Yellow

Yellow is the color of light whose wavelength is between 565 nm and 590 nm. The human eye also perceives some mixtures of differently-colored lights, such as red added to green, to be the same color.

Yellow is one of the subtractive primary colors, and its complementary color is blue. However, because of the characteristics of paint pigments used in the past, painters traditionally regard its complement as purple.

Usage, symbolism, colloquial expressions

• Yellow is a bright cheerful color, often associated with happiness and peace
• In the English language, yellow has traditionally been associated with jaundice and cowardice. In American slang, a coward is said to have a "yellow belly" or a yellow streak down their back, or is just plain "yellow." It can also mean that something is tainted, as in the expression "yellow journalism".
• Yellow or gold symbolized wealth, ability, or knowledge in English heraldry.
• Songs relating to yellow include:
  • "Yellow" by Coldplay, from the album Parachutes
  • "Yellow Submarine" by the Beatles, from the album Revolver (also the title of a film and album)
  • "Mellow Yellow" by Donovan, from the album of the same name
  • "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" by Frank Zappa, from the album Apostrophe
  • "Truck Drivin' Neighbours Downstairs (Yellow Sweat)" by Beck, from the album Mellow Gold
• Yellow was the symbol for the Emperor of China and of the Chinese monarchy. It was also the color of the New Party in the Republic of China.
• Pencils are painted yellow because of this association with China, where the best graphite is found. Only pencils with Chinese graphite used to be painted yellow.
• Yellow also symbolises royalty in many other cultures, like much of South East Asia. In China, commoners were not allowed to wear yellow until modern times.
• In the United States in the 20th century, immigrants from China and other East Asian nations were derogatively referred to as a "Yellow peril", which probably referred to skin color.
• Yellow, in international political organizations, is the color for liberalists.

Yellow sunflowers in Fargo, North Dakota.

• In some countries, taxicabs are commonly yellow. This practice apparently began in New York City, where taxi owner Harry N. Allen painted his taxis yellow after learning that yellow is the color most easily seen at a distance.
• In Canada and the United States, school buses are almost uniformly painted a yellow color (often referred to as "school bus yellow") for purposes of visibility and safety, and British bus operators such as FirstGroup are attempting to introduce the concept there. "Caterpillar yellow" and "high-visibility yellow" are used for highway construction equipment.
• In Association football (soccer), the referee shows a yellow card to indicate that a player has been officially cautioned.
• In auto racing, a yellow flag signals caution. Cars are not allowed to pass one another under a yellow flag.
• In cycle racing, the yellow jersey - or maillot jaune - is awarded to the leader in a stage race. The tradition was begun in the Tour de France where the sponsoring L'Auto newspaper (later L'Équipe) was printed on distinctive yellow newsprint.
• In railway signaling, yellow is often the color for warning, slow down, such as with distant signals.
• The Yellow Pages is the section of a phone book or online phone directory that lists business numbers by category. They are named for the color paper they are printed on in phone books to distinguish them from the regular listings.
• Yellowcake (also known as urania and uranic oxide) is concentrated uranium oxide, obtained through the milling of uranium ore. Yellowcake is used in the preparation of fuel for nuclear reactors and in uranium enrichment, one of the essential steps for creating nuclear weapons.
• The Yellow Rose of Texas, or "Harison's Yellow", first bloomed in New York City in the 1830s.
• Yellow is the color of the snooker ball which has a two-point value.
• Yellow could be the color of an old jeep.
• When yellow is mixed with green, it creates Lime
• In China, a "yellow movie" is pornography; contrast "blue movie".
• There is a yellow smile, in Arab culture, which is an ingenuine smile. A yellow smile is used when a person is concealing lack of interest, fear, or any emotion he wishes to keep hidden. It is sometimes used as a joke, by making a face of a crooked, ingenuine smile, when somebody tells a bad joke or is trying to make others laugh for something they do not find humorous enough.

See also

Look up Yellow in Wiktionary, the free dictionary

• List of colors