Facts About the Color Yellow

Yellow is associated with happiness.

Yellow--the color of the sun and the color of lemons, the color of happiness and the color of cowardice--covers a wide spectrum of roles in nature, art and psychology.

History

Yellow ocher, a mineral pigment, decorates the Paleolithic cave paintings of Arcy-sur-Cure and Yonne, France. These drawings date to 40,000 B.C.

Science

On the visible light spectrum--the light that the human eye can see--yellow has a wavelength of about 570 nanometers. That means yellow is one of the colors of the rainbow, along with red, orange, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Art

Along with red and blue, yellow is a primary color. You can make an infinite number of colors with various combinations and shades of these "first-order" colors.

Psychology

Yellow suggests happiness, perhaps because of its association with the sun. Yellow also is an attention-grabber, leading to its use on school buses, road warning signs and taxis.

Geography

For some cultures, yellow has both positive and negative meanings, including hope and greed. In Japan, yellow is the color of courage, and in Egypt, it is the color of mourning.

Fun Fact

In the 17th century, painters used Indian yellow made from the concentrated urine of cows that lived on nothing but mango leaves.

References

• Colors: The Story of Dyes and Pigments, Francois Delamare, 2000
• The Luminous Landscape: Colour Theory as Applied to Landscape Photography
• Color and Meaning: Art, Science and Symbolism, John Gage, 2000

Resources

• Sensationalcolor.com: All About the Color Yellow