Yellow shines with optimism, enlightenment, and happiness. Recently, I found myself observing a lot of “yellow” all around me. With the onset of summer, brighter colors seem to automatically fill up the environment; and come to think of it, what could be brighter than yellow! Yellow clothing, yellow cars, yellow fruits, yellow shops… be it yellow whatever, yellow is the color which catches the attention of the eye most easily. It is a color that very easily stands out in the vibrantly colored world we live in.
In Chinese culture, colors corresponded with the five primary elements, the directions, and the four seasons. Yellow was associated with earth and the center (in relation to direction).
Yellow is psychologically the happiest color in the color spectrum.
In India, yellow is the color of the Vaisya caste, or farmers, and is the color Hindus wear to celebrate the Festival of Spring.
“Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot;
others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”
~ Pablo Picasso
During the tenth century in France, the doors of traitors and criminals were painted yellow.
The comic book character Green Lantern was afraid of the color yellow.
“There is no blue without yellow and without orange.”
~ Vincent Van Gogh
Jews wore yellow armbands in Nazi concentration camps.
75% of the pencils sold in the United States are painted yellow.
In Aztec culture, yellow symbolized food because it was the colur of corn, the primary food of the Aztec people.
Yellow signifies “sadness” in Greece’s culture and “jealousy” in France’s culture.
“Silence is not always golden;
sometimes it is yellow.”
~ Author Unknown
Yellow is the symbol for liberalism in many countries.
In medical terms, a yellow flag indicates a quarantine.
The comic book character Green Lantern was afraid of the color yellow.
Yellow is representative of “greed” in Christianity.
“The road to the City of Emeralds is
paved with yellow brick.”
~ L. Frank Baum
A yellow flag is used in car racing to signal caution. Cars must remain in their current position when a yellow flag is shown.
A penalty is indicated in football when a referee throws a yellow flag onto the playing field.
“The draft is white people
sending black people
to fight yellow people
to protect the country they stole from the red people.”
~ James Rado
Yellow is also the most fatiguing to the eye due to the high amount of light that is reflected.
Yellow can also create feelings of frustration and anger.
Yellow can also increase the metabolism.
Yellow can be used in small amount to draw notice, such as on traffic sign or advertisements.
“The people who live in a golden age usually go
around complaining how yellow everything looks.”
~ Randall Jarrell