Varieties of the color
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
may differ in
hue
In color theory, hue is one of the main properties (called color appearance parameters) of a color, defined technically in the CIECAM02 model as "the degree to which a stimulus can be described as similar to or different from stimuli that ...
,
chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or
lightness (or value, tone, or
brightness
Brightness is an attribute of visual perception in which a source appears to be radiating or reflecting light. In other words, brightness is the perception elicited by the luminance of a visual target. The perception is not linear to luminance, ...
), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called
tints and shades
In color theory, a tint is a mixture of a color with white, which increases lightness, while a shade is a mixture with black, which increases darkness. Both processes affect the resulting color mixture's relative saturation. A tone is produc ...
, a tint being a green or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these various colors is shown below.
Computer web color greens
Green
The color defined as ''green'' in the
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three additiv ...
is the brightest green that can be reproduced on a computer screen, and is the color named ''green'' in
X11
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...
. It is one of the three
primary color
A set (mathematics), set of primary colors or primary colours (see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences) consists of colorants or colored lights that can be mixed in varying amounts to produce a gamu ...
s used in the
RGB color space
An RGB color space is any additive color space based on the RGB color model. An RGB color space is defined by chromaticity coordinates of the red, green, and blue additive primaries, the white point which is usually a standard illuminant, and t ...
along with
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
and
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...
. The three additive primaries in the RGB color system are the three colors of light chosen such as to provide the maximum range of colors that are capable of being represented on a computer or television set.
![RGB illumination](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/RGB_illumination.jpg)
This color is also called ''regular green''. It is at precisely 120 degrees on the
HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel (
Image of RGB color wheel). Its
complementary color
Complementary colors are pairs of colors which, when combined or mixed, cancel each other out (lose hue) by producing a grayscale color like white or black. When placed next to each other, they create the strongest contrast for those two co ...
is
magenta
Magenta () is a color that is variously defined as pinkish- purplish-red, reddish-purplish-pink or mauvish-crimson. On color wheels of the RGB (additive) and CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located exactly midway between red and blue. I ...
.
HTML/CSS uses the name ''lime'' for this color, using ''green'' to refer to a darker shade. See the chart
Color names that clash between X11 and HTML/CSS in the X11 color names article to see those colors which are different in HTML and X11.
Green takes up a large portion of the
CIE chromaticity diagram
The CIE 1931 color spaces are the first defined quantitative links between distributions of wavelengths in the electromagnetic visible spectrum, and physiologically perceived colors in human color vision. The mathematical relationships that defin ...
because it is in the central area of human color perception.
Green (HTML/CSS color)
The color defined as ''green'' in
HTML/CSS color standard is the color called green, low green, or medium green in many of the older
eight-bit computer palettes.
Another name for this color is ''green
W3C
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is the main international standards organization for the World Wide Web. Founded in 1994 and led by Tim Berners-Lee, the consortium is made up of member organizations that maintain full-time staff working to ...
'' or ''office green''.
Dark green (X11)
This is the
X11
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...
/HTML color ''dark green''.
Light green
''Light green'' is a light tint of green.
Lime green
''Lime green'' is a web color. It is a vivid yellowish shade of green.
Bright green
This is the color ''bright green''.
Pale green
This is the
X11
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...
/HTML color ''pale green''.
Erin
The first recorded use of ''erin'' as a color name was in 1922.
Harlequin
''Harlequin'' is a color described as being located between green and yellow (closer to green than to yellow) on the color wheel. On color plate 17 in the 1930 book ''A Dictionary of Color'' (see reference below), the color ''harlequin'' is shown as being a highly saturated rich color at a position halfway between chartreuse and green. Thus in modern color terminology, harlequin is the color halfway between green and chartreuse green on the RGB color wheel.
The first recorded use of ''harlequin'' as a color name in English was in 1923.
Harlequin is a pure spectral color at approximately 552 nanometers on the visible spectrum when plotted on the
CIE chromaticity diagram
The CIE 1931 color spaces are the first defined quantitative links between distributions of wavelengths in the electromagnetic visible spectrum, and physiologically perceived colors in human color vision. The mathematical relationships that defin ...
.
Silver Patron
tequila
Tequila (; ) is a liquor, distilled beverage made from the Agave tequilana, blue agave plant, primarily in the area surrounding the city of Tequila, Jalisco, Tequila northwest of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Guadalajara, and in the Jaliscan Highlands ...
is sold in harlequin-colored boxes.
''Harlequin'' is also an adjective used to describe something that is colored in a pattern, usually a diamond-shaped pattern, as in the dress traditionally associated with
harlequin
Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque dialect, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the ''zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian language, Italian ''commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city o ...
s. Similarly, it can mean anything multicolored or prismatic, such as opals or other precious gems which are highly variegated in color and hue. In the early 2000s, a
harlequin color paint was invented for automobiles that appears different colors from different
angles of view.
Neon green
''Neon green'' is a bright tone of green used in
psychedelic art
Psychedelic art (also known as psychedelia) is art, graphics or visual displays related to or inspired by psychedelic experiences and hallucinations known to follow the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. The word ...
and in fashion.
Additional definitions of green
Green (CMYK) (pigment green)
The color defined as ''green'' in the
CMYK
The CMYK color model (also known as process color, or four color) is a subtractive color model, based on the CMY color model, used in color printing, and is also used to describe the printing process itself. The abbreviation ''CMYK'' refers ...
color system used in
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...
, also known as ''pigment green'', is the tone of green that is achieved by mixing process (printer's) cyan and process (printer's) yellow in equal proportions.
The purpose of the CMYK color system is to provide the maximum possible gamut of color reproducible in printing.
The color indicated is only approximate as the colors of printing inks may vary.
The color displayed is an approximation of the CMYK color on an RGB screen, and cannot replicate the color accurately.
Green (NCS) (psychological primary green)
The color defined as ''green'' in the NCS or
Natural Color System
The Natural Color System (NCS) is a proprietary perceptual color model. It is based on the color opponency hypothesis of color vision, first proposed by German physiologist Ewald Hering. The current version of the NCS was developed by the ...
is NCS 2060-G. The natural color system is a color system based on the four
unique hues
Unique hue is a term used in certain theories of color vision, which implies that human perception distinguishes between "unique" (psychologically primary) and composite (mixed) hues. A unique hue is defined as a color which an observer perceive ...
or
psychological primary colors red, yellow, green, and blue. The NCS is based on the
opponent process
The opponent process is a color theory that states that the human visual system interprets information about color by processing signals from photoreceptor cells in an antagonistic manner. The opponent-process theory suggests that there are th ...
theory of vision.
The Natural Color System is widely used in
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...
.
Green (Munsell)
The
Munsell color system
In colorimetry, the Munsell color system is a color space that specifies colors based on three properties of color: hue (basic color), chroma (color intensity), and value ( lightness). It was created by Professor Albert H. Munsell in the first ...
(Munsell 5G) includes a color defined as ''green''. The Munsell color system is a
color space
A color space is a specific organization of colors. In combination with color profiling supported by various physical devices, it supports reproducible representations of colorwhether such representation entails an analog or a digital represent ...
that specifies colors based on three color dimensions: hue, value (
lightness), and
chroma (color purity), spaced uniformly in three dimensions in the elongated oval at an angle shaped Munsell
color solid
A color solid is the three-dimensional representation of a color model, an analog of the two-dimensional color wheel. The added spatial dimension allows a color solid to depict an added dimension of color variation. Whereas a two-dimensional ...
according to the
logarithmic scale
A logarithmic scale (or log scale) is a way of displaying numerical data over a very wide range of values in a compact way—typically the largest numbers in the data are hundreds or even thousands of times larger than the smallest numbers. Such a ...
which governs
human perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous system ...
. In order for all the colors to be spaced uniformly, it was found necessary to use a color wheel with five primary colors—red, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The Munsell colors displayed are only approximate as they have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut.
Green (Pantone)
''Green (Pantone)'' is the color that is called ''green'' in
Pantone
Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphic ...
.
The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color # green C, EC, HC, PC, U, or UP—green.
Green (Crayola)
''Green (Crayola)'' is the color called ''green'' in Crayola crayons.
Green was one of the original Crayola crayons introduced in 1903.
Green in biological nature
Green is common in nature, especially in plants. Many plants are green mainly because of a complex chemical known as
chlorophyll
Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...
which is involved in
photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants and other organisms to convert light energy into chemical energy that, through cellular respiration, can later be released to fuel the organism's activities. Some of this chemical energy is stored i ...
.
The New Encyclopædia Britannica
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica
The (Latin for "British Encyclopædia") is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It is published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.; the company has existed since the 18th century, although it has changed ownership various time ...
, 2002. Many shades of green have been named after plants or are related to plants. Due to varying ratios of chlorophylls (and different amounts as well as other plant pigments being present), the plant kingdom exhibits many shades of green in both hue (true color) and value (lightness/darkness). The chlorophylls in living plants have distinctive green colors, while dried or cooked portions of plants are different shades of green due to the chlorophyll molecules losing their inner magnesium ion.
Artichoke green (Pantone)
This is the color called artichoke green in
Pantone
Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphic ...
. The source is Pantone 18-0125 TPX.
Evergreen
Evergreen is a color that resembles
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...
s.
It is currently unknown when ''evergreen'' was first used as a color name.
Fern green
Fern green is a color that resembles
fern
A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except t ...
s. A
Crayola crayon named ''fern'' was created in 1998.
The first recorded use of ''fern green'' as a color name in English was in 1902.
Forest green
Forest green refers to a green color said to resemble the color of the trees and other plants in a
forest
A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...
.
The first recorded use of ''forest green'' as the name of a color in the English language was in 1810.
Honeydew
The color honeydew is a representation of the color of the interior flesh of a
honeydew melon
The honeydew melon is one of the two main cultivar types in ''Cucumis melo'' Inodorus Group. It is characterized by the smooth rind and lack of musky odor. The other main type in the Inodorus Group is the wrinkle-rind casaba melon.
Character ...
.
Jungle green
In 1990, Crayola named and formulated a specific tone called jungle green.
The first recorded use of ''jungle green'' as a name of a color in the English language was in 1926.
Kelly green
![ChicagoStPatricksDay2015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/ChicagoStPatricksDay2015.jpg)
Kelly green is an intense, pure green named after the common Irish family name,
Kelly
Kelly may refer to:
Art and entertainment
* Kelly (Kelly Price album)
* Kelly (Andrea Faustini album)
* ''Kelly'' (musical), a 1965 musical by Mark Charlap
* "Kelly" (song), a 2018 single by Kelly Rowland
* ''Kelly'' (film), a 1981 Canadi ...
. It evokes the lush green
Irish meadows
Geography of Ireland, Ireland is in the Atlantic European Province of the Circumboreal Region, a floristic region within the Holarctic.
Composition of the flora
Ireland has a small flora for a European country because of its small size, lack of ...
and is also commonly associated with
St. Patrick’s Day
Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost pat ...
.
Laurel green
Laurel green is a medium light hue of chartreuish gray similar to
asparagus
Asparagus, or garden asparagus, folk name sparrow grass, scientific name ''Asparagus officinalis'', is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus''. Its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable.
It was once classified in ...
, but lighter.
The first recorded use of ''laurel green'' as a name of a color in the English language was in 1705.
Mantis
Mantis is a color that is a representation of the color of a
praying mantis
Mantises are an order (Mantodea) of insects that contains over 2,400 species in about 460 genera in 33 families. The largest family is the Mantidae ("mantids"). Mantises are distributed worldwide in temperate and tropical habitats. They ha ...
.
The first use of ''mantis'' as a color name in English was when it was included as one of the colors on the Xona.com color list, promulgated in 2001.
Mint green
Mint green is a pale tint of green that resembles the color of mint green pigment, and was a popular color in the 1990s.
Myrtle
Myrtle is a dark green shade that resembles the color of
Myrtus leaves.
Sap green
Sap green is a
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
-looking
pigment
A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...
that was traditionally made of ripe
buckthorn berries. However, modern colors marketed under this name are usually a blend of other pigments, commonly with a basis of
Phthalocyanine Green G. It is one of the greens used in ''
The Joy of Painting
''The Joy of Painting'' is an American half-hour instructional television show created and hosted by painter Bob Ross which ran from January 11, 1983 to May 17, 1994. In most episodes, Ross taught techniques for landscape oil painting, completi ...
''.
Tea green
Tea green is a light shade of green. It is a representation of the color of brewed
green tea
Green tea is a type of tea that is made from '' Camellia sinensis'' leaves and buds that have not undergone the same withering and oxidation process which is used to make oolong teas and black teas. Green tea originated in China, and since the ...
, i.e., the color of the hot green tea after the green tea leaves have been brewed in boiling water.
The first recorded use of ''tea green'' as a color name in English was in 1858.
Green in non-biological nature
Emerald
Emerald, also called ''emerald green'', is a tone of green that is particularly light and bright, with a faint bluish cast. The name derives from the typical appearance of the
emerald
Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium.Hurlbut, Cornelius S. Jr. and Kammerling, Robert C. (1991) ''Gemology'', John Wiley & Sons, New York, p ...
gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
.
The first recorded use of ''emerald'' as a color name in English was in 1598.
Ireland is sometimes referred to as the ''Emerald Isle'' due to its lush greenery. The May birthstone is emerald. Seattle is sometimes referred to as the ''Emerald City'', because its abundant rainfall creates lush vegetation. In the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, ''The
Emerald Tablet of
Hermes Trismegistus
Hermes Trismegistus (from grc, Wiktionary:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς ὁ Τρισμέγιστος, "Hermes the Thrice-Greatest"; Classical Latin: la, label=none, Mercurius ter Maximus) is a legendary Hellenistic figure that originated as a Syn ...
'' was believed to contain the secrets of
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
. "Emerald City", from the story of ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' is a children's novel written by author L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow. It is the first novel in the Oz series of books. A Kansas farm girl named Dorothy ends up in the magical Land of Oz after s ...
'', by L. Frank Baum, is a city where everything from food to people are emerald green. However, it is revealed at the end of the story that everything in the city is normal colored, but the glasses everyone wears are emerald tinted. The
Green Zone
The Green Zone ( ar, المنطقة الخضراء, translit=al-minṭaqah al-ḫaḍrā) is the most common name for the International Zone of Baghdad. It was a area in the Karkh district of central Baghdad, Iraq, that was the governmental ...
in Baghdad is sometimes ironically and cynically referred to as the ''Emerald City''. The ''
Emerald Buddha
The Emerald Buddha ( th, พระแก้วมรกต , or ) is an image of the meditating Gautama Buddha seated in a meditative posture, made of a semi-precious green stone (jasper rather than emerald or jade), clothed in gold. and about ...
'' is a figurine of the sitting Buddha, made of green
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
(rather than emerald), clothed in gold, and about 45 cm tall. It is kept in the ''Chapel of the Emerald Buddha'' (
Wat Phra Kaew
Wat Phra Kaew ( th, วัดพระแก้ว, , ), commonly known in English as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and officially as Wat Phra Si Rattana Satsadaram, is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand. The complex c ...
) on the grounds of the
Grand Palace in Bangkok. The
Emerald Triangle
The Emerald Triangle is a region in Northern California, named as such due to it being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States. The region includes three counties in an upside-down triangular configuration:
* Humboldt County, ...
refers to the three counties of
Mendocino,
Humboldt, and
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
in Northern California, United States
because these three counties are the biggest
marijuana
Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
producing counties in California and also the US.
A county-commissioned study reports pot accounts for up to two-thirds of the economy of Mendocino.
''Emerald Cities: Urban Sustainability and Economic Development'' is a book published in 2010 by Joan Fitzgerald, director of the law, policy and society program at
Northeastern University
Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...
, about
ecologically sustainable Ecologically sustainable development is the environmental component of sustainable development. It can be achieved partially through the use of the precautionary principle; if there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack ...
city planning
Urban planning, also known as town planning, city planning, regional planning, or rural planning, is a technical and political process that is focused on the development and design of land use and the built environment, including air, water, ...
.
Emerald was invented in Germany in 1814. By taking acetic acid, mixing and boiling it with vinegar, and then by adding some arsenic, a bright blue-green hue was formed.
The
normalized color coordinates for emerald are identical to the color
Paris green, which is the name introduced in England during the 19th century to market the dye that resulted from using the toxic
inorganic compound
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as '' inorganic chemist ...
created in Germany. It was notorious for causing deaths due to it being a popular color used for wallpaper. Victorian women used this bright color for dresses, and florists used it on fake flowers.
Green earth
The color green earth is also known as ''terre verte'' and ''Verona green''. It is an inorganic
pigment
A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...
derived from the minerals
celadonite
Celadonite is a mica group mineral, a phyllosilicate of potassium, iron in both oxidation states, aluminium and hydroxide with formula .
It crystallizes in the monoclinic system and usually forms massive aggregates of prismatic crystallites or i ...
and
glauconite
Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate ( mica group) mineral of characteristic green color which is very friable and has very low weathering resistance.
It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry. Its name is derived from the Greek () m ...
.
Hooker's green
Hooker's green is a dark green color created by mixing
Prussian blue
Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue or, in painting, Parisian or Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula Fe CN)">Cyanide.html" ;"title="e(Cyani ...
and
gamboge
Gamboge ( , ) is a partially transparent deep saffron to mustard yellow pigment.Other forms and spellings are: cambodia, cambogium, camboge, cambugium, gambaugium, gambogia, gambozia, gamboidea, gambogium, gumbouge, gambouge, gamboge, gambooge, g ...
. Hooker's green takes its name from botanical artist
William Hooker (1779–1832) who first created it particularly for illustrating leaves.
Jade
Jade, also called ''jade green'', is a representation of the color of the
gemstone
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...
called
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
, although the stone itself varies widely in hue.
The color name ''jade green'' was first used in Spanish in the form ''piedra de ijada'' in 1569.
The first recorded use of ''jade green'' as a color name in English was in 1892.
Malachite
Malachite, also called ''malachite green'', is a color that is a representation of the color of the mineral
malachite
Malachite is a copper carbonate hydroxide mineral, with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. This opaque, green-banded mineral crystallizes in the monoclinic crystal system, and most often forms botryoidal, fibrous, or stalagmitic masses, in fractures ...
.
The first recorded use of ''malachite green'' as a color name in English was in the 1200s (exact year uncertain).
Sea green
Sea green is a color that resembles the hue of shallow
seawater
Seawater, or salt water, is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% (35 g/L, 35 ppt, 600 mM). This means that every kilogram (roughly one liter by volume) of seawater has appro ...
as seen from the surface.
Other notable green colors
British racing green
Celadon
Celadon is a pale greyish shade of green, or rather a range of such shades.
Celadon
''Celadon'' () is a term for pottery denoting both wares glazed in the jade green celadon color, also known as greenware or "green ware" (the term specialists now tend to use), and a type of transparent glaze, often with small cracks, that wa ...
originates as a term for a class of
Chinese ceramics
Chinese ceramics show a continuous development since Chinese Neolithic, pre-dynastic times and are one of the most significant forms of Chinese art and ceramics globally. The first pottery was made during the List of Palaeolithic sites in China, ...
, copied by Korea and Japan. However, the name, which is European, may originate from the character Celadon in ''
L'Astrée
''L'Astrée'' is a pastoral novel by Honoré d'Urfé, published between 1607 and 1627.
Possibly the single most influential work of 17th-century French literature, ''L'Astrée'' has been called the "novel of novels", partly for its immense leng ...
'', a French pastoral novel of 1627, who wore a light green color.
Celadon glazes were very common, with the green color being reliably produced from about the tenth century onwards; this was appreciated in Asia for resembling
jade
Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...
, the most prestigious material of all. The
glaze color comes from
iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. Several iron oxides are recognized. All are black magnetic solids. Often they are non-stoichiometric. Oxyhydroxides are a related class of compounds, perhaps the best known of whic ...
's transformation from
ferric
In chemistry, iron(III) refers to the element iron in its +3 oxidation state. In ionic compounds (salts), such an atom may occur as a separate cation (positive ion) denoted by Fe3+.
The adjective ferric or the prefix ferri- is often used to sp ...
to
ferrous
In chemistry, the adjective Ferrous indicates a compound that contains iron(II), meaning iron in its +2 oxidation state, possibly as the divalent cation Fe2+. It is opposed to "ferric" or iron(III), meaning iron in its +3 oxidation state, such a ...
iron (Fe
2O
3 → FeO) during the firing process,
[Dewar, Richard. (2002). ''Stoneware''. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. , p. 42.] but is affected by a wide range of other factors and chemicals, making the precise color very difficult to control. As well as green, a wide range of browns, yellows, greys and sometimes blues all count as "celadon".
[Vainker, S.J., ''Chinese Pottery and Porcelain'', 1991, British Museum Press, 9780714114705, pp.53–55]
Hunter green
Hunter green is a color that is a representation of the color worn by
hunter
Hunting is the human activity, human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/hide (skin), hide, ...
s in the 19th century. Most hunters began wearing the color
olive drab
Olive is a dark yellowish-green color, like that of unripe or green olives.
As a color word in the English language, it appears in late Middle English. Shaded toward gray, it becomes olive drab.
Variations
Olivine
Olivine is the typical ...
instead of hunter green about the beginning of the 20th century. Some hunters still wear hunter green clothing or hunter green
bandanas.
The first recorded use of ''hunter green'' as a color name in English was in 1892.
Hunter green has been the official primary color of the
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...
since 1957, the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...
from 1998 to 2019, one of the two official colors of
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
and
Oswego State, and one of the two official colors of the
Phi Kappa Psi
Phi Kappa Psi (), commonly known as Phi Psi, is an American collegiate social fraternity that was founded by William Henry Letterman and Charles Page Thomas Moore in Widow Letterman's home on the campus of Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pen ...
fraternity. It is also one of the main colors of
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an elite coeducational preparatory school in Deerfield, Massachusetts. Founded in 1797, it is one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States. It is a member of the Eight Schools Association, the Ten Schools Admis ...
.
In the
bandana code
The handkerchief code (also known as the hanky code, the bandana code, and flagging) is a system of color-coded cloth handkerchief or bandanas for non-verbally communicating one's interests in sexual activities and fetishes. The color of the han ...
of the
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
leather subculture
Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is one way that pa ...
, a hunter green bandana, if worn on the left, indicates that one is a "leather daddy", whereas if a hunter green bandana is worn on the right, it indicates that one is looking for a leather daddy, i.e., looking for a "daddy-boy" relationship.
[Hankycode on gaycitiusa.com](_blank)
access date 2012-03-30
access date 2010-03-30
Prison uniform
A prison uniform is the standardized clothes worn by prisoners. It usually includes visually distinct clothes worn to indicate the wearer is a prisoner, in clear distinction from civil clothing.
A prison uniform serves the purpose to make prison ...
s issued by the
are colored hunter green.
New York City uses hunter green on its
construction site
Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and co ...
fence
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.
...
s and
sidewalk shed
A sidewalk shed is a temporary structure or scaffold installed over a sidewalk. It is used to protect pedestrians from falling debris during the course of construction. As of 2022, New York City
New York, often cal ...
s.
India green
India green, the color of the lower band of the
National Flag of India
The national flag of India, Colloquialism, colloquially called the tricolour, is a horizontal rectangular tricolour flag of Saffron (color)#India saffron, India saffron, white and Variations of green#India green, India green; with the ', a 24 ...
, represents fertility and prosperity.
Islamic green
The color
green
Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
( ar, أخضر) has a number of traditional associations in
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. In the
Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
, it is associated with
Islamic paradise
In Islam, Jannah ( ar, جَنّة, janna, pl. ''jannāt'',lit. "paradise, garden", is the final abode of the righteous. According to one count, the word appears 147 times in the Quran. Belief in the afterlife is one of the six articles of f ...
.
It was also chosen as a color by pro-
Alid (
Shi'a
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam. It holds that the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad in Islam, Muhammad designated Ali, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his S ...
) factions. Thus in 817, when the
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
caliph
al-Ma'mun
Abu al-Abbas Abdallah ibn Harun al-Rashid ( ar, أبو العباس عبد الله بن هارون الرشيد, Abū al-ʿAbbās ʿAbd Allāh ibn Hārūn ar-Rashīd; 14 September 786 – 9 August 833), better known by his regnal name Al-Ma'mu ...
adopted the Alid
Ali al-Ridha
Ali ibn Musa al-Rida ( ar, عَلِيّ ٱبْن مُوسَىٰ ٱلرِّضَا, Alī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, 1 January 766 – 6 June 818), also known as Abū al-Ḥasan al-Thānī, was a descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the e ...
a his heir-apparent, he also changed the dynastic color from black to green. The change was reverted al-Ma'mun had Ali killed, and returned to
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
in 819. Green remains particularly popular in Shi'ite iconography, but it is also widely used in by Sunni states. It is notably used in the
flag of Saudi Arabia
The flag of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ( ar, علم المملكة العربية السعودية) is the flag used by the government of Saudi Arabia since 15 March 1973. It is a green flag featuring in white an Arabic inscription and a sword. T ...
and
flag of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
The flag of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation is white with the organization's emblem in the center, which consists of a green shade and globe, with the Kaaba at the center of the globe. The elements of the emblem reflect the organization' ...
.
MSU green
Green and white are the primary school colors representing
Michigan State University
Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...
. The university
board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
officially standardized MSU green as part of a larger university branding effort, replacing a lighter green (PMS 341) used from 1997 to 2010. The official color was chosen based on the traditional darker Spartan green found on the original university varsity letter jackets and marching band jackets. The official green of Michigan State University is represented by Pantone Matching System ink color 567 (PMS 567).
NDHU green
NDHU green is the official color of
National Dong Hwa University
National Dong Hwa University (NDHU; ; shortened as "") is a national research university located in Hualien, Taiwan. Established in 1994, NDHU is widely considered as the most potential research university and the most prestigious university ...
, adopted in 1994. The university officially set NDHU green as part of a larger university branding effort. It represents the books, forest of knowledge, and its campus with nature-based setting.
Pakistan green
Pakistan green is a shade of dark green, used in web development and graphic design. It is also the background color of the
national flag of Pakistan. It is almost identical to the HTML/
X11
The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems.
X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...
dark green
Varieties of the color green may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation or intensity) or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint ...
in
sRGB and
HSV values.
Persian green
Persian green is a color used in
Persian pottery
Persian pottery or Iranian pottery is the pottery made by the artists of Persia (Iran) and its history goes back to early Neolithic Age (7th millennium BCE). Agriculture gave rise to the baking of clay, and the making of utensils by the peopl ...
and
Persian carpet
A Persian carpet ( fa, فرش ایرانی, translit=farš-e irâni ) or Persian rug ( fa, قالی ایرانی, translit=qâli-ye irâni ),Savory, R., ''Carpets'',(Encyclopaedia Iranica); accessed January 30, 2007. also known as Iranian ...
s in Iran.
The first recorded use of ''Persian green'' as a color name in English was in 1892.
Russian green
The first recorded use of Russian green as a color name in English was in the 1830s (exact year uncertain). The term appears to refer to the medium shade of green worn by most regiments of the Imperial Russian Army from 1700 to 1914.
SGBUS green
SGBUS green is the color voted by the public and used by
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
to color all its government-owned public buses.
See also
*
RAL 6001 Emerald green
*
RAL 6005 Moss green
*
RAL 6007 Bottle green
The following is a list of RAL Classic colours from the RAL colour standard. The visual samples are approximate and informative only.
RAL Classic Yellow and beige
Orange
Red
Violet
Blue
Green
Grey
Brown
White and b ...
*
Lists of colors
These are the lists of colors;
* List of colors: A–F
* List of colors: G–M
* List of colors: N–Z
* List of colors (compact)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colors
* List of X ...
*
Green pigments
Green pigments are the materials used to create the green colors seen in painting and the other arts. Most come from minerals, particularly those containing compounds of copper. Green pigments reflect the green portions of the spectrum of visibl ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Variations of Green