History of red

The color red is the longest wavelength of light discernable to the human eye, with a range of between 620 and 750 nanometers. Red was commonly the first color term added to languages after the colors of black and white. As well as this, the color was the first color to be used by humans. Because of this, certain languages used the word for the color red to simply be the word for any color visible to the human eye.[1][2]

The color red was commonly formed out of several materials, including iron, mercury, and lead (however mercury and lead paints were toxic). The color Red was used in several applications by humans, which early on included use in calligraphy and writing beginning in 8th century China as a way to mark underlines and draw attention to portions of a script.[3] The color red also included a wide variety of different cultural means of the color red. Sometimes the color was a color of romance, well in other cases being the color of violence. In short, different cultures and regions applied, and still do apply,[4] vastly different cultural meanings to the color of red, and its use varies wildly, as well as its meaning.[5]

  1. ^ "Red | Description, Etymology, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2024-07-05. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  2. ^ "Red | Princeton University Press". press.princeton.edu. 2017-02-14. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  3. ^ "Red". National Museum of Asian Art. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  4. ^ "Red Color Psychology, Symbolism and Meaning". 2024-02-15. Retrieved 2024-07-19.
  5. ^ Stamberg, Susan (13 February 2007). "The Color Red: A History in Textiles". Morning Edition. Retrieved 19 July 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)