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Orange (colour)

physical science Maturity 5-7 Next article →

Orange is a bright and lively color. It sits right between yellow and red on the spectrum of visible light.

Kleurenovergang van rood naar geel
Kleurenovergang van rood naar geel

You can see it in the sky or on a piece of fruit. In art, people make orange by mixing red and yellow pigments together. This is called a secondary color in traditional color theory. In the RGB color model, it is known as a tertiary color. It is a color that people often associate with warmth, energy, and even danger.

Many living things use orange in a very special way. Carrots, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes all have this bright hue. This color comes from carotenes, which are a type of photosynthetic pigment. These pigments help plants by turning light from the sun into stored energy. This energy helps the plants grow big and strong. You can also see orange in autumn leaves. This happens after the green chlorophyll is removed from the leaves.

Humans have used orange for a very long time. Artists in ancient Egypt used a mineral called realgar for tomb paintings. In ancient India, people used orange carnelians during the Indus Valley Civilisation. Some people even used a mineral called orpiment to make orange colors. Orpiment was a major item of trade in the Roman Empire. It was used as medicine in ancient China, even though it is highly toxic. Alchemists in China and the West also liked it because of its yellow-orange color.

The name of the color actually comes from the fruit. Before the word "orange" was used in English, people called the color yellow-red. In the 1500s, Portuguese merchants brought orange trees to Europe from Asia. They also brought the word for the fruit with them. This word eventually became the name for the color we use today. In the 17th century, the name shifted from describing the fruit to describing the color itself.

Single wrapped slice of processed cheese
Single wrapped slice of processed cheese

Orange is also a very important color in history and politics. The House of Orange-Nassau is a famous royal family from Europe. They are the national family of the Netherlands. This family even helped the Netherlands win its independence from Spain. In the United States, the flag of New York City has an orange stripe to remember Dutch colonists.

Countries with orange on their flags
Countries with orange on their flags

Orange is also a symbolic color in Buddhism and Hinduism in Asia. Because it is so easy to see, people use it for safety too. Pilots have used orange life jackets so search planes can find them easily.

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Doritos
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File:Kleurenovergang van rood naar geel.png
Kleurenovergang van rood naar geel.png
File:Doritos.jpg
Doritos.jpg
File:Single wrapped slice of processed cheese.jpg
Single wrapped slice of processed cheese.jpg
File:Caltech logo 2014.png
Caltech logo 2014.png
File:Countries with orange on their flags.svg
Countries with orange on their flags.svg
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