White Park Bay Cows Northern Ireland Oct 2013

White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on television and computer screens is created by a mixture of red, blue, and green light. The color white can be given with white pigments, especially titanium dioxide.

In ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, priestesses wore white as a symbol of purity, and Romans wore white togas as symbols of citizenship. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance a white unicorn symbolized chastity, and a white lamb sacrifice and purity. It was the royal color of the kings of France, and of the monarchist movement that opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War (1917–1922). Greek and Roman temples were faced with white marble, and beginning in the 18th century, with the advent of neoclassical architecture, white became the most common color of new churches, capitols and other government buildings, especially in the United States. It was also widely used in 20th century modern architecture as a symbol of modernity and simplicity.

According to surveys in Europe and the United States, white is the color most often associated with perfection, the good, honesty, cleanliness, the beginning, the new, neutrality, and exactitude. White is an important color for almost all world religions. The pope, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, has worn white since 1566, as a symbol of purity and sacrifice. In Islam, and in the Shinto religion of Japan, it is worn by pilgrims. In Western cultures and in Japan, white is the most common color for wedding dresses, symbolizing purity and virginity. In many Asian cultures, white is also the color of mourning.

Etymology

The word ''white'' continues Old English ', ultimately from a Common Germanic ' also reflected in OHG ', ON ', Goth. '. The root is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language ', surviving also in Sanskrit ' "to be white or bright" and Slavonic ' "light". The Icelandic word for white, ', is directly derived from the Old Norse form of the word '. Common Germanic also had the word *''blankaz'' ("white, bright, blinding"), borrowed into Late Latin as *''blancus'', which provided the source for Romance words for "white" (Catalan, Occitan and French ''blanc'', Spanish ''blanco'', Italian ''bianco'', Galician-Portuguese ''branco'', etc.). The antonym of white is black.

Some non-European languages have a wide variety of terms for white. The Inuit language has seven different words for seven different nuances of white. Sanskrit has specific words for bright white, the white of teeth, the white of sandalwood, the white of the autumn moon, the white of silver, the white of cow's milk, the white of pearls, the white of a ray of sunlight, and the white of stars. Japanese has six different words, depending upon brilliance or dullness, or if the color is inert or dynamic.

History and art

Prehistoric and ancient history

White was one of the first colors used in art. The Lascaux Cave in France contains drawings of bulls and other animals drawn by paleolithic artists between 18,000 and 17,000 years ago. Paleolithic artists used calcite or chalk, sometimes as a background, sometimes as a highlight, along with charcoal and red and yellow ochre in their vivid cave paintings.

In ancient Egypt, white was connected with the goddess Isis. The priests and priestesses of Isis dressed only in white linen, and it was used to wrap mummies.Anne Varichon (2000), ''Couleurs – pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples'', p. 16 .

In Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mother's milk. In Greek mythology, the chief god Zeus