a PIE root *ghre- "to grow", and root-cognate with grass and to grow.[9] The first recorded use of the word as a color term in Old English dates to ca. AD 700(SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery).[10]
Latin with viridis (and hence the Romance languages, and English vert, verdure etc.) also has a genuine term for "green". Likewise the Slavic languages with zelenъ. Ancient Greek also had a term for yellowish, pale green, χλωρός, cognate with χλοερός "verdant" and χλόη "the green of new growth"(SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery).
Thus, the languages mentioned above (Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Greek) have old terms for "green" which are derived from words for fresh, sprouting vegetation. However, comparative linguistics makes clear that these terms were coined independently, over the past few millennia, and there is no identifiable single Proto-Indo-European or word for "green". For example, the Slavic zelenъ is cognate with Sanskrit hari "yellow, ochre, golden".(SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery) [11] The Turkic languages also have jašɨl "green" or "yellowish green", compared to a Mongolian word for "meadow".[12]
Languages where green and blue are one color
(Main article: color term)
In some languages, including old Chinese, Thai, old Japanese, and Vietnamese, the same word can mean either blue or green.[13]
The Chinese character 青 (pronounced qīng in Mandarin, ao in Japanese, and thanh in Sino-Vietnamese) has a meaning that covers both blue and green; blue and green are traditionally considered shades of "青." In more contemporary terms(SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery), they are 藍 (lán, in Mandarin) and 綠 (lǜ, in Mandarin) respectively. Japanese also has two terms that refer specifically to the color green, 緑 (midori which is derived from the classical Japanese descriptive verb midoru 'to be in leaf, to flourish' in reference to trees) and グリーン (guriin, which is derived from the English word 'green'). However, in Japan, although the traffic lights have the same colors that other countries have, the green light is described using the same word as for blue, "aoi"(SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery), because green is considered a shade of aoi; similarly, green variants of certain fruits and vegetables such as green apples, green shiso (as opposed to red apples and red shiso) will be described with the word "aoi". Vietnamese uses a single word for both blue and green, xanh, with variants such as xanh da trời (azure, lit. "sky blue"), lam (blue), and lục (green; also xanh lá cây, lit. "leaf green")(SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery).
"Green" in modern European languages corresponds to about 520–570 nm, but many historical and non-European languages make other choices, e.g. using a term for the range of ca. 450–530 nm ("blue/green") and another for ca. 530–590 nm ("green/yellow")
In the comparative study of color terms in the world's languages, green is only found as a separate category in languages with the fully developed range of six colors (white, red yellow, green, blue, black) (SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery), or more rarely in systems with five colors (white, red yellow, green, black/blue).[14] (See distinction of green from blue) [15] These languages have introduced supplementary vocabulary to denote "green", but these terms are recognizable as recent adoptions that are not in origin color terms (much like the English adjective orange being in origin not a color term but the name of a fruit) (SONY VGP-BPS21B battery). Thus, the Thai word เขียว besides meaning "green" also means "rank" and "smelly" and holds other unpleasant associations.[16]
The Celtic languages had a term for "blue/green/grey", Proto-Celtic *glasto-, which gave rise to Old Irish glas "green, grey" and to Welsh glas "blue". This word is cognate with the Ancient Greek γλαυκός "bluish green", contrasting with χλωρός "yellowish green" discussed above.
In modern Japanese, the term for green is 緑, while the old term for "blue/green"(SONY VGP-BPS21 battery), blue (青 Ao?) now means "blue". But in certain contexts, green is still conventionally referred to as 青, as in blue traffic light (青信号 Ao shingō?) and blue leaves (青葉 Aoba?), reflecting the absence of blue-green distinction in old Japanese (more accurately, the traditional Japanese color terminology grouped some shades of green with blue, and others with yellow tones) (SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery).
The Persian language is traditionally lacking a black/blue/green distinction. The Persian word سبز sabz can mean "green", "black" or "dark". Thus, Persian erotic poetry, dark-skinned women are addressed as sabz-eh, as in phrases like سبز گندم گون sabz-eh-gandom-gun (literally "dark wheat colored") or سبز مليح sabz-eh-malih ("a dark beauty").[17] Similarly, in Sudanese Arabic, dark-skinned people are described as أخضر akhḍar, the term which in Standard Arabic stands unambiguously for "green".(SONY VGP-BPS13S battery)
Green in history and art
In the ancient world
Neolithic cave paintings do not have traces of green pigments, but neolithic peoples in northern Europe did make a green dye for clothing, made from the leaves of the birch tree. it was of very poor quality, more brown than green. Ceramics from ancient Mesopotamia show people wearing vivid green costumes, but it is not known how the colors were produced. (SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery)]
In Ancient Egypt green was the symbol of regeneration and rebirth, and of the crops made possible by the annual flooding of the Nile. For painting on the walls of tombs or on papyrus, Egyptian artists used finely-ground malachite, mined in the west Sinai and the eastern desert- A paintbox with malachite pigment was found inside the tomb of King Tutankhamun. They also used less expensive green earth pigment, or mixed yellow ochre and blue azurite(SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery). To dye fabrics green, they first colored them yellow with dye made from saffron and then soaked them in blue dye from the roots of the woad plant.[19]
For the ancient Egyptians, green had very positive associations. The hieroglyph for green represented a growing papyrus sprout, showing the close connection between green, vegetation, vigor and growth. In wall paintings, the ruler of the underworld, Osiris, was typically portrayed with a green face(SONY VGP-BPS14 battery), because green was the symbol of good health and rebirth. Palettes of green facial makeup, made with malachite, were found in tombs. It was worn by both the living and dead, particularly around the eyes, to protect them from evil. Tombs also often contained small green amulets in the shape of scarab beetles made of malachite, which would protect and give vigor to the deceased. It also symbolized the sea, which was called the "Very Green.". (SONY VGP-BPS22 battery)
In Ancient Greece, green and blue were sometimes considered the same color, and the same word sometimes described the color of the sea and the color of trees. The philosopher Democritus described two different greens; cloron, or pale green, and prasinon, or leek green. Aristotle considered that green was located midway between black, symbolizing the earth, and white, symbolizing water(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery). However, green was not counted among of the four classic colors of Greek painting; red, yellow, black and white, and is rarely found in Greek art.[21]
The Romans had a greater appreciation for the color green; it was the color of Venus, the goddess of gardens, vegetables and vineyards.The Romans made a fine green earth pigment, which was widely used in the wall paintings of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Lyon, Vaison-la-Romaine, and other Roman cities(SONY VGP-BPS18 battery). They also used the pigment verdigris, made by soaking copper plates in fermenting wine.[22] By the Second Century AD, the Romans were using green in paintings, mosaics and glass, and there were ten different words in Latin for varieties of green.[23]
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance
In the Middle Ages the color of clothing often showed a person's social rank and profession. Red was worn by the nobility, brown and gray by peasants, and green by merchants, bankers and the gentry and their families. The Mona Lisa wears green in her portrait, as does the bride in the Arnolfini portrait by Jan Van Eyck(SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery).
Unfortunately for those who wanted or were required to wear green, there were no good vegetal green dyes which resisted washing and sunlight. Green dyes were made out of the fern, plantain, buckthorn berries, the juice of nettles and of leeks, the digitalis plant, the broom plant, the leaves of the fraxinus, or ash tree, and the bark of the alder tree, but they rapidly faded or changed color. Only in the 16th century was a good green dye produced, by first dyeing the cloth blue with woad, and then yellow with reseda luteola, also known as yellow-weed. (SONY VGP-BPS22A battery)
The pigments available to painters were more varied; monks in monasteries used use of verdigris, made by soaking copper in fermenting wine, to color medieval manuscripts. They also used finely-ground malachite, which made a luminous green. They used green earth colors for backgrounds(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S battery).
During the early Renaissance, painters such as Duccio di Buoninsegna learned to paint faces first with a green undercoat, then with pink, which gave the faces a more realistic hue. Over the centuries the pink has faded, making some of the faces look green.[25]
The 18th and 19th century
The 18th and 19th century brought the discovery and production of synthetic green pigments and dyes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15T battery), which rapidly replaced the earlier mineral and vegetable pigments and dyes. These new dyes were more stable and brilliant than the vegetable dyes, but some contained high levels of arsenic, and were eventually banned.
In the 18th and 19th century, green was associated with the romantic movement in literature and art. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau celebrated the virtues of nature, The German poet and philosopher Goethe declared that green was the most restful color(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15G battery), suitable for decorating bedrooms. Painters such as John Constable and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot depicted the lush green of rural landscapes and forests. Green was contrasted to the smoky grays and blacks of the Industrial Revolution.
The second half of the 19th century saw the use of green in art to create specific emotions, not just to imitate nature. One of the first to make color the central element of his picture was the American artist James McNeil Whistler, who created a series of paintings called "symphonies" (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ4000 battery)or "noctures" of color, including "Symphony in gray and green; The Ocean" between 1866 and 1872.
The late nineteenth century also brought the systematic study of color theory, and particularly the study of how complementary colors such as red and green reinforced each other when they were placed next to each other. These studies were avidly followed by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh. Describing his painting(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L battery), The Night Cafe, to his brother Theo in 1888, Van Gogh wrote: "I sought to express with red and green the terrible human passions. The hall is blood red and pale yellow, with a green billiard table in the center, and four lamps of lemon yellow, with rays of orange and green. Everywhere it is a battle and antithesis of the most different reds and greens." (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z battery)
20th and 21st Century
In the 1980s green became a political symbol, the color of the Green Party in Germany and in many other European countries. It symbolized the environmental movement, and also a new politics of the left which rejected traditional socialism and communism.
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization which emerged out of the anti-nuclear and peace movements in the 1970s(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M battery). Its ship, the Rainbow Warrior, frequently tried to interfere with nuclear tests and whaling operations. The movement now has branches in forty countries.
Green is the color you see when you look at light with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometers.
It is one of the three additive colors, along with red and blue, which are combined on computer screens and color televisions to make all other colors.
In the subtractive color system, used in printing, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18M battery);
On the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel, the complement of green is magenta; that is, a purple color corresponding to an equal mixture of red and blue light. On a color wheel based on traditional color theory (RYB), the complementary color to green is considered to be red. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18 battery)
Green, blue and red are additive colors. All the colors you see on your computer screen are made by mixing them in different intensities.
The perception of greenness (in opposition to redness forming one of the opponent mechanisms in human color vision) is evoked by light which triggers the medium-wavelength M cone cells in the eye more than the long-wavelength L cones. Light which triggers this greenness response more than the yellowness or blueness of the other color opponent mechanism is called green(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ210CE battery). A green light source typically has a spectral power distribution dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 487–570 nm.[29]
In additive color devices such as computer displays and televisions, one of the primary light sources is typically a narrow-spectrum yellowish-green of dominant wavelength ~550 nm; this "green" primary is combined with an orangish-red "red" primary and a purplish-blue "blue" primary to produce any color in between (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31S battery)– the RGB color model. A unique green (green appearing neither yellowish nor bluish) is produced on such a device by mixing light from the green primary with some light from the blue primary.
By contrast in process color printing, a subtractive color system, green can be produced via a mixture of cyan and yellow ink, and in traditional color theory, green is produced by mixing yellow and blue paint(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z battery).
Green is complementary to a purplish red or reddish purple color, in both additive and subtractive mixtures, and in simultaneous contrast effects and afterimages.
The sensitivity of the dark-adapted human eye is greatest at about 507 nm, a bluish-green color, while the light-adapted eye is most sensitive about 555 nm, a yellowish-green color.[30] Human eyes have color receptors known as cone cells, of which there are three types(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E battery). In some cases, one is missing or faulty, which can cause color blindness, including the common inability to distinguish red and yellow from green, known as deuteranopia or red–green color blindness.[31] Green is restful to the eye. Studies show that a green environment can reduce fatigue.[32]
The Chicago River is dyed green every year to mark St. Patrick's Day.
Aside from chlorophyll, the green pigment of growing grass and leaves, green pigments are rather rare in nature(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J battery).
Emeralds, are colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium.[33]
Malachite, like many greens, is colored by the presence of copper, in this case by basic copper(II) carbonate.[34]
Green earth is a natural pigment used since the time of the Roman Empire. It s composed of clay colored by iron oxide, magnesium, aluminum silicate, or potassium. Large deposits were found in the South of France near Nice(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M battery), and in Italy around Verona, on Cyprus, and in Bohemia. The clay was crushed, washed to remove impurities, then powdered. It was sometimes called Green of Verona.[35]
Verdigris is made by placing a plate or blade of copper, brass or bronze, slightly warmed, into a vat of fermenting wine, leaving it there for several weeks, and then scraping off and drying the green powder that forms on the metal. The process of making verdigris was described in ancient times by Pliny. It was used by the Romans in the murals of Pompeii(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31B battery), and in Celtic medieval manuscripts as early as the 5th century AD. It produced a blue-green which no other pigment could imitate, but it had drawbacks; it was unstable, it could not resist dampness, it did not mix well with other colors, it could ruin other colors with which it came into contact., and it was toxic. Leonardo DaVinci, in his treatise on painting, warned artists not to use it(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S battery). It was widely used in miniature paintings in Europe and Persia in the 16th and 17th centuries. Its use largely ended in the late 19th century, when it was replaced by the safer and more stable chrome green.[36]
Cobalt green, sometimes known as Rinman's green or Zinc Green, is a translucent green pigment made by heating a mixture of cobalt (II) oxide and zinc oxide. Sven Rinman, a Swedish chemist, discovered this compound in 1780. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M battery)
Green chrome oxide was a new synthetic green created by a chemist named Pannetier in Paris in about 1835.
Emerald green was a synthetic deep green made in the 19th century by hydrating chrome oxide. It was also known as Guignet Green.[38]
Viridian, also called chrome green, is a pigment made with chromium oxide dihydrate, was patented in 1859. It became popular with painters, since, unlike other synthetic greens, it was stable and not toxic. Vincent Van Gogh used it, along with Prussian blue, to create a dark blue sky with a greenish tint in his painting Cafe terrace at night. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M battery)
Green has also often been made by mixing blue and yellow pigments. In antiquity, the Egyptians often mixed Egyptian blue and Naples yellow, while in the 19th century a color named English green was made by mixing Prussian blue and chrome yellow. Mixtures of oxidized cobalt and zinc were also used to create green paints as early as the 18th century.[ (Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery)9]
Amazonite. For many years, the source of amazonite's color was a mystery. Widely thought to have been due to copper because copper compounds often have blue and green colors, the blue-green color is likely to be derived from small quantities of lead and water in the feldspar.[40]
Phtalocyanine, is an intense green synthetic dye which was accidentally created by Swiss chemists in 1927(Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery).
Food coloring and fireworks
There is no natural source for green food colorings which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Chlorophyll, the E numbers E140 and E141, is the most common green chemical found in nature, and only allowed in certain medicines and cosmetic materials.[41] Quinoline Yellow (E104) is a commonly used coloring in the United Kingdom but is banned in Australia, Japan, Norway and the United States. (Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery) [42] Green S (E142) is prohibited in many countries, for it is known to cause hyperactivity, asthma, urticaria, and insomnia.[43]
To create green sparks, fireworks use barium salts, such as barium chlorate, barium nitrate crystals, or barium chloride, also used for green fireplace logs.[44] Copper salts typically burn blue, but cupric chloride (also known as "campfire blue") can also produce green flames.[44] Green pyrotechnic flares can use a mix ratio 75:25 of boron and potassium nitrate. (Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery) [44] Smoke can be turned green by a mixture: solvent yellow 33, solvent green 3, lactose, magnesium carbonate plus sodium carbonate added to potassium chlorate.[44]
Why leaves and grass are green
Leaves and growing fresh grass are green because they contain a natural pigment known as chlorophyll. Chlorophyll takes the energy of sunlight and uses it to convert carbon dioxide and water into chemical energy, in the form of glucose, or natural sugar, which allows the plant to grow. This process is called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll absorbs the long wavelengths (red) and short wavelengths (blue) of the light, but the green light is reflected(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E battery), making the grass and leaves appear green.[31] Chlorophyll does not absorb green light because it first arose in organisms living in oceans where purple halobacteria were already exploiting photosynthesis. Their purple color arose because they extracted energy in the green portion of the spectrum using bacteriorhodopsin. The new organisms that then later came to dominate the extraction of light were selected to exploit those portions of the spectrum not used by the halobacteria. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery) [45]
Biology
Animals typically use the color green as camouflage, blending in with the chlorophyll green of the surrounding environment.[31] Green animals include, especially, amphibians, reptiles, and some fish, birds and insects. Most fish, reptiles, amphibians, and birds appear green because of a reflection of blue light coming through an over-layer of yellow pigment. Perception of color can also be affected by the surrounding environment(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J battery). For example, broadleaf forests typically have a yellow-green light about them as the trees filter the light. Turacoverdin is one chemical which can cause a green hue in birds, especially.[31] Invertebrates such as insects or mollusks often display green colors because of porphyrin pigments, sometimes caused by diet. This can causes their feces to look green as well. Other chemicals which generally contribute to greenness among organisms are flavins (lychochromes) and hemanovadin. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11 battery) [31] Humans have imitated this by wearing green clothing as a camouflage in military and other fields. Substances that may impart a greenish hue to one's skin include biliverdin, the green pigment in bile, and ceruloplasmin, a protein that carries copper ions in chelation.
Lasers
Lasers emitting in the green part of the spectrum are widely available to the general public in a wide range of output powers. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M battery) Green laser pointers outputting at 532 nm (563.5 THz) are relatively inexpensive compared to other wavelengths of the same power, and are very popular due to their good beam quality and very high apparent brightness. The most common green lasers use diode pumped solid state (DPSS) technology to create the green light.[47] An infrared laser diode at 808 nm is used to pump a crystal of neodymium-doped yttrium vanadium oxide (Nd:YVO4) (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S battery) or neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) and induces it to emit 281.76 THz (1064 nm). This deeper infrared light is then passed through another crystal containing potassium, titanium and phosphorus (KTP), whose non-linear properties generate light at a frequency that is twice that of the incident beam (563.5 THz); in this case corresponding to the wavelength of 532 nm ("green").[48(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E battery)] Other green wavelengths are also available using DPSS technology ranging from 501 nm to 543 nm.[49] Green wavelengths are also available from gas lasers, including the Helium-neon laser (543 nm), the Argon-ion laser (514 nm) and the Krypton-ion laser (521 nm and 531 nm), as well as liquid dye lasers. Green lasers have a wide variety of applications, including pointing, illumination, surgery, laser light shows, spectroscopy, interferometry, fluorescence(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J battery), holography, machine vision, non-lethal weapons and bird control.[50]
Common associations of green
Nature, vivacity, and life
Green is the color most commonly associated in Europe and the U.S. with nature, vivacity and life.[51] It is the color of many environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, and of the Green Parties in Europe. Many cities have designated a garden or park as a green space, and use green trash bins and containers. A green cross is commonly used to designate pharmacies in Europe(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L battery).
In China, green is associated with the east, with sunrise, and with life and growth.[52] In Thailand, the color green is consider auspicious for those born on a Wednesday day (light green for those born at night).[53]
Springtime, freshness, and hope
Green is the color most commonly associated in the U.S. and Europe with springtime, freshness, and hope.[54] Green is often used to symbolize rebirth and renewal and immortality. In Ancient Egypt; the god Osiris, king of the underworld, was depicted as green-skinned. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M battery) Green as the color of hope is connected with the color of springtime; hope represents the faith that things will improve after a period of difficulty, like the renewal of flowers and plants after the winter season.[56]
Youth and inexperience
Green the color most commonly associated in Europe and the U.S. with youth. It also often is used to describe anyone young, inexperienced, probably by the analogy to immature and unripe fruit.[1] [57] Examples include green cheese, a term for a fresh, unaged cheese, and greenhorn, an inexperienced person(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H battery).
Jealousy and envy
Green is often associated with jealousy and envy. The expression "green-eyed monster" was first used by William Shakespeare in Othello: "it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Shakespeare also used it in the Merchant of Venice, speaking of "green-eyed jealousy." (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M battery) [58]
Love and sexuality
Green today is not commonly associated in Europe and the United States with love and sexuality,[59] but in stories of the medieval period it sometimes represented love[60] and the base, natural desires of man.[61] It was the color of the serpent in the Garden of Eden who caused the downfall of Adam and Eve. However, for the troubadours, green was the color of growing love(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z battery), and light green clothing was reserved for young women who were not yet married.[62]
In Persian and Sudanese poetry, dark-skinned women, called "green" women, were considered erotic.[18] The Chinese term for cuckold is "to wear a green hat."[63] This was because in ancient China, prostitutes were called "the family of the green lantern" and a prostitute's husband would wear a green headscarf. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW32J battery) [64]
The consumption of green M&M's has earned urban legendary status as a purported aphrodisiac, though the company that makes them has pointed out that they are identical in content to all the other colors.[65]
Fairies, dragons, monsters, and devils
In legends, folk tales and films, fairies, dragons, monsters, and the devil are often shown as green(Sony VAIO VGN-FW17W battery).
In the Middle Ages, the devil was usually shown as either red, black or green. Dragons were usually green, because they had the heads, claws and tails of reptiles.
Modern Chinese dragons are also often green, but unlike European dragons, they are benevolent; Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, hurricane, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck. The Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E battery). The dragon dance is a popular feature of Chinese festivals.
In Irish folklore and English folklore, the color was sometimes was associated with witchcraft, and with faeries and spirits.[66] The type of Irish fairy known a leprachaun is commonly portrayed wearing a green suit, though before 20th century he was usually described as wearing a red suit.
In the theater and in films, green was often connected with horror or ghost stories(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H battery), and with corpses. The earliest films of Frankenstein were in black and white, but in the poster for the 1935 version The Bride of Frankenstein, the monster had a green face. Actor Bela Lugosi wore green-hued makeup for the role of Dracula in the 1927–28 Broadway stage production.[67][68]
Poison, sickness, and misfortune
Like other common colors, green has several completely opposite associations. While it is the color most associated by Europeans and Americans with good health, it is also the color most often associated with toxicity and poison(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M battery). There was a solid foundation for this association; in the nineteenth century several popular paints and pigments, notably verdigris, vert de Schweinfurt and vert de Paris, were highly toxic, containing copper or arsenic.[69]
A green tinge in the skin is sometimes associated with nausea and sickness.[70] The expression 'green at the gills' means appearing sick. The color, when combined with gold, is sometimes seen as representing the fading of youth.[71] In some Far East cultures the color green is used as a symbol of sickness and/or nausea. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J battery) [72]
Green is sometimes thought to be an unlucky color in British and British-derived cultures. In the Celtic tradition, green was avoided in clothing for its superstitious association with misfortune and death.[73] Green wedding dresses and green cars were considered unlucky, even though British racing green was the official color for British racing cars.[74][75] Green costumes for actors were also considered unlucky in France and England(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery), a superstition connected with the death on stage of the French playwright Moliere, who was said to have been wearing a green costume.[76]
Safety and permission
Green can communicate safety to proceed, as in traffic lights.[2] Green and red were standarized as the colors of international railroad signals in the 19th century. The first traffic light, using green and red gas lamps, was erected in 1868 in front of the Houses of Parliament in London. It exploded the following year, injuring the policeman who operated it. (Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery) In 1912, the first modern electric traffic lights were put up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Red was chosen largely because of its high visibility, and its association with danger, while green was chosen largely because it could not be mistaken for red. Today green lights universally signal that a system is turned on and working as it should(Sony VGN-NR11S Battery).
Social status, prosperity and the dollar
Green in Europe and the United States is sometimes associated with status and prosperity. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century it was often worn by bankers, merchants country gentlemen and others who were wealthy but not members of the nobility. The benches in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, where the landed gentry sat, are colored green(Sony VGN-CR11Z Battery).
In the United States green was connected with the dollar bill. Since 1861, the reverse side of the dollar bill has been green. Green was originally chosen because it deterred counterfeiters, who tried to use early camera equipment to duplicate banknotes. Also, since the banknotes were thin, the green on the back did not show through and muddle the pictures on the front of the banknote. Green continues to be used because the public now associates it with a strong and stable currency. (Sony VGN-CR11S Battery) [77]
Green on flags
The flag of Italy (1797) was modeled after the French tricolor. It was originally the flag of the Cisalpine Republic, whose capital was Milan; red and white were the colors of Milan, and green was the color of the military uniforms of the army of the Cisalpine Republic. Other versions say it is the color of the Italian landscape, or symbolizes hope. (Sony VGN-CR11M Battery) [78]
The flag of Brazil has a green field adapted from the flag of the Empire of Brazil. The green represented the royal family.
The flag of India was inspired by an earlier flag of the independence movement of Gandhi, which had a red band for Hinduism and a green band representing Islam, the second largest religion in India. (Sony VGN-CR11E Battery) [79]
The flag of Pakistan symbolizes Pakistan's commitment to Islam and equal rights of religious minorities where the larger portion (3:2 ratio) of flag is dark green representing Muslim majority (98% of total population) while a white vertical bar (3:1 ratio) at the mast representing equal rights for religious minorities and minority religions in country. The crescent and star symbolizes progress and bright future respectively(Sony VGN-CR21E Battery).
Green is one of the three colors (along with red and black, or red and gold) of Pan-Africanism. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Togo, Guinea, Benin, and Zimbabwe. The Pan-African colors are borrowed from the Ethiopian flag, one of the oldest independent African countries. Green on some African flags represents the natural richness of Africa. (Sony VGN-CR21S Battery) [80]
Many flags of the Islamic world are green, as the color is considered sacred in Islam (see below). The flag of Hamas,[81] as well as the flag of Iran, is green, symbolizing their Islamist ideology.[82] The 1977 flag of Libya consisted of a simple green field with no other characteristics. It was the only national flag in the world with just one color and no design, insignia, or other details.[83] Some countries used green in their flags to represent their country's lush vegetation(Sony VGN-CR21Z Battery), as in the flag of Jamaica,[84] and hope in the future, as in the flags of Portugal and Nigeria.[85] The green cedar of Lebanon tree on the Flag of Lebanon officially represents steadiness and tolerance.[86]
The Wearing of the Green
Green is a symbol of Ireland, which is often referred to as the "Emerald Isle". The color is particularly identified with the republican and nationalist traditions in modern times. It is used this way on the flag of the Republic of Ireland(Sony VGN-CR31S Battery), in balance with white and the Protestant orange.[87] Green is a strong trend in the Irish holiday St. Patrick's Day.[88]
See also: Green politics
The first recorded green party was a political faction in Constantinople during the 6th century Byzantine Empire. which took its name from a popular chariot racing team. They were bitter opponents of the blue faction, which supported Emperor Justinian I and which had its own chariot racing team(Sony VGN-CR31E Battery). In 532 AD rioting between the factions began after one race, which led to the massacre of green supporters and the destruction of much of the center of Constantinople.[91] (See Nika Riots).
Green was the traditional color of Irish nationalism, beginning in the 17th century. The green harp flag, with a traditional gaelic harp, became the symbol of the movement. It was the banner of the Society of United Irishmen, which organized the Irish Rebellion of 1798, calling for Irish independence(Sony VGN-CR31Z Battery). The uprising was suppressed with great bloodshed by the British army. When Ireland achieved independence in 1922, green was incorporated into the national flag.
In the 1980s green became the color of a number of new European political parties organized around an agenda of environmentalism. Green was chosen for its association with nature, health, and growth. The largest Green Party in Europe is Alliance '90/The Greens (German: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in Germany, which was formed in 1993 from the merger of the German Green Party, founded in West Germany in 1980, and Alliance 90(Sony VGN-CR41Z Battery), founded during the Revolution of 1989–1990 in East Germany. In the 2009 federal elections, the party won 10.7% of the votes and 68 out of 622 seats in the Bundestag.
Green Parties in Europe have programs based on ecology, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and social justice. Green parties are found in over one hundred countries, and most are members of the Global Green Network.[ (Sony VGN-CR41S Battery)92]
The Australian Greens party was founded in 1992. At the 2010 federal election, the party received 13 percent of the vote (more than 1.6 million votes) in the Senate, a first for any Australian minor party.
Green is the traditional color of Islam. According to tradition, the robe and banner of Muhammed were green. and according to the Koran (XVIII, 31 and LXXVI, 21), those fortunate enough to live in paradise wear green silk robes.[3][93][94] Muhammad is quoted in a hadith as saying that "water, greenery, and a beautiful face" were three universally good things. (Sony VGN-CR41E Battery)
Al-Khidr ("The Green One"), was an important Qur'anic figure who was said to have met and traveled with Moses.[96] He was given that name because of his role as a diplomat and negotiator. Green was also considered to be the median color between light and obscurity.[93]
Roman Catholic and more traditional Protestant clergy wear green vestments at liturgical celebrations during Ordinary Time.[97] In the Eastern Catholic Church(Sony VGN-CR42Z Battery), green is the color of Pentecost.[98] Green is one of the Christmas colors as well, possibly dating back to pre-Christian times, when evergreens were worshiped for their ability to maintain their color through the winter season. Romans used green holly and evergreen as decorations for their winter solstice celebration called Saturnalia, which eventually evolved into a Christmas celebration.[99] In Ireland and Scotland especially, green is used to represent Catholics, while orange is used to represent Protestantism. This is shown on the national flag of Ireland(Sony VGN-CR42S Battery).
In the metaphysics of the "New Age Prophetess", Alice Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into seven different metaphysical psychological types, the "third ray" of "creative intelligence" is represented by the color green. People who have this metaphysical psychological type are said to be "on the Green Ray".[100] In Hinduism, Green is used to symbolically represent the fourth, heart chakra (Anahata). (Sony VGN-CR42E Battery)Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a green aura is typically someone who is in an occupation related to health, such as a physician or nurse, as well as people who are lovers of nature and the outdoors.[102]
Green in gambling and sports
Green was the color of one of the famous chariot racing teams at the Hippodrome in Ancient Rome. It was also the color of one of the popular teams in Ancient Byzantium. A riot between the supporters of the blue and green teams in 532 AD lasted for five days and resulted in the death of thousands of supporters and the destruction of much of the center of Constantinople. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/L Battery) (See Nika riots).
Gambling tables in a casino are traditionally green. The tradition is said to have started in gambling rooms in Venice in the 16th century.[103]
Billiards tables are traditionally covered with green woolen cloth. The first indoor tables, dating to the 15th century, were colored green after the grass courts used for the similar lawn games of the period. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/P Battery)
Tennis courts and ping-pong tables are traditionally painted green, in imitation of grass courts.
Green was the traditional color worn by hunters in the 19th century, particularly the shade called hunter green. In the 20th century most hunters began wearing the color olive drab, a shade of green, instead of hunter green.[105]
Green is a common color for sports teams. Well-known teams include Les Verts (The Greens) in Saint-Etienne, France. The Mexico national football team has a green uniform(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/B Battery).
British racing green was the international motor racing color of Britain from the early 1900s until the 1960s, when it was replaced by the colors of the sponsoring automobile companies.
A green belt in karate, taekwondo and judo symbolizes a level of proficiency in the sport.
Idioms and expressions
Having a green thumb. To be passionate about or talented at gardening. The expression was popularized beginning in 1925 by a BBC gardening program. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/L Battery)
Greenhorn. Someone who is inexperienced.
Green-eyed monster. Refers to jealousy. (See section above on jealousy and envy).
Greenmail. A term used in finance and corporate takeovers. It refers to the practice of a company paying a high price to buy back shares of its own stock to prevent an unfriendly takeover by another company or businessman. It originated in the 1980s on Wall Street, and originates from the green of dollars. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/P Battery) [106]
Green room. A room at a theater where actors rest when not onstage, or a room at a television studio where guests wait before going on-camera. It originated in the late 17th century from a room of that color at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.[106]
Greenwashing. Environmental activists sometimes use this term to describe the advertising of a company which promotes its positive environmental practices to cover up its environmental destruction(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/B Battery) [107]
Green around the gills. A description of a person who looks physically ill.[108]
The word green comes from the Middle English and Old English word grene, which, like the German word grün, has the same root as the words grass and grow.[8] It is from a Common Germanic *gronja-, which is also reflected in Old Norse grænn, Old High German gruoni (but unattested in East Germanic), ultimately from a PIE root *ghre- "to grow", and root-cognate with grass and to grow.[9] The first recorded use of the word as a color term in Old English dates to ca. AD 700(SONY VGP-BPS13Q battery).[10]
Latin with viridis (and hence the Romance languages, and English vert, verdure etc.) also has a genuine term for "green". Likewise the Slavic languages with zelenъ. Ancient Greek also had a term for yellowish, pale green, χλωρός, cognate with χλοερός "verdant" and χλόη "the green of new growth"(SONY VGP-BPS13A/Q battery).
Thus, the languages mentioned above (Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Greek) have old terms for "green" which are derived from words for fresh, sprouting vegetation. However, comparative linguistics makes clear that these terms were coined independently, over the past few millennia, and there is no identifiable single Proto-Indo-European or word for "green". For example, the Slavic zelenъ is cognate with Sanskrit hari "yellow, ochre, golden".(SONY VGP-BPS13B/Q battery) [11] The Turkic languages also have jašɨl "green" or "yellowish green", compared to a Mongolian word for "meadow".[12]
Languages where green and blue are one color
(Main article: color term)
In some languages, including old Chinese, Thai, old Japanese, and Vietnamese, the same word can mean either blue or green.[13]
The Chinese character 青 (pronounced qīng in Mandarin, ao in Japanese, and thanh in Sino-Vietnamese) has a meaning that covers both blue and green; blue and green are traditionally considered shades of "青." In more contemporary terms(SONY VGP-BPS13/B battery), they are 藍 (lán, in Mandarin) and 綠 (lǜ, in Mandarin) respectively. Japanese also has two terms that refer specifically to the color green, 緑 (midori which is derived from the classical Japanese descriptive verb midoru 'to be in leaf, to flourish' in reference to trees) and グリーン (guriin, which is derived from the English word 'green'). However, in Japan, although the traffic lights have the same colors that other countries have, the green light is described using the same word as for blue, "aoi"(SONY VGP-BPS13B/B battery), because green is considered a shade of aoi; similarly, green variants of certain fruits and vegetables such as green apples, green shiso (as opposed to red apples and red shiso) will be described with the word "aoi". Vietnamese uses a single word for both blue and green, xanh, with variants such as xanh da trời (azure, lit. "sky blue"), lam (blue), and lục (green; also xanh lá cây, lit. "leaf green")(SONY VGP-BPS13A/S battery).
"Green" in modern European languages corresponds to about 520–570 nm, but many historical and non-European languages make other choices, e.g. using a term for the range of ca. 450–530 nm ("blue/green") and another for ca. 530–590 nm ("green/yellow")
In the comparative study of color terms in the world's languages, green is only found as a separate category in languages with the fully developed range of six colors (white, red yellow, green, blue, black) (SONY VGP-BPS21A/B battery), or more rarely in systems with five colors (white, red yellow, green, black/blue).[14] (See distinction of green from blue) [15] These languages have introduced supplementary vocabulary to denote "green", but these terms are recognizable as recent adoptions that are not in origin color terms (much like the English adjective orange being in origin not a color term but the name of a fruit) (SONY VGP-BPS21B battery). Thus, the Thai word เขียว besides meaning "green" also means "rank" and "smelly" and holds other unpleasant associations.[16]
The Celtic languages had a term for "blue/green/grey", Proto-Celtic *glasto-, which gave rise to Old Irish glas "green, grey" and to Welsh glas "blue". This word is cognate with the Ancient Greek γλαυκός "bluish green", contrasting with χλωρός "yellowish green" discussed above.
In modern Japanese, the term for green is 緑, while the old term for "blue/green"(SONY VGP-BPS21 battery), blue (青 Ao?) now means "blue". But in certain contexts, green is still conventionally referred to as 青, as in blue traffic light (青信号 Ao shingō?) and blue leaves (青葉 Aoba?), reflecting the absence of blue-green distinction in old Japanese (more accurately, the traditional Japanese color terminology grouped some shades of green with blue, and others with yellow tones) (SONY VGP-BPS21/S battery).
The Persian language is traditionally lacking a black/blue/green distinction. The Persian word سبز sabz can mean "green", "black" or "dark". Thus, Persian erotic poetry, dark-skinned women are addressed as sabz-eh, as in phrases like سبز گندم گون sabz-eh-gandom-gun (literally "dark wheat colored") or سبز مليح sabz-eh-malih ("a dark beauty").[17] Similarly, in Sudanese Arabic, dark-skinned people are described as أخضر akhḍar, the term which in Standard Arabic stands unambiguously for "green".(SONY VGP-BPS13S battery)
Green in history and art
In the ancient world
Neolithic cave paintings do not have traces of green pigments, but neolithic peoples in northern Europe did make a green dye for clothing, made from the leaves of the birch tree. it was of very poor quality, more brown than green. Ceramics from ancient Mesopotamia show people wearing vivid green costumes, but it is not known how the colors were produced. (SONY VGP-BPS13B/S battery)]
In Ancient Egypt green was the symbol of regeneration and rebirth, and of the crops made possible by the annual flooding of the Nile. For painting on the walls of tombs or on papyrus, Egyptian artists used finely-ground malachite, mined in the west Sinai and the eastern desert- A paintbox with malachite pigment was found inside the tomb of King Tutankhamun. They also used less expensive green earth pigment, or mixed yellow ochre and blue azurite(SONY VGP-BPS13B/G battery). To dye fabrics green, they first colored them yellow with dye made from saffron and then soaked them in blue dye from the roots of the woad plant.[19]
For the ancient Egyptians, green had very positive associations. The hieroglyph for green represented a growing papyrus sprout, showing the close connection between green, vegetation, vigor and growth. In wall paintings, the ruler of the underworld, Osiris, was typically portrayed with a green face(SONY VGP-BPS14 battery), because green was the symbol of good health and rebirth. Palettes of green facial makeup, made with malachite, were found in tombs. It was worn by both the living and dead, particularly around the eyes, to protect them from evil. Tombs also often contained small green amulets in the shape of scarab beetles made of malachite, which would protect and give vigor to the deceased. It also symbolized the sea, which was called the "Very Green.". (SONY VGP-BPS22 battery)
In Ancient Greece, green and blue were sometimes considered the same color, and the same word sometimes described the color of the sea and the color of trees. The philosopher Democritus described two different greens; cloron, or pale green, and prasinon, or leek green. Aristotle considered that green was located midway between black, symbolizing the earth, and white, symbolizing water(SONY VGP-BPS22 battery). However, green was not counted among of the four classic colors of Greek painting; red, yellow, black and white, and is rarely found in Greek art.[21]
The Romans had a greater appreciation for the color green; it was the color of Venus, the goddess of gardens, vegetables and vineyards.The Romans made a fine green earth pigment, which was widely used in the wall paintings of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Lyon, Vaison-la-Romaine, and other Roman cities(SONY VGP-BPS18 battery). They also used the pigment verdigris, made by soaking copper plates in fermenting wine.[22] By the Second Century AD, the Romans were using green in paintings, mosaics and glass, and there were ten different words in Latin for varieties of green.[23]
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance
In the Middle Ages the color of clothing often showed a person's social rank and profession. Red was worn by the nobility, brown and gray by peasants, and green by merchants, bankers and the gentry and their families. The Mona Lisa wears green in her portrait, as does the bride in the Arnolfini portrait by Jan Van Eyck(SONY VGP-BPS22/A battery).
Unfortunately for those who wanted or were required to wear green, there were no good vegetal green dyes which resisted washing and sunlight. Green dyes were made out of the fern, plantain, buckthorn berries, the juice of nettles and of leeks, the digitalis plant, the broom plant, the leaves of the fraxinus, or ash tree, and the bark of the alder tree, but they rapidly faded or changed color. Only in the 16th century was a good green dye produced, by first dyeing the cloth blue with woad, and then yellow with reseda luteola, also known as yellow-weed. (SONY VGP-BPS22A battery)
The pigments available to painters were more varied; monks in monasteries used use of verdigris, made by soaking copper in fermenting wine, to color medieval manuscripts. They also used finely-ground malachite, which made a luminous green. They used green earth colors for backgrounds(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11S battery).
During the early Renaissance, painters such as Duccio di Buoninsegna learned to paint faces first with a green undercoat, then with pink, which gave the faces a more realistic hue. Over the centuries the pink has faded, making some of the faces look green.[25]
The 18th and 19th century
The 18th and 19th century brought the discovery and production of synthetic green pigments and dyes(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15T battery), which rapidly replaced the earlier mineral and vegetable pigments and dyes. These new dyes were more stable and brilliant than the vegetable dyes, but some contained high levels of arsenic, and were eventually banned.
In the 18th and 19th century, green was associated with the romantic movement in literature and art. The French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau celebrated the virtues of nature, The German poet and philosopher Goethe declared that green was the most restful color(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ15G battery), suitable for decorating bedrooms. Painters such as John Constable and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot depicted the lush green of rural landscapes and forests. Green was contrasted to the smoky grays and blacks of the Industrial Revolution.
The second half of the 19th century saw the use of green in art to create specific emotions, not just to imitate nature. One of the first to make color the central element of his picture was the American artist James McNeil Whistler, who created a series of paintings called "symphonies" (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ4000 battery)or "noctures" of color, including "Symphony in gray and green; The Ocean" between 1866 and 1872.
The late nineteenth century also brought the systematic study of color theory, and particularly the study of how complementary colors such as red and green reinforced each other when they were placed next to each other. These studies were avidly followed by artists such as Vincent Van Gogh. Describing his painting(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11L battery), The Night Cafe, to his brother Theo in 1888, Van Gogh wrote: "I sought to express with red and green the terrible human passions. The hall is blood red and pale yellow, with a green billiard table in the center, and four lamps of lemon yellow, with rays of orange and green. Everywhere it is a battle and antithesis of the most different reds and greens." (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11Z battery)
20th and 21st Century
In the 1980s green became a political symbol, the color of the Green Party in Germany and in many other European countries. It symbolized the environmental movement, and also a new politics of the left which rejected traditional socialism and communism.
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization which emerged out of the anti-nuclear and peace movements in the 1970s(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ11M battery). Its ship, the Rainbow Warrior, frequently tried to interfere with nuclear tests and whaling operations. The movement now has branches in forty countries.
Green is the color you see when you look at light with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometers.
It is one of the three additive colors, along with red and blue, which are combined on computer screens and color televisions to make all other colors.
In the subtractive color system, used in printing, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18M battery);
On the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel, the complement of green is magenta; that is, a purple color corresponding to an equal mixture of red and blue light. On a color wheel based on traditional color theory (RYB), the complementary color to green is considered to be red. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ18 battery)
Green, blue and red are additive colors. All the colors you see on your computer screen are made by mixing them in different intensities.
The perception of greenness (in opposition to redness forming one of the opponent mechanisms in human color vision) is evoked by light which triggers the medium-wavelength M cone cells in the eye more than the long-wavelength L cones. Light which triggers this greenness response more than the yellowness or blueness of the other color opponent mechanism is called green(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ210CE battery). A green light source typically has a spectral power distribution dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 487–570 nm.[29]
In additive color devices such as computer displays and televisions, one of the primary light sources is typically a narrow-spectrum yellowish-green of dominant wavelength ~550 nm; this "green" primary is combined with an orangish-red "red" primary and a purplish-blue "blue" primary to produce any color in between (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31S battery)– the RGB color model. A unique green (green appearing neither yellowish nor bluish) is produced on such a device by mixing light from the green primary with some light from the blue primary.
By contrast in process color printing, a subtractive color system, green can be produced via a mixture of cyan and yellow ink, and in traditional color theory, green is produced by mixing yellow and blue paint(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31Z battery).
Green is complementary to a purplish red or reddish purple color, in both additive and subtractive mixtures, and in simultaneous contrast effects and afterimages.
The sensitivity of the dark-adapted human eye is greatest at about 507 nm, a bluish-green color, while the light-adapted eye is most sensitive about 555 nm, a yellowish-green color.[30] Human eyes have color receptors known as cone cells, of which there are three types(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31E battery). In some cases, one is missing or faulty, which can cause color blindness, including the common inability to distinguish red and yellow from green, known as deuteranopia or red–green color blindness.[31] Green is restful to the eye. Studies show that a green environment can reduce fatigue.[32]
The Chicago River is dyed green every year to mark St. Patrick's Day.
Aside from chlorophyll, the green pigment of growing grass and leaves, green pigments are rather rare in nature(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31J battery).
Emeralds, are colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium.[33]
Malachite, like many greens, is colored by the presence of copper, in this case by basic copper(II) carbonate.[34]
Green earth is a natural pigment used since the time of the Roman Empire. It s composed of clay colored by iron oxide, magnesium, aluminum silicate, or potassium. Large deposits were found in the South of France near Nice(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31M battery), and in Italy around Verona, on Cyprus, and in Bohemia. The clay was crushed, washed to remove impurities, then powdered. It was sometimes called Green of Verona.[35]
Verdigris is made by placing a plate or blade of copper, brass or bronze, slightly warmed, into a vat of fermenting wine, leaving it there for several weeks, and then scraping off and drying the green powder that forms on the metal. The process of making verdigris was described in ancient times by Pliny. It was used by the Romans in the murals of Pompeii(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ31B battery), and in Celtic medieval manuscripts as early as the 5th century AD. It produced a blue-green which no other pigment could imitate, but it had drawbacks; it was unstable, it could not resist dampness, it did not mix well with other colors, it could ruin other colors with which it came into contact., and it was toxic. Leonardo DaVinci, in his treatise on painting, warned artists not to use it(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21S battery). It was widely used in miniature paintings in Europe and Persia in the 16th and 17th centuries. Its use largely ended in the late 19th century, when it was replaced by the safer and more stable chrome green.[36]
Cobalt green, sometimes known as Rinman's green or Zinc Green, is a translucent green pigment made by heating a mixture of cobalt (II) oxide and zinc oxide. Sven Rinman, a Swedish chemist, discovered this compound in 1780. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21M battery)
Green chrome oxide was a new synthetic green created by a chemist named Pannetier in Paris in about 1835.
Emerald green was a synthetic deep green made in the 19th century by hydrating chrome oxide. It was also known as Guignet Green.[38]
Viridian, also called chrome green, is a pigment made with chromium oxide dihydrate, was patented in 1859. It became popular with painters, since, unlike other synthetic greens, it was stable and not toxic. Vincent Van Gogh used it, along with Prussian blue, to create a dark blue sky with a greenish tint in his painting Cafe terrace at night. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ38M battery)
Green has also often been made by mixing blue and yellow pigments. In antiquity, the Egyptians often mixed Egyptian blue and Naples yellow, while in the 19th century a color named English green was made by mixing Prussian blue and chrome yellow. Mixtures of oxidized cobalt and zinc were also used to create green paints as early as the 18th century.[ (Sony VGN-NR11S/S Battery)9]
Amazonite. For many years, the source of amazonite's color was a mystery. Widely thought to have been due to copper because copper compounds often have blue and green colors, the blue-green color is likely to be derived from small quantities of lead and water in the feldspar.[40]
Phtalocyanine, is an intense green synthetic dye which was accidentally created by Swiss chemists in 1927(Sony VGN-NR11M/S Battery).
Food coloring and fireworks
There is no natural source for green food colorings which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Chlorophyll, the E numbers E140 and E141, is the most common green chemical found in nature, and only allowed in certain medicines and cosmetic materials.[41] Quinoline Yellow (E104) is a commonly used coloring in the United Kingdom but is banned in Australia, Japan, Norway and the United States. (Sony VGN-NR11Z/S Battery) [42] Green S (E142) is prohibited in many countries, for it is known to cause hyperactivity, asthma, urticaria, and insomnia.[43]
To create green sparks, fireworks use barium salts, such as barium chlorate, barium nitrate crystals, or barium chloride, also used for green fireplace logs.[44] Copper salts typically burn blue, but cupric chloride (also known as "campfire blue") can also produce green flames.[44] Green pyrotechnic flares can use a mix ratio 75:25 of boron and potassium nitrate. (Sony VGN-NR11Z/T Battery) [44] Smoke can be turned green by a mixture: solvent yellow 33, solvent green 3, lactose, magnesium carbonate plus sodium carbonate added to potassium chlorate.[44]
Why leaves and grass are green
Leaves and growing fresh grass are green because they contain a natural pigment known as chlorophyll. Chlorophyll takes the energy of sunlight and uses it to convert carbon dioxide and water into chemical energy, in the form of glucose, or natural sugar, which allows the plant to grow. This process is called photosynthesis. Chlorophyll absorbs the long wavelengths (red) and short wavelengths (blue) of the light, but the green light is reflected(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21E battery), making the grass and leaves appear green.[31] Chlorophyll does not absorb green light because it first arose in organisms living in oceans where purple halobacteria were already exploiting photosynthesis. Their purple color arose because they extracted energy in the green portion of the spectrum using bacteriorhodopsin. The new organisms that then later came to dominate the extraction of light were selected to exploit those portions of the spectrum not used by the halobacteria. (Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21Z battery) [45]
Biology
Animals typically use the color green as camouflage, blending in with the chlorophyll green of the surrounding environment.[31] Green animals include, especially, amphibians, reptiles, and some fish, birds and insects. Most fish, reptiles, amphibians, and birds appear green because of a reflection of blue light coming through an over-layer of yellow pigment. Perception of color can also be affected by the surrounding environment(Sony VAIO VGN-FZ21J battery). For example, broadleaf forests typically have a yellow-green light about them as the trees filter the light. Turacoverdin is one chemical which can cause a green hue in birds, especially.[31] Invertebrates such as insects or mollusks often display green colors because of porphyrin pigments, sometimes caused by diet. This can causes their feces to look green as well. Other chemicals which generally contribute to greenness among organisms are flavins (lychochromes) and hemanovadin. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11 battery) [31] Humans have imitated this by wearing green clothing as a camouflage in military and other fields. Substances that may impart a greenish hue to one's skin include biliverdin, the green pigment in bile, and ceruloplasmin, a protein that carries copper ions in chelation.
Lasers
Lasers emitting in the green part of the spectrum are widely available to the general public in a wide range of output powers. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11M battery) Green laser pointers outputting at 532 nm (563.5 THz) are relatively inexpensive compared to other wavelengths of the same power, and are very popular due to their good beam quality and very high apparent brightness. The most common green lasers use diode pumped solid state (DPSS) technology to create the green light.[47] An infrared laser diode at 808 nm is used to pump a crystal of neodymium-doped yttrium vanadium oxide (Nd:YVO4) (Sony VAIO VGN-FW11S battery) or neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) and induces it to emit 281.76 THz (1064 nm). This deeper infrared light is then passed through another crystal containing potassium, titanium and phosphorus (KTP), whose non-linear properties generate light at a frequency that is twice that of the incident beam (563.5 THz); in this case corresponding to the wavelength of 532 nm ("green").[48(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21E battery)] Other green wavelengths are also available using DPSS technology ranging from 501 nm to 543 nm.[49] Green wavelengths are also available from gas lasers, including the Helium-neon laser (543 nm), the Argon-ion laser (514 nm) and the Krypton-ion laser (521 nm and 531 nm), as well as liquid dye lasers. Green lasers have a wide variety of applications, including pointing, illumination, surgery, laser light shows, spectroscopy, interferometry, fluorescence(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21J battery), holography, machine vision, non-lethal weapons and bird control.[50]
Common associations of green
Nature, vivacity, and life
Green is the color most commonly associated in Europe and the U.S. with nature, vivacity and life.[51] It is the color of many environmental organizations, such as Greenpeace, and of the Green Parties in Europe. Many cities have designated a garden or park as a green space, and use green trash bins and containers. A green cross is commonly used to designate pharmacies in Europe(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21L battery).
In China, green is associated with the east, with sunrise, and with life and growth.[52] In Thailand, the color green is consider auspicious for those born on a Wednesday day (light green for those born at night).[53]
Springtime, freshness, and hope
Green is the color most commonly associated in the U.S. and Europe with springtime, freshness, and hope.[54] Green is often used to symbolize rebirth and renewal and immortality. In Ancient Egypt; the god Osiris, king of the underworld, was depicted as green-skinned. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M battery) Green as the color of hope is connected with the color of springtime; hope represents the faith that things will improve after a period of difficulty, like the renewal of flowers and plants after the winter season.[56]
Youth and inexperience
Green the color most commonly associated in Europe and the U.S. with youth. It also often is used to describe anyone young, inexperienced, probably by the analogy to immature and unripe fruit.[1] [57] Examples include green cheese, a term for a fresh, unaged cheese, and greenhorn, an inexperienced person(Sony VAIO VGN-FW41M/H battery).
Jealousy and envy
Green is often associated with jealousy and envy. The expression "green-eyed monster" was first used by William Shakespeare in Othello: "it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." Shakespeare also used it in the Merchant of Venice, speaking of "green-eyed jealousy." (Sony VAIO VGN-FW21M battery) [58]
Love and sexuality
Green today is not commonly associated in Europe and the United States with love and sexuality,[59] but in stories of the medieval period it sometimes represented love[60] and the base, natural desires of man.[61] It was the color of the serpent in the Garden of Eden who caused the downfall of Adam and Eve. However, for the troubadours, green was the color of growing love(Sony VAIO VGN-FW21Z battery), and light green clothing was reserved for young women who were not yet married.[62]
In Persian and Sudanese poetry, dark-skinned women, called "green" women, were considered erotic.[18] The Chinese term for cuckold is "to wear a green hat."[63] This was because in ancient China, prostitutes were called "the family of the green lantern" and a prostitute's husband would wear a green headscarf. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW32J battery) [64]
The consumption of green M&M's has earned urban legendary status as a purported aphrodisiac, though the company that makes them has pointed out that they are identical in content to all the other colors.[65]
Fairies, dragons, monsters, and devils
In legends, folk tales and films, fairies, dragons, monsters, and the devil are often shown as green(Sony VAIO VGN-FW17W battery).
In the Middle Ages, the devil was usually shown as either red, black or green. Dragons were usually green, because they had the heads, claws and tails of reptiles.
Modern Chinese dragons are also often green, but unlike European dragons, they are benevolent; Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, hurricane, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck. The Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31E battery). The dragon dance is a popular feature of Chinese festivals.
In Irish folklore and English folklore, the color was sometimes was associated with witchcraft, and with faeries and spirits.[66] The type of Irish fairy known a leprachaun is commonly portrayed wearing a green suit, though before 20th century he was usually described as wearing a red suit.
In the theater and in films, green was often connected with horror or ghost stories(Sony VAIO VGN-FW139E/H battery), and with corpses. The earliest films of Frankenstein were in black and white, but in the poster for the 1935 version The Bride of Frankenstein, the monster had a green face. Actor Bela Lugosi wore green-hued makeup for the role of Dracula in the 1927–28 Broadway stage production.[67][68]
Poison, sickness, and misfortune
Like other common colors, green has several completely opposite associations. While it is the color most associated by Europeans and Americans with good health, it is also the color most often associated with toxicity and poison(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31M battery). There was a solid foundation for this association; in the nineteenth century several popular paints and pigments, notably verdigris, vert de Schweinfurt and vert de Paris, were highly toxic, containing copper or arsenic.[69]
A green tinge in the skin is sometimes associated with nausea and sickness.[70] The expression 'green at the gills' means appearing sick. The color, when combined with gold, is sometimes seen as representing the fading of youth.[71] In some Far East cultures the color green is used as a symbol of sickness and/or nausea. (Sony VAIO VGN-FW31J battery) [72]
Green is sometimes thought to be an unlucky color in British and British-derived cultures. In the Celtic tradition, green was avoided in clothing for its superstitious association with misfortune and death.[73] Green wedding dresses and green cars were considered unlucky, even though British racing green was the official color for British racing cars.[74][75] Green costumes for actors were also considered unlucky in France and England(Sony VAIO VGN-FW31Z battery), a superstition connected with the death on stage of the French playwright Moliere, who was said to have been wearing a green costume.[76]
Safety and permission
Green can communicate safety to proceed, as in traffic lights.[2] Green and red were standarized as the colors of international railroad signals in the 19th century. The first traffic light, using green and red gas lamps, was erected in 1868 in front of the Houses of Parliament in London. It exploded the following year, injuring the policeman who operated it. (Sony VGN-NR11Z Battery) In 1912, the first modern electric traffic lights were put up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Red was chosen largely because of its high visibility, and its association with danger, while green was chosen largely because it could not be mistaken for red. Today green lights universally signal that a system is turned on and working as it should(Sony VGN-NR11S Battery).
Social status, prosperity and the dollar
Green in Europe and the United States is sometimes associated with status and prosperity. From the Middle Ages to the 19th century it was often worn by bankers, merchants country gentlemen and others who were wealthy but not members of the nobility. The benches in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, where the landed gentry sat, are colored green(Sony VGN-CR11Z Battery).
In the United States green was connected with the dollar bill. Since 1861, the reverse side of the dollar bill has been green. Green was originally chosen because it deterred counterfeiters, who tried to use early camera equipment to duplicate banknotes. Also, since the banknotes were thin, the green on the back did not show through and muddle the pictures on the front of the banknote. Green continues to be used because the public now associates it with a strong and stable currency. (Sony VGN-CR11S Battery) [77]
Green on flags
The flag of Italy (1797) was modeled after the French tricolor. It was originally the flag of the Cisalpine Republic, whose capital was Milan; red and white were the colors of Milan, and green was the color of the military uniforms of the army of the Cisalpine Republic. Other versions say it is the color of the Italian landscape, or symbolizes hope. (Sony VGN-CR11M Battery) [78]
The flag of Brazil has a green field adapted from the flag of the Empire of Brazil. The green represented the royal family.
The flag of India was inspired by an earlier flag of the independence movement of Gandhi, which had a red band for Hinduism and a green band representing Islam, the second largest religion in India. (Sony VGN-CR11E Battery) [79]
The flag of Pakistan symbolizes Pakistan's commitment to Islam and equal rights of religious minorities where the larger portion (3:2 ratio) of flag is dark green representing Muslim majority (98% of total population) while a white vertical bar (3:1 ratio) at the mast representing equal rights for religious minorities and minority religions in country. The crescent and star symbolizes progress and bright future respectively(Sony VGN-CR21E Battery).
Green is one of the three colors (along with red and black, or red and gold) of Pan-Africanism. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Togo, Guinea, Benin, and Zimbabwe. The Pan-African colors are borrowed from the Ethiopian flag, one of the oldest independent African countries. Green on some African flags represents the natural richness of Africa. (Sony VGN-CR21S Battery) [80]
Many flags of the Islamic world are green, as the color is considered sacred in Islam (see below). The flag of Hamas,[81] as well as the flag of Iran, is green, symbolizing their Islamist ideology.[82] The 1977 flag of Libya consisted of a simple green field with no other characteristics. It was the only national flag in the world with just one color and no design, insignia, or other details.[83] Some countries used green in their flags to represent their country's lush vegetation(Sony VGN-CR21Z Battery), as in the flag of Jamaica,[84] and hope in the future, as in the flags of Portugal and Nigeria.[85] The green cedar of Lebanon tree on the Flag of Lebanon officially represents steadiness and tolerance.[86]
The Wearing of the Green
Green is a symbol of Ireland, which is often referred to as the "Emerald Isle". The color is particularly identified with the republican and nationalist traditions in modern times. It is used this way on the flag of the Republic of Ireland(Sony VGN-CR31S Battery), in balance with white and the Protestant orange.[87] Green is a strong trend in the Irish holiday St. Patrick's Day.[88]
See also: Green politics
The first recorded green party was a political faction in Constantinople during the 6th century Byzantine Empire. which took its name from a popular chariot racing team. They were bitter opponents of the blue faction, which supported Emperor Justinian I and which had its own chariot racing team(Sony VGN-CR31E Battery). In 532 AD rioting between the factions began after one race, which led to the massacre of green supporters and the destruction of much of the center of Constantinople.[91] (See Nika Riots).
Green was the traditional color of Irish nationalism, beginning in the 17th century. The green harp flag, with a traditional gaelic harp, became the symbol of the movement. It was the banner of the Society of United Irishmen, which organized the Irish Rebellion of 1798, calling for Irish independence(Sony VGN-CR31Z Battery). The uprising was suppressed with great bloodshed by the British army. When Ireland achieved independence in 1922, green was incorporated into the national flag.
In the 1980s green became the color of a number of new European political parties organized around an agenda of environmentalism. Green was chosen for its association with nature, health, and growth. The largest Green Party in Europe is Alliance '90/The Greens (German: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen) in Germany, which was formed in 1993 from the merger of the German Green Party, founded in West Germany in 1980, and Alliance 90(Sony VGN-CR41Z Battery), founded during the Revolution of 1989–1990 in East Germany. In the 2009 federal elections, the party won 10.7% of the votes and 68 out of 622 seats in the Bundestag.
Green Parties in Europe have programs based on ecology, grassroots democracy, nonviolence, and social justice. Green parties are found in over one hundred countries, and most are members of the Global Green Network.[ (Sony VGN-CR41S Battery)92]
The Australian Greens party was founded in 1992. At the 2010 federal election, the party received 13 percent of the vote (more than 1.6 million votes) in the Senate, a first for any Australian minor party.
Green is the traditional color of Islam. According to tradition, the robe and banner of Muhammed were green. and according to the Koran (XVIII, 31 and LXXVI, 21), those fortunate enough to live in paradise wear green silk robes.[3][93][94] Muhammad is quoted in a hadith as saying that "water, greenery, and a beautiful face" were three universally good things. (Sony VGN-CR41E Battery)
Al-Khidr ("The Green One"), was an important Qur'anic figure who was said to have met and traveled with Moses.[96] He was given that name because of his role as a diplomat and negotiator. Green was also considered to be the median color between light and obscurity.[93]
Roman Catholic and more traditional Protestant clergy wear green vestments at liturgical celebrations during Ordinary Time.[97] In the Eastern Catholic Church(Sony VGN-CR42Z Battery), green is the color of Pentecost.[98] Green is one of the Christmas colors as well, possibly dating back to pre-Christian times, when evergreens were worshiped for their ability to maintain their color through the winter season. Romans used green holly and evergreen as decorations for their winter solstice celebration called Saturnalia, which eventually evolved into a Christmas celebration.[99] In Ireland and Scotland especially, green is used to represent Catholics, while orange is used to represent Protestantism. This is shown on the national flag of Ireland(Sony VGN-CR42S Battery).
In the metaphysics of the "New Age Prophetess", Alice Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into seven different metaphysical psychological types, the "third ray" of "creative intelligence" is represented by the color green. People who have this metaphysical psychological type are said to be "on the Green Ray".[100] In Hinduism, Green is used to symbolically represent the fourth, heart chakra (Anahata). (Sony VGN-CR42E Battery)Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a green aura is typically someone who is in an occupation related to health, such as a physician or nurse, as well as people who are lovers of nature and the outdoors.[102]
Green in gambling and sports
Green was the color of one of the famous chariot racing teams at the Hippodrome in Ancient Rome. It was also the color of one of the popular teams in Ancient Byzantium. A riot between the supporters of the blue and green teams in 532 AD lasted for five days and resulted in the death of thousands of supporters and the destruction of much of the center of Constantinople. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/L Battery) (See Nika riots).
Gambling tables in a casino are traditionally green. The tradition is said to have started in gambling rooms in Venice in the 16th century.[103]
Billiards tables are traditionally covered with green woolen cloth. The first indoor tables, dating to the 15th century, were colored green after the grass courts used for the similar lawn games of the period. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR11S/P Battery)
Tennis courts and ping-pong tables are traditionally painted green, in imitation of grass courts.
Green was the traditional color worn by hunters in the 19th century, particularly the shade called hunter green. In the 20th century most hunters began wearing the color olive drab, a shade of green, instead of hunter green.[105]
Green is a common color for sports teams. Well-known teams include Les Verts (The Greens) in Saint-Etienne, France. The Mexico national football team has a green uniform(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/B Battery).
British racing green was the international motor racing color of Britain from the early 1900s until the 1960s, when it was replaced by the colors of the sponsoring automobile companies.
A green belt in karate, taekwondo and judo symbolizes a level of proficiency in the sport.
Idioms and expressions
Having a green thumb. To be passionate about or talented at gardening. The expression was popularized beginning in 1925 by a BBC gardening program. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/L Battery)
Greenhorn. Someone who is inexperienced.
Green-eyed monster. Refers to jealousy. (See section above on jealousy and envy).
Greenmail. A term used in finance and corporate takeovers. It refers to the practice of a company paying a high price to buy back shares of its own stock to prevent an unfriendly takeover by another company or businessman. It originated in the 1980s on Wall Street, and originates from the green of dollars. (Sony Vaio VGN-CR13/P Battery) [106]
Green room. A room at a theater where actors rest when not onstage, or a room at a television studio where guests wait before going on-camera. It originated in the late 17th century from a room of that color at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.[106]
Greenwashing. Environmental activists sometimes use this term to describe the advertising of a company which promotes its positive environmental practices to cover up its environmental destruction(Sony Vaio VGN-CR13G/B Battery) [107]
Green around the gills. A description of a person who looks physically ill.[108]
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