Because were are staying home these days, I am trying to be creative with things around here and learning what I can about ordinary things.

I hope you enjoy my study of the color yellow – and the yellow I found in our yard.

I checked to see if the word yellow is in the Bible. I found it in reference to quartz or topaz in Exodus, Ezekial and Daniel. It signified an unclean sore in Leviticus and a beautiful color in breast plates on those riding horses in the book of Revelation.

The rest of the things I learned about yellow were found in various sites on the internet. I cannot vouch for the accuracy of any of these things or the research – but I did find it interesting.

Yellow is the color between orange and green on the spectrum of visible light.

Because it was widely available, yellow ochre pigment was one of the first colors used in art; the Lascaux cave in France has a painting of a yellow horse.

Yellow and orpiment pigments were used to represent gold and skin color in Egyptian tombs, then in the murals in Roman villas.

In the early Christian church, yellow was the color associated with the Pope and the golden keys of the Kingdom, but it was also associated with Judas Iscariot and used to mark heretics.

In China, bright yellow was the color of the Middle Kingdom, and could be worn only by the emperor and his household; special guests were welcomed on a yellow carpet.

According to surveys in Europe, Canada, and the United States, yellow is the color people most often associate with amusement, gentleness, humor, and spontaneity, but also with duplicity, envy, jealousy, avarice, and, in the U.S., cowardice.

In Iran it has connotations of pallor/sickness, but also wisdom and connection.

In China and many Asian countries, it is seen as the color of happiness, glory, harmony and wisdom.

Associated with the more pleasant things in life, yellow kindles joy and happiness. Most prominently recognized as a cheerful and lively hue, yellow inspires positivity.

The color yellow resonates deeply with children. It’s for this reason why many toys are predominately yellow.

Many believe that yellow is the first color to be recognized visually.

Yellow is not often used by advertisers, yellow lettering is off-putting and difficult to discern. Many find that the color yellow generally fades into the background. For the sake of sending a compelling message, marketers often opt not to use yellow in their campaigns.

The color yellow stimulates the left side of the brain, which promotes logical thinking. It encourages us to hone in and make informed decisions.

When we feel our grip on reality slipping, the color yellow reminds us that our perceptions are warped.

Yellow also piques our curiosity and inspires us to pioneer novel ideas.

When we see the color yellow, it prompts us to remain practical. In essence, it keeps us grounded.

Yellow can be playful and radiant. However, it can also be unforgiving and foreboding, which makes it a wildly fascinating hue.

Yellow symbolizes happiness, optimism, positivity and intellect.

Yellow inspires, amuses, energizes

The positive traits of yellow are creativity, perception, mentality and warmth. The negative traits are cowardice, deception, egotism and cation.

In Japan, yellow is the color of courage. In Egypt, yellow is the color of mourning.

In American slang, a coward can be said to be yellow or yellow-bellied.

Yellow is a color that is easily visible, this is why it is commonly used to indicate caution, for example, on a set of traffic lights, yellow divides the red light and green light

In some countries, taxi’s are commonly yellow. This practice began in Chicago, where taxi entrepreneur John D. Hertz painted his taxi’s yellow based on a University of Chicago study alleging that yellow is the color most easily seen at a distance. This idea has also been used with school buses and road warning signs.

Yellow is an appropriate color for a room used for studying because it has a stimulating effect on the mind.

Yellow comes from the terms ‘geolu’ and ‘geolwe’, which in turn is derived from the Germanic ‘gelwaz’.

The color yellow appears often in nature, and can be seen in fruit like lemons, flowers like sunflowers, and animals including tigers, giraffes, some reptiles and fish, insects like bees and butterflies, and birds including canaries and ducklings.

Numerous natural objects colored yellow, including egg yolk, daffodils and bananas, contain carotenoid pigments.

Yellow is an appropriate color for a room used for studying because it has a stimulating effect on the mind. Its intensity is also good for stairs and corridors that don’t receive natural light.

So that is your education on yellow for the day. 🙂