Crimson

Crimson
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#DC143C
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(220, 20, 60)
CMYKH (c, m, y, k)	(0, 100, 100, 40)
HSV (h, s, v)	(348°, 91%, 86%)
Source	HTML/CSS[1] Crimson; #DC143C
	B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte); H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Crimson as a quaternary color on the RYB color wheel
red
crimson
rubine

Crimson is a strong, red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, Kermes vermilio, but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colors that are between black and rose.

History

Crimson (NR4) is produced using the dried bodies of the kermes insect, which were gathered commercially in Mediterranean countries, where they live on the kermes oak, and sold throughout Europe.^[2] Kermes dyes have been found in burial wrappings in Anglo-Scandinavian York. They fell out of use with the introduction of cochineal, because although the dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity it needed ten to twelve times as much kermes to produce the same effect as cochineal.

Carmine is the name given to the dye made from the dried bodies of the female cochineal, although the name crimson is sometimes applied to these dyes too. Cochineal appears to have been brought to Europe during the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniard Hernán Cortés, and the name 'carmine' is derived from the French carmin. It was first described by Mathioli in 1549. The pigment is also called cochineal after the insect from which it is made.

Alizarin (PR83) is a pigment that was first synthesized in 1868 by the German chemists Carl Gräbe and Carl Liebermann and replaced the natural pigment madder lake. Alizarin crimson is a dye bonded onto alum which is then used as a pigment and mixed with ochre, sienna and umber. It is not totally colorfast.

Etymology

The word crimson has been recorded in English since 1400,^[3] and its earlier forms include cremesin, crymysyn and cramoysin (cf. cramoisy, a crimson cloth). These were adapted via Old Spanish from the Medieval Latin cremesinus (also kermesinus or carmesinus), the dye produced from Kermes scale insects, and can be traced back to Arabic qermez ("red"), also borrowed in Turkish kırmızı and many other languages, e.g. German Karmesin, Italian cremisi, French cramoisi, Portuguese carmesim, etc. (via Latin). The ultimate source may be Sanskrit कृमिज kṛmi-jā meaning "worm-made".^[4]

A shortened form of carmesinus also gave the Latin carminus, from which comes carmine.

Other cognates include the Persian qermez (or ghermez) "red", Old Church Slavonic čruminu, archaic Russian чермный (čermnyj), and Serbo-Croatian crven "red". Cf. also vermilion.

Dyes

Carminic acid

Carmine dyes, which give crimson and related red and purple colors, are based on an aluminium and calcium salt of carminic acid. Carmine lake is an aluminium or aluminium-tin lake of cochineal extract, and crimson lake is prepared by striking down an infusion of cochineal with a 5 percent solution of alum and cream of tartar. Purple lake is prepared like carmine lake with the addition of lime to produce the deep purple tone. Carmine dyes tend to fade quickly.

Carmine dyes were once widely prized in both the Americas and in Europe. They were used in paints by Michelangelo and for the crimson fabrics of the Hussars, the Turks, the British Redcoats, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Nowadays carmine dyes are used for coloring foodstuffs, medicines and cosmetics. As a food additive in the European Union, carmine dyes are designated E120, and are also called cochineal and Natural Red 4. Carmine dyes are also used in some oil paints and watercolors used by artists.

In nature

Algae

The crimson tide which sometimes occurs on beaches is caused by a type of algae known as Karenia brevis.

Birds

The crimson sunbird is the national bird of Singapore

In culture

Literature

In George R.R. Martin's series A Song Of Ice and Fire, crimson is the family color of House Lannister

Music

‘’Crimson and Clover’’ 1968

Nobility

In Polish, karmazyn (crimson) is a synonym for a magnate, i.e., a member of the rich, high nobility

Religion

In texts of the Bahá'í Faith, crimson stands for tests and sacrifice, among other things^[5]

Food

Rhubarb is sometimes poetically referred to as crimson stalks.^[6]^[7]

Military

A regiment of the British Army, The King's Royal Hussars still wears crimson trousers as successors to the 11th Hussars (the "Cherrypickers")
In the United States Army, crimson is the color of the Ordnance Corps.

School colors

Multiple Greek letter organizations use crimson as one of their official colors: Delta Sigma Theta (ΔΣΘ), Kappa Alpha Psi (ΚΑΨ), and Kappa Alpha Order (ΚΑ).
Crimson is the school color of several universities, including: Harvard University, University of Kansas, Indiana University, Korea University, New Mexico State University, Saint Joseph's University, Tuskegee University, University of Alabama, University of Belgrano, University of Denver, University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Oklahoma, University of Utah, Washington State University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute
The daily newspaper at Harvard is The Harvard Crimson
The daily newspaper at Alabama is called The Crimson White
Harvard's athletic teams are the Crimson, and those of the University of Alabama are the Crimson Tide

Vexillology

Crimson is the national color of Nepal and forms the background of the country's flag,^[8] and it also appears on the flag of Poland.

References

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Crimson". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Etymology OnLine

↑ W3C CSS3 Color Module
↑ Naturenet article with images and description of Kermes vermilio and its foodplant
↑ The first recorded use of crimson as a color name in English was in 1400 according to the following book: Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930--McGraw Hill Page 193; Color Sample of Crimson: Page 31 Plate 4 Color Sample K6
↑ "American Heritage Dictionary", s.v. Kermes; also Kluge, "Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache", s.v. Karmesin, et al.
↑ Taherzadeh, Adib (1992). The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. p. 162. ISBN 0-85398-344-5.
↑ Rhubarb —the crimson stalks--rhubarb recipes:
↑ Rhubarb plants—the crimson stalks:
↑ Flag of Nepal-2nd line

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[css3-color-crimson-1] W3C CSS3 Color Module

[2] Naturenet article with images and description of Kermes vermilio and its foodplant

[3] The first recorded use of crimson as a color name in English was in 1400 according to the following book: Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930--McGraw Hill Page 193; Color Sample of Crimson: Page 31 Plate 4 Color Sample K6

[4] "American Heritage Dictionary", s.v. Kermes; also Kluge, "Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache", s.v. Karmesin, et al.

[5] Taherzadeh, Adib (1992). The Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. p. 162. ISBN 0-85398-344-5.

[6] Rhubarb —the crimson stalks--rhubarb recipes:

[7] Rhubarb plants—the crimson stalks:

[8] Flag of Nepal-2nd line