Viridian is a blue-green

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 ...

, a hydrated

chromium(III) oxide Chromium(III) oxide (or chromia) is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is one of the principal oxides of chromium and is used as a pigment. In nature, it occurs as the rare mineral eskolaite. Structure and properties has the corundum ...

, of medium saturation and relatively dark in value. It is composed of a majority of

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 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a c ...

, followed by

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 ...

. Specifically, it is a shade of

spring green Spring green is a color that was traditionally considered to be on the yellow side of green, but in modern computer systems based on the RGB color model is halfway between cyan and green on the color wheel. The modern spring green, when plo ...

, which places the color between green and

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue colour. Its name comes from that of a bird — the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'') — which presents a similarly coloured stripe on its head. The word is ofte ...

on the

color wheel A color wheel or color circle is an abstract illustrative organization of color hues around a circle, which shows the relationships between primary colors, secondary colors, tertiary colors etc. Some sources use the terms ''color wheel'' & ' ...

, or, in paint, a

tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non- avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...

blue–green color. Viridian takes its name from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

''viridis'', meaning "green". The first recorded use of ''viridian'' as a color name in English was in the 1860s (exact year uncertain). __TOC__

Variations of viridian

Paolo Veronese green

Paolo Veronese green is the color that is called ''Verde Verones'' in the ''Guía de coloraciones'' (''Guide to colorations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the

Hispanophone Hispanophone and Hispanic refers to anything relating to the Spanish language (the Hispanosphere). In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is t ...

realm. ''Paolo Veronese green'' was a color formulated and used by the noted 16th-century Venetian artist

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as '' The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and '' ...

. ''Paolo Veronese green'' began to be used as a color name in English sometime in the 1800s (exact year uncertain). Another name for this color is ''transparent oxide of chromium''.

Viridian green

At right is displayed the color viridian green. The source of this color is the "

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 graphi ...

Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #17-5126 TPX—Viridian Green.

Generic viridian

Generic viridian is the color that is called ''Viridian inspecifico'' in the ''Guía de coloraciones'' (''Guide to colorations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the

realm.

Spanish viridian

Spanish viridian is the color that is called ''Viridian specifico'' in the ''Guía de coloraciones'' (''Guide to colorations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

In popular culture

Although viridian is a less-used color name in English, it is used in a number of cultural references, probably because it is derived from ''viridis'', the

word for green, so using the word ''viridian'' sounds more elegant than simply referring to the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

word ''green''. ;Automobiles *"Viridian Joule" was the winning color name in

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...

Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference ( voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Def ...

Paint-Color Naming Contest. ;Broadcasting *Viridian was the signature color of

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream a ...

's identity from 1991–2001. ;Television *''Viridian'' was the name of an Orion starship in '' Star Trek: Discovery'' ;Environmental Design *The ''

viridian design movement The Viridian Design Movement was an aesthetic movement focused on concepts from bright green environmentalism. The name was chosen to refer to a shade of green that does not quite look natural, indicating that the movement was about innovative des ...

'' is a popular design movement based on a

bright green environmentalism Bright green environmentalism is an ideology based on the belief that the convergence of technological change and social innovation provides the most successful path to sustainable development. Origin and evolution of bright green thinking The t ...

philosophy. ;Film *Viridian is mentioned by Otho when discussing remodeling, in the 1988 film ''

Beetlejuice ''Beetlejuice'' is a 1988 American fantasy horror comedy film directed by Tim Burton, written by Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson, and Warren Skaaren, produced by The Geffen Company, distributed by Warner Bros., and starring Alec Baldwin, ...

''. ;Music * "Viridian" is the seventh song on

Between the Buried and Me Between the Buried and Me, often abbreviated as BTBAM, is an American progressive metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. Formed in 2000, the band consists of Tommy Giles Rogers Jr. (lead vocals, keyboards), Paul Waggoner (lead guitar, backin ...

's ''

Colors Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are asso ...

''. * "Viridian (Interlude)" is the sixteenth track on Bethel Music's '' Without Words: Synesthesia'' * ''Viridian'' is the name of the ninth studio album by rock band

Closterkeller Closterkeller is a Polish gothic rock band from Warsaw. It was formed in 1988 by Przemysław Guryń, Jacek Skirucha, and the vocalist Anja Orthodox. Despite many changes in the band's line-up it has created a characteristic sound. Orthodox is th ...

whose releases are usually named after colors * "Viridian" is the fourth song in Novo Amor's 2022 instrumental album ''Antarctican Dream Machine'' ; Literature * In the

Space opera Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes space warfare, with use of melodramatic, risk-taking space adventures, relationships, and chivalric romance. Set mainly or entirely in outer space, it features technological and soci ...

series Dread Empire's Fall, by American author

Walter Jon Williams Walter Jon Williams (born October 28, 1953) is an American writer, primarily of science fiction. Previously he wrote nautical adventure fiction under the name Jon Williams, in particular, ''Privateers and Gentlemen'' (1981–1984), a series of hi ...

, the first mention of ''viridian'' is in the initial book of the series, ''The Praxis'' for both the sky color of Shaa Empire capital world Zanshaa as well as color of the uniforms of their Fleet. ;Video games *In the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of what each of thos ...

'' franchise, in the Kanto region, Viridian City is the first town one encounters after leaving Pallet Town via Route 1 and also home to the final gym. *In ''

VVVVVV ''VVVVVV'' is a 2010 puzzle-platform game created by Terry Cavanagh. In the game, the player controls Captain Viridian, who must rescue their spacecrew after a teleporter malfunction caused them to be separated in Dimension VVVVVV. The gamep ...

'', the player character is Captain Viridian, who is a light blue-green color. All characters have names referencing their color and starting with the letter V. *In '' Knights of the Old Republic II'' the player character can find and use a viridian lightsaber crystal. *In ''

League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL''), commonly referred to as ''League'', is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by '' Defense of the Ancients'', a custom map for ''Warcraft III'', ...

'' the champion Kayle has a viridian costume that is green with black wings. *In '' Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney − Trials and Tribulations'', there is a running joke about the color, started by the character Larry Butz. *In the Steam game ''Aviary Attorney'', the Viridian Killer is responsible for murders in France during the 1830s.

References

External links

Viridian
Pigments through the Ages, Webexhibits. Information about the color viridian, its history, making of, and its chemistry
Viridian
Colourlex
Viridian Red Noida
Viridian Red Noida {{Shades of green Quaternary colors Shades of cyan Inorganic pigments Chromium(III) compounds Transition metal oxides