Ode to Orange

Nestled in between the space of red and yellow exists a visual dynamo…orange. There is no other color that screams “hey look at me” the way orange can. It pops, it sings, it dances…it’s on steroids.

Perhaps the reason orange is so near and dear is that it’s my mother’s favorite color. Since childhood she’s been a fan – (insert Spanish accent) “look at the beeeuteeful sunset chiquititaaaah.” I almost always think of her when taking an orange appreciation timeout….not when I’m making a canned pumpkin smoothie of course, but you know what I mean.

So today, in honor of orange, I give you a few personal pix and some fun facts:

-The name has its roots in the French, Arabic and Sanskrit languages and refers back to the fruit

-It was a very popular color among Impressionist and Post-Impressionist painters, although Vincent Van Gough told brother Theo, “there is no orange without blue.”

-Because of its high visibility, the life jackets of WWII U.S. Navy pilots were switched to orange for search and rescue and its since been used for safety in everything from cycling to freeway work

-In ancient China the color denoted transformation

-The Golden Gate Bridge is painted International Orange to stand out in the fog

-Orange is the national color of the Netherlands

-The modern New York Flag has an orange stripe in honor of Dutch settlers.

-Fourteen professional sports teams in the U.S. use orange in their uniform

-OSHA requires that certain construction equipment must be painted Safety Orange

-Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer uses orange prominently for branding

Now orange you glad you read this?