Orange (colour)

The colour orange occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum at a wavelength of about 585–620 nanometres. It is a pure chroma in the colour theory, with a hue of 30° in HSV colour space. The complementary colour of orange is azure. With pigments such as paints or crayons, the primary colours red (or more accurately, magenta) and yellow mixed together produce the secondary colour orange. Orange pigments are largely in the ochre or cadmium families.

Etymology of Orange

The colour is named after the orange fruit. Before this was introduced to the English-speaking world, the colour was referred to (in Old English) as geoluhread, which translates into Modern English variously as yellow-red, yellowred, or yellored (all pronounced the same).

Orange (colour wheel)

At right is the colour wheel colour orange, the color that is halfway between red and yellow.

The first recorded use of orange as a colour name in English was in 1512. ^[1]

Computer Web Colour Oranges

Orange (Web colour)

Web colour orange, defined as FFA500, is the only named colour defined in CSS that is not also defined in HTML 4.01

Dark orange (web colour)

The web colour called dark orange is displayed at right.

Additional Variations on the Colour Orange

Main article: Variations of orange

Orange peel

Displayed at right is the actual colour of the outer skin of a usual orange. This colour is called orange peel. It is the same colour as the fruit for which it was named. So in contrast to blue or red this colour is well determined--see the samples.

For a discussion of the difference between the colours orange and orange peel (the actual colour of the outer skin of an orange), see the indicated reference. ^[2]

The first recorded use of orange peel as a colour name in English was in 1839. ^[3]

Tangerine

Main article: Tangerine (color)

At right is the colour tangerine, a shade of orange that is the colour of the tangerine fruit.

The first recorded use of tangerine as a color name in English was in 1899. ^[4]

Carrot orange

Carrot orange is a tint of orange that is the colour of the raw carrot vegetable.

The first recorded use of carrot orange as a colour name in English was in 1684. ^[5]

Burnt orange

Burnt orange has been used as a colour name for this dark shade of orange since 1915 ^[6].This colour is one variation that is used as a school colour of the Auburn University, Clemson University, Virginia Tech, and University of Texas at Austin.

Burnt Orange was popular in interior design in the 1970s.

Brown

Main article: Brown

Brown is actually derived from the orange part (orange + grey) of the colour spectrum. It can be described as dark orange.

The first recorded use of brown as a color name in English was in 1000. ^[7]

Orange in human culture

Business

• Orange is the corporate colour of:
  • Kall (Faroe Islands)
  • Orange SA (French, operates internationally)
  • Moldcell (Republic of Moldova)
  • easyJet (UK)
  • Euskaltel (Spain) (including its cycling team Euskaltel Euskadi).
  • eircom (Ireland) and its subsidiary:
    • Meteor Mobile Communications (Ireland)
  • Rabobank (Netherlands)
  • ING Groep N.V. (Netherlands/Global)
  • JetStar (Australia)
  • Hermes (France)
  • Cingular Wireless (United States)
  • The Home Depot (United States)
  • Sega Dreamcast

Geography and History

• Orange is the national colour of The Netherlands, because its royal family used to own the principality of Orange (the title is still used for Dutch heir apparent). It is the colour of choice for many of the national sports teams and their supporters. The nickname of the Dutch national soccer (football) team is Oranje, the Dutch word for orange. In the modern flag of the Netherlands, red substitutes the original orange, but on royal birthdays the flag has an additional orange banner. Most geographical usages of the word orange can be traced back to Dutch maritime power in the 17th century.
• In Ireland the use of orange dates from the reign of William of Orange, the Protestant English king and a Dutch stadholder.

Heraldry

• In English heraldry, orange denotes strength, honour, generosity, and prosperity. However, its use as a heraldic tincture is relatively rare.

Holidays

• The colors orange and black represent the holiday Halloween (31 October) because orange is the color of pumpkins and black is the color of night, doom, despair and darkness, which is why black cats are associated with Halloween.
• The colors orange and brown represent the United States holiday Thanksgiving.

Music

• Orange is a song by alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols.

Religion

• Orange signifies Protestantism in Northern Ireland (see Orange Institution) and to a lesser extent in the Republic of Ireland (the orange part of whose flag represents the Protestant population^{[citation needed]}) and Hinduism in India and Sri Lanka.

Politics

• Orange has become a colour symbolising opposition around the world.
• Orange also may sometimes be symbolic of the political concept of Democratic Socialism.
• Orange was the rallying colour of the 2004–2005 Orange Revolution in Ukraine.
• Orange is used as a rallying colour by Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip who oppose the Gaza Pull-Out plan.
  • Native Americans associated the colour orange with kinship
• Orange is the party colour of:
  • Fidesz-MPSZ in Hungary
  • CD&V, Flanders, Belgium
  • People's National Party, Jamaica
  • The Justice and Truth Alliance, Romania
  • People First Party, Republic of China (Taiwan)
  • New Democratic Party, Canada
  • June List, Sweden
  • Free Patriotic Movement, Lebanon
  • Bharatiya Janata Party, India
  • Pora or "High Time", Ukraine — see Orange Revolution
  • Liberal Democrats, United Kingdom
  • Social Democratic Party, Portugal
  • People's Party (Spain) since 2005
  • BZÖ, Jörg Haider's newly formed party in Austria
  • National Union (Israel)
  • Reformed Political Party, Netherlands

Safety Signalling

• Orange is the contrasting colour of blue and is highly visible against a clear sky. Therefore, orange is often used in safety. See: Safety orange.
• In the United States Army, orange is the colour of the United States Army Signal Corps.
• The colour orange is often used for visibility enhancement.

Sports

• • Orange is (usually) the colour of the Netherlands national football team and all other Dutch national teams and Dutch athletes.
  • Orange is also the colour of the Ivory Coast national football team.
  • In American collegiate athletics, orange is combined with other colours to form the colours for Auburn University, Clemson University, Princeton University, the University of Illinois, University of Florida, the University of Miami, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State University, Oregon State University, University of Texas, and University of Tennessee, among others. Orange is also the official colour of Syracuse University and the name of its several sports teams.
  • American professional teams that use orange as a primary colour include the Baltimore Orioles and San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball, the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, and Denver Broncos of the National Football League, the Phoenix Suns and the Charlotte Bobcats of the National Basketball Association and the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League.
  • Orange is the colour of the second equipation of Valencia CF (Spain). The Land of Valencia has oranges as a traditional produce.
  • Orange is the primary colour of the Adanaspor SK of Turkey.
  • Orange is the colour of Blackpool FC in England
  • The Hoover Crips set wears orange along with some Folk Nation sets.
  • Orange is the colour of the ball in Snooker Plus with an 8-point value.
  • Orange is also the colour of J-league football team, Omiya Ardija.

References

1. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200
2. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930--McGraw-Hill--Discussion of colour Orange, Page 170
3. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Colour Sample: Orange Peel Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample L10.
4. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 205; Color Sample: Carrot Orange Page 27 Plate 2 Color Sample H11
5. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 192; Color Sample: Carrot Orange Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample C11; see discussion of color "carrot orange" on page 152.
6. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930--McGraw-Hill (see under Burnt Orange in Index, Page 191)
7. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 191

See also

• Amber
• List of colours
• Safety orange
• Tangerine

External links

• Orange Spectrum Colour Chart Listing
• All About The Color Orange

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