Chartreuse (, , ), also known as yellow-green or greenish yellow, is a color between

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

and

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 com ...

. It was named because of its resemblance to the French

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

green chartreuse, introduced in 1764. Similarly, chartreuse yellow is a yellow color mixed with a small amount of green, named after the drink yellow chartreuse. During the 2000s, yellow-green, as well as other shades of bright green like

lime green Lime is a color that is a shade of yellow-green, so named because it is a representation of the color of the citrus fruit called lime (fruit), limes. It is the color that is in between the web color chartreuse (color), chartreuse and yellow on ...

, became very popular when various tech companies used it in office decor and other products, and with the popularity and success of the ''Shrek'' franchise.

Shades

History and etymology

The name ''Carthusian'' is derived from the

Chartreuse Mountains The Chartreuse Mountains ( ) are a mountain range in southeastern France, stretching from the city of Grenoble in the south to the Lac du Bourget in the north. They are part of the French Prealps, which continue as the Bauges to the north and ...

in the French Prealps:

Bruno of Cologne Bruno of Cologne, OCart (; ; – 6 October 1101), venerated as Saint Bruno, was the founder of the Carthusians. He personally founded the order's first two communities. He was a celebrated teacher at Reims and a close advisor of his former pupi ...

built his first hermitage in a valley of these mountains. These names were adapted to the English '' charterhouse'', meaning a Carthusian

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. These monks started producing Chartreuse liqueur in 1737.

In nature

Yellow-green algae, also called ''Xanthophytes'', are a class of

algae Algae ( , ; : alga ) is an informal term for any organisms of a large and diverse group of photosynthesis, photosynthetic organisms that are not plants, and includes species from multiple distinct clades. Such organisms range from unicellular ...

in the Heterokontophyta division. Most live in fresh water, but some are found in marine and soil habitats. They vary from

single-celled A unicellular organism, also known as a single-celled organism, is an organism that consists of a single cell (biology), cell, unlike a multicellular organism that consists of multiple cells. Organisms fall into two general categories: prokaryotic ...

flagellate A flagellate is a cell or organism with one or more whip-like appendages called flagella. The word ''flagellate'' also describes a particular construction (or level of organization) characteristic of many prokaryotes and eukaryotes and the ...

s to simple colonial and filamentous forms. Unlike other heterokonts, the

plastid A plastid is a membrane-bound organelle found in the Cell (biology), cells of plants, algae, and some other eukaryotic organisms. Plastids are considered to be intracellular endosymbiotic cyanobacteria. Examples of plastids include chloroplasts ...

s of yellow-green algae do not contain

fucoxanthin Fucoxanthin is a xanthophyll, with formula C42H58O6. It is found as an accessory pigment in the chloroplasts of brown algae and most other heterokonts, giving them a brown or olive-green color. Fucoxanthin absorbs light primarily in the blue-gree ...

, which is why they have a lighter color.

In popular culture

Traffic safety

Chartreuse yellow is used on traffic safety vests to provide increased visibility for employees working near traffic. The chartreuse yellow background material, together with a retro-reflective satisfy th
ANSI 107-2010 standard
since 1999.

High-visibility clothing High-visibility clothing, sometimes shortened to hi vis or hi viz, is any clothing worn that is highly luminescent in its natural matt property or a color that is easily discernible from any background. It is most commonly worn on the torso an ...

ANSI Standards were adopted as an Occupational Safety and Health Act (United States) requirement in 2008.

Film and television

The 1960 Universal film '' Chartroose Caboose'' featured a "bright green"-colored train car. In the 2001 ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American interactive educational television, educational children's television series created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela Santomero, Angela C. Santomero. It premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block ...

'' episode "Colors Everywhere!", Blue and Joe meet a physical representation of the colour chartreuse, who takes the form of a glob of paint. Chartreuse demonstrates that her colour is made by mixing yellow and green.

Firefighting

Since about 1973, a sort of

fluorescent Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with color ...

chartreuse green has been adopted as the color of

fire engines A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

in parts of the United States and elsewhere. The use of chartreuse fire engines began when New York

ophthalmologist Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Stephen Solomon produced research claiming that sparkling bright lime-green paint would boost the night-time visibility of emergency vehicles compared to those painted the traditional

fire engine red Fire engine red, also known as fire truck red in North America, is an informal name for an bright red commonly used on emergency vehicles in many countries on fire service vehicles, such as fire engines. The name does not refer to any particu ...

. The reason for this is the

Purkinje effect The Purkinje effect or Purkinje phenomenon (; sometimes called the Purkinje shift, often pronounced ) is the tendency for the peak luminance sensitivity of the eye to shift toward the blue end of the color spectrum at low illumination (lighting), ...

, i.e., the cones do not function as efficiently in dim light, so red objects appear to be black. In Australia, this form of chartreuse yellow is also known as "ACT yellow" as this is the color of the fire engines in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

. Music The 2024 album, BRAT, has a chartreuse colored album cover with the text ‘brat’.

References

Informational notes Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chartreuse (Color) Tertiary colors Quaternary colors Shades of green