Green Around The World

Top of the Morning to ya and a very happy St. Patrick's Day, too!

Given the Irish flavor of the day, and the proximity to Spring, we thought we would share with you Green color inspiration -- from around the world. It comes courtesy of Ann Hurley, Woman of Wear-Dated and Ultron carpet fiber color expert, who lives and breathes color and product trends.

Green has always been associated with nature and Spring. Eventually, as an understanding of science evolved, green became associated with rebirth.

In our culture, a 'green thumb' indicates a talent to grow beautiful healthy plants and flowers.

Modern pop culture has taken on the color green -- think Jolly Green Giant, the Incredible Hulk, Kermit the Frog [remember the song "Bein' Green"?], Shrek -- we're left to speculate on 'why green' for these characters!

When Sir Isaac Newton discovered the color spectrum in the 18th century, his findings confirmed that green was actually blue and yellow combined.

Consider the newest connotation of green -- in the global culture -- "going green"... means making changes in established habits to reduce pollution and waste to protect the environment.

The color green maybe traced back to the time of Muhammad, where in classical language green was associated with nature and vegetation. Per Wikipedia, Islam "venerates" the color green."In Arabic, the words for green, nature, and vegetation all have the same root meaning. Green clothing and houses painted green indicate that the inhabitants have made a pilgrimage to Mecca.

In ancient Egyptian times, green malachite was a symbol of joy. Egyptian paints were often made from the expensive pigment of pure ground malachite.

In China, jade represents virtue and beauty and was used for delicate carvings and scarab jewelry.

In Tibet, green is considered to be the color of corpses and used for anything pertaining to the Buddhist kingdom of death.

In France, the brilliant green colored absinthe was first used in the 1790s as a cure-all. In the mid-1800s its use shifted from medicinal to adult beverage.

This liquor [you may recognize the brand name, Pernod] was served as a drink in Parisian cafes generating the name for the 5pm cocktail hour as the "green hour." It turns an opalescent white when mixed with water... and makes the drink called Pastis.

In Ireland, the color green has been adopted by the entire country and symbolizes luck as well as its verdant countryside [which hopefully can be preserved despite sobering weather related concerns].

In Celtic myths, the god of fertility was often referred to as the "Green Man."

In the U.S. around 1860, paper currency was created to help pay for the Civil War. It's not known why the color green was selected as the color of money other than the pigment was readily available in large quantities and resisted the efforts of counterfeiters to make physical or chemical changes to the currency.

The new money became known as "Green backs".

Color Trivia Question: What was the color of camouflage used in port cities in the Civil War?

Answer:
The historic color is known as Charleston Green - it's made of nine parts black with one part green. You'll see it today on park benches, wrought iron gates, shutters, doors and light posts in the historic downtown areas.

According to folk tales handed down from those times, during the Civil War, the steeples of many churches and other landmarks were painted this color to camouflage and protect the port from the Union bombardment.

We wish you wonderful green inspiration. And, to your 'Top of the Morning to ya', we say:

And the rest of the day to you!






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+ Red Around The World

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