Pink

Pink is a pale tint of red or rose, and it is the color of the pink flower. People began using the word "pink" to name this color in the late 17th century.

In modern times, pink is often seen as a symbol of femininity. However, this wasn’t always the case. Before the middle of the 20th century, pink was actually linked with masculinity. The shift to pink being associated with femininity is connected to the popularity of Barbie, which came out in 1959.

Combining pink with white often suggests innocence, while pairing pink with black can suggest something more mysterious or alluring.

Etymology and definitions

The color pink is named after the flowers called pinks, which are flowering plants in the group Dianthus. Long ago, people used the word "to pink" to mean decorating with a special pattern, possibly from a German word meaning "to peck." Today, we still see this in tools called pinking shears, which are scissors that make zig-zag cuts.

In science, pink can mean any pale shade of color between bluish red. Pink is usually a lighter version of red, but most pink colors have a slight blue hint and sit between red and magenta. Some types of pink, like salmon, have more of an orange look.

History, art, and fashion

The color pink has been written about since ancient times. In the Odyssey, written around 800 BCE, the poet Homer described the sunrise as "rosy-fingered dawn." Roman poets also wrote about the color. The Latin word for "rosy" or "pink" is roseus.

In literature, some stories use pink to show ideas like love or innocence. For example, in a story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a character named Faith wears a pink ribbon to show her innocence. Another book, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, uses blue and pink ribbons to tell apart the twins.

In art, pink has been used in many ways. During the Middle Ages, pink wasn’t a common color in clothes, but it appeared in paintings of religious scenes. In the 1300s, artists like Cimabue and Duccio sometimes dressed the baby Jesus in pink, a color linked to holy meanings.

During the Renaissance, artists used pink to show skin tones. In a famous painting called Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael, the baby Jesus gives a pink flower to the Virgin Mary, showing a special connection between them.

In the 1700s, a famous woman named Madame de Pompadour helped make pink popular in fashion. She even had a special kind of pink made just for her. Later in the 1700s, pink began to mean different things in paintings — sometimes it showed love, and sometimes it showed innocence.

In the 1800s, pink was often worn by both boys and girls. In England, young boys sometimes wore pink because it was thought of as a strong color. Girls might wear blue. Artists like Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt used pink in their paintings of women and children.

In the 1900s, pink started to become more linked with girls, partly because of famous people like Mamie Eisenhower, who loved wearing pink. Designers also created brighter pinks using new dyes. Today, pink is used in many ways in fashion and art.

In nature and culture

Pigments - Pinke

Long ago, the word "pink" was also used for a special yellow paint mixed with blue to make greenish colors. Old books from the 1600s describe mixing pink paint with other colors to create different shades of green.

Plants and flowers

Pink is a very common color for flowers. It helps attract insects and birds that help plants pollinate, and it may also keep away some animals that might eat the flowers. Pink comes from natural plant colors called anthocyanins, which also give raspberries their pink hue.

Sunrises and sunsets

When sunlight travels through Earth's atmosphere during sunrise or sunset, some colors get scattered away. Blue and green are scattered the most, leaving behind orange, red, and pink light. This is why the sky often looks pink at these times.

Geology

Pink can be found in many rocks and minerals. For example, pink topaz comes from Brazil, and pink corundum, also called sapphire, is found in Tanzania. Other pink minerals include calcite from Morocco and barite-rhodochrosite from China.

Biology

Many living things have pink parts. The pink iguana, found only in the Galapagos Islands, was discovered in 1986. Flamingos turn pink because of the special proteins in the tiny plants and animals they eat. If they don't get enough of these, they can look pale or white instead.

The pig was bred over thousands of years to have pink skin without dark pigments, which farmers liked better. Some special elephants in Southeast Asia naturally have a pinkish-gray color because they lack certain pigments.

Sound

In audio engineering, "pink noise" is a type of sound that has energy spread evenly across frequencies, used in testing and creating audio effects.

Lighting

Some plant grow lights look pink because they mix red and blue light, which helps plants grow better. Pink neon signs can be made in different ways, either by using special gases and coatings or by adding pink dye to white lights. Early pink LEDs sometimes faded over time, but newer ones stay their color better.

Engineering

Some building insulation is dyed pink. One company even trademarked the color pink for its insulation products. Pink is also sometimes used on road signs to show special traffic information.

Culture and symbolism

Common associations and popularity

People have different feelings about the color pink. Surveys show that more women pick pink as their favorite color than men. In some places, like Japan, pink is linked to spring because of cherry blossoms. In other places, like the United States and Europe, green is more often connected with spring.

Pink in other languages

Many languages use words related to the rose flower to describe the color pink. For example, in French, it's rose, in German, it's rosa, and in Spanish, it's rosa. In Chinese, pink is called 粉紅色, meaning "powder red." Japanese has a traditional word, momo-iro, named after peach blossoms, and a newer word, pinku, from the English word "pink." In Thai, the word for pink comes from an old Sanskrit word for a type of fruit.

Idioms and expressions

There are several common phrases that use the color pink:

In the pink: This means being in good health or condition. For example, in a old play, a character says, "I am the very pink of courtesy."
Tickled pink: This means being very pleased.
Pink slip: This term means being fired from a job.
Pink-collar worker: This describes jobs often done by women.
Pink money: This refers to the spending power of the LGBT community.

Architecture

Early pink buildings were often made from brick or sandstone, which gets its color from iron ore. In the 18th century, many pink buildings were built across Europe. Today, pink is used to make buildings look special or to catch people's attention.

Food and beverages

Pink is often linked with sweet foods and drinks, like strawberries and raspberries. Many sweet treats, such as strawberry ice cream and cotton candy, are colored pink. This color comes from food coloring, with erythrosine (Red No. 3) and Allura Red AC (Red No. 40) being common types used.

Gender

In many places, pink is often connected with girls and blue with boys. This idea started in the early 1900s. Before that, most children wore white clothes. Over time, pink became more linked with girls, while blue was for boys. Today, many toys for girls are pink, which is a newer trend starting in the late 20th century.

Politics

Pink is sometimes used in politics in different ways. It can describe mild communist or socialist beliefs. In China, young nationalists online are called "little pink." Some groups, like the feminist party Feminist Initiative and the American women's group Code Pink, use pink to stand for their causes. Maps of the British Empire were sometimes colored pink.

Social movements

Pink is used by many groups to represent important issues, especially those related to women and the LGBT community. For example, the pink ribbon is a symbol for breast cancer awareness. Many newspapers and media for the LGBT community also use the color pink.

Technology

Some electronic devices, like computers and phones, come in pink to appeal especially to female customers. These pink products are often more expensive than the same items in other colors.

Academic dress

In French academic traditions, a special shade of pink called redcurrant represents the field of Medicine.

Heraldry

In heraldry, there are two colors close to pink: rose, used mostly in Canadian symbols, and carnation, used in French symbols, which looks like a lighter skin tone.

Calendars

In Thailand, pink is worn on Tuesdays according to the solar calendar.

The press

Some newspapers use pink paper, like the London Financial Times, which has used salmon pink paper since 1893 because it was cheaper. Sports newspapers, like La Gazzetta dello Sport in Italy, also use pink paper and award a pink jersey to the winner of the Giro d'Italia bike race.

Law

In England and Wales, legal documents given to a barrister by a solicitor are often tied with a pink ribbon. Pink was traditionally the color for defense, while white ribbons were for prosecution.

Religion

In some Hindu, Shaktic Hindu, and Tantric Buddhist traditions, pink is one of the colors representing the heart energy center. In Catholicism, pink symbolizes joy and is used on certain Sundays during Advent and Lent. Some Wiccan practices use pink for love and healing.

Sports

Many sports teams and events use pink. For example, soccer teams like Palermo in Italy and Cerezo Osaka in Japan wear pink jerseys. In baseball, players use pink bats on Mother's Day to support breast cancer awareness. The leader in the Giro d'Italia bike race wears a pink jersey. Some hockey and wrestling teams also use pink, and pink is used in Formula One racing to support breast cancer awareness. Subaru uses pink badges for their performance car models.