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This article is about the color. For other uses, see White (disambiguation).
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White is the color of milk and fresh snow, the color produced by the combination of all the colors of the visible spectrum. [1] [2]


Varieties of white[edit]


The word white continues Old English hwīt, ultimately from a Common Germanic wītaz also reflected in OHG (h)wîz, ON hvítr, Goth. ƕeits. The root is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language *kwid-, surviving also in Sanskrit śveta "to be white or bright"[4] and Slavonic světŭ "light".[5][6] The Icelandic word for white, hvítur, is directly derived from the Old Norse form of the word hvítr. Common Germanic also had the word *blankaz ("white, bright, blinding"), borrowed into Late Latin as *blancus, which provided the source for Romance words for "white" (Catalan, Occitan and French blanc, Spanish blanco, Italian bianco, Galician-Portuguese branco, etc.). The antonym of white is black.

White in history and art[edit]

The Ancient World[edit]

White was one of the first colors used by paleolithic artists; they used calcite or chalk,[7] sometimes as a background, sometimes as a highlight, along with charcoal and red and yellow ochre in their vivid cave paintings.[8]


In Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mother's milk. In Greek mythology, the god Zeus was nourished at the breast of the nymph Amalthea. In the Talmud, milk was one of four sacred substances, along with wine, honey, and the rose.[10]

The ancient Greeks saw the world in terms of darkness and light, so white was a fundamental color. According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, Apelles (4th century BC) and the other famous painters of ancient Greece used only four colors in their paintings; white, red, yellow and black;[11] For painting, the Greeks used lead white, made by a long and laborious process.

A plain white toga, known as a toga virilis, was worn for ceremonial occasions by all Roman citizens over the age of 14–18. Magistrates and certain priests wore a toga praetexta, with a broad purple stripe. In the time of the Emperor Augustus, no Roman man was allowed to appear in the Roman forum without a toga.



The Middle Ages and the Renaissance[edit]

The early Christian church adopted the Roman symbolism of white as the color of purity, sacrifice and virtue. It became the color worn by priests during mass, the color worn by monks of the Cistercian Order, and, under Pope Pius V, a former monk of the Dominican Order, it became the official color worn by the Pope himself. Monks of the order of Saint Benedict dressed in the white or gray of natural undyed wool, but later changed to black, the color of humility and penitence.

In Medieval art, the white lamb became the symbol of the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of mankind. John the Baptist described Christ as the lamb of God, who took the sins of the world upon himself. The white lamb was the center of one of the most famous paintings of the Medieval period, the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck.[13]

White was also the symbolic color of the transfiguration. The Gospel of Saint Mark describes Jesus' clothing in this event as "shining, exceeding white as snow." Artists such as Fra Angelico used their greatest skill to capture the whiteness of his garments. In his painting of the transfiguration at the Convent of Saint Mark in Florence, Fra Angelico emphasized the white garment by using a light gold background, placed in an almond-shaped halo.[14]

The white unicorn was a common subject of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, paintings and tapestries. It was a symbol of purity, chastity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. It was often portrayed in the lap of the Virgin Mary.[15]

During the Middle Ages, painters rarely ever mixed colors; but in the Renaissance, the influential humanist and scholar Leon Battista Alberti encouraged artists to add white to their colors to make them lighter, brighter, and to add hilaritas, or gaiety. Many painters followed his advice, and the palette of the Renaissance was considerably brighter.[16]

In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, white was commonly worn by widows as a color of mourning. The widows of the Kings of France wore white until Anne of Brittany in the 16th century. A white tunic was also worn by many knights, along with a red cloak, which showed the knights were willing to give their blood for the King or Church.

Eighteenth and nineteenth centuries[edit]

White was the dominant color of architectural interiors in the Baroque period and especially the Rococo style that followed it in the 18th century. Church interiors were designed to show the power, glory and wealth of the church. They seemed to be alive, filled with curves, asymmetry, mirrors, gilding, statuary and reliefs, unified by white.

White was also a fashionable color for both men and women in the 18th century. Men in the aristocracy and upper classes wore powdered white wigs and white stockings, and women wore elaborate embroidered white and pastel gowns.

After the French Revolution, under Napoleon Bonaparte, a more austere white became the most fashionable color in women's costumes. The Empire style was modeled after the dress of Ancient Rome. The dresses were high in fashion but low in warmth; some women, including the Empress Joséphine de Beauharnais, died from illnesses caught wearing the thin garments in cold weather.

White was the universal color of both men and women's underwear and of sheets in the 18th and 19th century. It was unthinkable to have sheets or underwear of any other color. The reason was simple; the manner of washing linen in boiling water caused colors to fade. When linen was worn out, it was collected and turned into high-quality paper.[17]

The 19th-century American painter James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), working at the same time as the French impressionists, created a series of paintings with musical titles where he used color to create moods, the way composers used music. His painting "Symphony in White No. 1 - The White Girl", which used his mistress Joanna Hiffernan as a model, used delicate colors to portray innocence and fragility, and a moment of uncertainty.[18]

Twentieth and twenty-first centuries[edit]

The White movement was the opposition that formed against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War, which followed the Russian Revolution in 1917. It was finally defeated by the Bolsheviks in 1921-22, and many of its members emigrated to Europe.

At the end of the nineteenth century, lead white was still the most popular pigment; but between 1916 and 1918, chemical companies in Norway and the United States began to produce titanium white, made from titanium oxide. It had first been identified in 18th century by the German chemist Martin Klaproth, who also discovered uranium. It had twice the covering power of lead white, and was the brightest white pigment known. By 1945, 80 percent of the white pigments sold were titanium white.[19]

The absoluteness of white appealed to modernist painters. It was used in its simplest form by the Russian suprematist painter Kazimir Malevich in his 1917 painting 'the white square,' the companion to his earlier 'black square.' It was also used by the Dutch modernist painter Piet Mondrian. His most famous paintings consisted of a pure white canvas with grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and rectangles of primary colors.

Black and white also appealed to modernist architects, such as Le Corbusier (1887–1965). He said a house was "a machine for living in" and called for a "calm and powerful architecture" built of reinforced concrete and steel, without any ornament or frills.[20] Almost all the buildings of contemporary architect Richard Meier, such as his museum in Rome to house the ancient Roman Ara Pacis, or Altar of Peace, are stark white, in the tradition of Le Corbusier.



White is the color the human eye sees when it senses light which contains all the wavelengths of the visible spectrum.[1][21][22] This light stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the eye in nearly equal amounts.[23] Materials that do not emit light themselves appear white if their surfaces reflect back most of the light that strikes them.



Why snow, clouds and beaches are white[edit]

Snow is a mixture of air and tiny ice crystals. When white sunlight enters snow, very little of the spectrum is absorbed; almost all of the light is reflected or scattered by the air and water molecules, so the snow appears to be the color of sunlight, white. Sometimes the light bounces around inside the ice crystals before being scattered, making the snow seem to sparkle.[24]

In the case of glaciers, the ice is more tightly pressed together and contains little air. As sunlight enters the ice, more light of the red spectrum is absorbed, so the light scattered will be bluish. [25]

Clouds are white for the same reason as ice. They are composed of water droplets or ice crystals mixed with air, very little light that strikes them is absorbed, and most of the light is scattered, appearing to the eye as white. Shadows of other clouds above can make clouds look gray, and some clouds have their own shadow on the bottom of the cloud. [26]

Many mountains with winter or year-round snow cover are named accordingly: Mauna Kea means white mountain in Hawaiian, Mont Blanc means white mountain in French. Changbai Mountains literally meaning 'Perpetually White' Mountains, marks the border between China and Korea.


Chemistry- white pigments and dyes[edit]

Chalk is a kind of limestone, made of the mineral calcite, or calcium carbonate. It was originally deposited under the sea as the scales or plates of tiny micro-organisms called Coccolithophore. It was the first white pigment used by prehistoric artists in cave paintings. The chalk used on blackboards today is usually made of gypsum or calcium sulphate, a powder pressed into sticks.

Bianco di San Giovanni is a pigment used in the Renaissance, which was described by the painter Cennino Cennini in the 15th century. It is similar to chalk, made of calcium carbonate with calcium hydroxide. It was made of dried lime which was made into a powder, then soaked in water for eight days, with the water changed each day. It was then made into cakes and dried in the sun.[28]

Lead white was being produced during the 4th century BC; the process is described is Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius and the ancient Greek author Theophrastus. Pieces of lead were put into clay pots which had a separate compartment filled with vinegar. The pots in turn were piled on shelves close to cow dung. The combined fumes of the vinegar and the cow dung caused the lead to corrode into lead carbonate. It was a slow process which could take a month or more. It made an excellent white and was used by artists for centuries, but it was also toxic. It was replaced in the 19th century by zinc white and titanium white.[29]

Titanium white is the most popular white for artists today; it is the brightest available white pigment, and has twice the coverage of lead white. It first became commercially available in 1921. It is made out of titanium dioxide, from the minerals brookite, anatase, rutile, or Ilmenite, currently the major source. Because of its brilliant whiteness, it is used as a colorant for most toothpaste and sunscreen.[30]

Zinc white is made from zinc oxide. It is similar to but not as opaque as titanium white. It is added to some breakfast cereals, since zinc is an important nutrient.

Chinese white is a variety of zinc white made for artists.

Bleach and bleaching[edit]

Bleaching is a process for whitening fabrics which has been practiced for thousands of years. Sometimes it was simply a matter of leaving the fabric in the sun, to be faded by the bright light. In the 18th century several scientists developed varieties of chlorine bleach, including sodium hypochlorite and calcium hypochlorite (bleaching powder).[31] Bleaching agents that do not contain chlorine most often are based on peroxides, such as hydrogen peroxide, sodium percarbonate and sodium perborate. While most bleaches are oxidizing agents, a fewer number are reducing agents such as sodium dithionite.

Bleaches attack the chromophores, the part of a molecule which absorbs light and causes fabrics to have different colors. An oxidizing bleach works by breaking the chemical bonds that make up the chromophore. This changes the molecule into a different substance that either does not contain a chromophore, or contains a chromophore that does not absorb visible light. A reducing bleach works by converting double bonds in the chromophore into single bonds. This eliminates the ability of the chromophore to absorb visible light.[32]

Sunlight acts as a bleach through a similar process. High energy photons of light, often in the violet or ultraviolet range, can disrupt the bonds in the chromophore, rendering the resulting substance colorless.[33]

Some detergents go one step further; they contain fluorescent chemicals which glow, making the fabric look literally whiter than white.[34]



A white dwarf is very hot when it is formed, but since it has no source of energy, it will gradually radiate away its energy and cool down. This means that its radiation, which initially has a high color temperature, will lessen and redden with time. Over a very long time, a white dwarf will cool to temperatures at which it will no longer emit significant heat or light, and it will become a cold black dwarf.[35] However, since no white dwarf can be older than the age of the Universe (approximately 13.8 billion years),[36] even the oldest white dwarfs still radiate at temperatures of a few thousand kelvins, and no black dwarfs are thought to exist yet.


Most white animals have their color as a form of camouflage in winter.

Associations and symbolism[edit]

Innocence and sacrifice[edit]

In Western culture, white is the color most often associated with innocence.[38] In Biblical times, lambs and other white animals were sacrificed to expiate sins. In Christianity Christ is considered the "lamb of God," who died for the sins of mankind. The white lily is considered the flower of purity and innocence, and is often associated with the Virgin Mary.

The beginning and the new[edit]

White is the color in Western culture most often associated with beginnings and the new. In the Bible, light was created immediately after the heavens and the earth. In Christianity, children are baptized wearing white, and, wear white for their first communion. Christ after his Resurrection is traditionally portrayed dressed in white. Eggs, another symbol of the new, are used to celebrate Easter.

The Queen of the United Kingdom traditionally wears white when she opens the session of Parliament. In high society, debutantes traditionally wear white for their first ball. A new project is often described as beginning with a "blank page."


White has long been the traditional color worn by brides at royal weddings, but the white wedding gown for ordinary people appeared in the 19th century. Before that time, most brides wore their best Sunday clothing, of whatever color.[39] The white lace wedding gown of Queen Victoria in 1840 had a large impact on the color and fashion of wedding dresses in both Europe and America down to the present day.


White is the color most associated with cleanliness. Objects which are expected to be clean, such as refrigerators and dishes, toilets and sinks, bed linen and towels, are traditionally white. White was the traditional color of the coats of doctors, nurses, scientists and laboratory technicians, though nowadays a pale blue or green is often used. White is also the color most often worn by chefs, bakers, and butchers, and the color of the aprons of waiters in French restaurants.[40]

Ghosts, phantoms and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse[edit]

White is the color associated with ghosts and phantoms. In the past the dead were traditionally buried in a white shroud. Ghosts are said to be the spirits of the dead who, for various reasons, are unable to rest or enter heaven, and so walk the earth in their white shrouds. White is also connected with the paleness of death. A common expression in English is "pale as a ghost."[41]

The woman in white, Weiße Frau, or dame blanche is a familiar figure in English, German and French ghost stories. She is a spectral apparition of a female clad in white, in most cases the ghost of an ancestor, sometimes giving warning about death and disaster. The most notable Weiße Frau is the legendary ghost of the German Hohenzollern dynasty.

Seeing a white horse in a dream is said to be presentiment of death.[42] In the Book of Revelation, the last book in the New Testament of the BIble, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are supposed to announce the Apocalypse before the Last Judgement. The man on a white horse with a bow and arrow. according to different interpretations, represents either War and Conquest, the Antichrist, or Christ himself, cleansing the world of sin. Death rides a horse whose color is described in ancient Greek as khlōros (χλωρός) in the original Koine Greek,[43] which can mean either green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid.[44]

Black and white[edit]

Further information: Black-and-white dualism

Black and white often represent the contrast between light and darkness, day and night, good and evil.

In taoism, the two opposite natures of the universe, yin and yang, are often symbolized in black and white, Ancient games of strategy, such as go and chess, use black and white to represent the two sides.

Black and white also often represent formality and seriousness, as in the costumes of judges and priests, business suits, of formal evening dress. Monks of the Dominican order wear a black cloak over a white habit. Until 1972 agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were required to wear white shirts with their suits, to project the correct image of the FBI.

Names taken from white[edit]

White is the source of more names for women in western countries than any other color.[45] Names taken from white include Alba, Albine (Latin). Blanche and Blanchette (French); Bianca (Italian); Jennifer (Celt); Genevieve, Candice (from Latin Candida); Fenela, Fiona and Finola (Irish); Gwendoline, Gwenael, Nol(g)wen (white woman) (Celt), Nives (Italian) and Zuria (Basque).

In addition many names come from white flowers: Camille, Daisy, Lily, Lili, Magnolie, Jasmine, Yasemine, Leila, Marguerite, Rosbalba, and others.

Other names come from the white pearl; Pearl, Margarita (Latin), Margaret, Margarethe, Marga, Grete, Rita, Gitta, Marjorie, Margot.

White in other cultures[edit]

In China, Korea, and some other Asian countries, white, or more precisely, the whitish color of undyed linen, is the color of mourning and funerals.[46]

In traditional China, undyed linen clothing is worn at funerals. As time passes, the bereaved can gradually wear clothing dyed with colors, then with darker colors. Small sacks of quicklime, one for each year of the life of the deceased are placed around the body to protect it against impurity in the next world, and white paper flowers are placed around the body.[47]

In China and other Asian counties, white is the color of reincarnation, showing that death is not a permanent separation from the world.[48]

In China, white is associated with the masculine (the yang of the yin and yang); with the unicorn and tiger; with the fur of an animal; with the direction of west; with the element metal; and with the Autumn season.[49]

In Japan, undyed linen white robes are worn by pilgrims for rituals of purification, and bathing in sacred rivers. In the mountains, pilgrims wear costumes of undyed jute to symbolize purity. A white kimono is often placed in the casket with the deceased for the journey to the other world. [50] Condolence gifts, or kooden, are tied with black and white ribbons and wrapped in white paper, protecting the contents from the impurities of the other world. [51]

In India, the color white was traditionally reserved for the Brahmin caste. It is the color of purity, divinity, detachment and serenity. In Hindi, the name Sweta means white.

In Tibetan Buddhism, white robes were reserved for the lama of a monastery.

In the Bedouin and some other pastoral cultures, there is a strong connection between milk and white, which is considered the color of gratitude, esteem, joy, good fortune and fertility.[52]

Temples, churches and government buildings[edit]

Since ancient times, temples, churches, and many government buildings in many countries have traditionally been white, the color associated with religious and civic virtue. The Parthenon and other ancient temples of Greece, and the buildings of the Roman forum were mostly made of or clad in white marble, though it is now known that some of these ancient buildings were actually brightly painted.[53] The Roman tradition of using white stone for government buildings and churches was revived in the Renaissance and especially in the neoclassic style of the 18th and 19th centuries. White stone became the material of choice for government buildings in Washington D.C. and other American cities. European cathedrals were also usually built of white or light-colored stone, though many darkened over the centuries from smoke and soot.

The Renaissance architect and scholar Leon Battista Alberti wrote in 1452 that churches should be plastered white on the inside, since white was the only appropriate color for reflection and meditation.[54] After the Reformation, Calvinist churches in the Netherlands were whitewashed and sober inside, a tradition that was also followed in the Protestant churches of New England, such as Old North Church in Boston.

Government and politics[edit]

White is often associated with Monarchism. The association originally came from the white flag of the Bourbon dynasty of France. White became the banner of the Royalist rebellions against the French Revolution (see Revolt in the Vendée).

During the Civil War which followed the Russian Revolution of 1917, the White Army, a coalition of monarchists, nationalists and liberals, fought unsuccessfully against the Red Army of the Bolsheviks. A similar battle between reds and whites took place during the Civil War in Finland in the same period.

The Ku Klux Klan was a racist and anti-immigrant organization which flourished in the Southern United States after the American Civil War. They wore white robes and hoods, burned crosses and violently attacked and murdered black Americans.

In Iran, the White Revolution was a series of social and political reforms launched in 1963 by the last Shah of Iran before his downfall.

White is also associated with peace and passive resistance. The white ribbon is worn by movements denouncing violence against women and the White Rose was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.


In the Roman Catholic Church, white is associated with Jesus Christ, innocence and sacrifice. Since the Middle Ages, priests wear a white cassock in many of the most important ceremonies and religious services connected with events in the life of Christ. White is worn by priests at Christmas, during Easter, and during celebrations connected with the other events of the life of Christ, such as Corpus Christi Sunday, and Trinity Sunday. It is also worn at the services dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and to those Saints who were not matryred, as well as other special occasions, such as the ordination of priests and the installation of new bishops. Within the hierarchy of the church, the lighter the color, the higher the rank. Ordinary priests wear black; bishops wear violet, cardinals wear red, and outside a church, only the Pope will wear white.[55] Popes occasionally wore white in the Middle Ages, but usually wore red. Popes have worn white regularly since 1566, when Pope Pius V, a member of the Dominican Order, began the practice. White is the color of the Dominican Order.

In Islam, white clothing is worn during required pilgrimage to Mecca, or Ihram pilgrimage (Hajj).Hajj. Called Ihram clothing, men's garments often consist of two white un-hemmed sheets (usually towelling material). The top (the riḍā) is draped over the torso and the bottom (the izār) is secured by a belt; plus a pair of sandals. Women's clothing varies considerably and reflects regional as well as religious influences. Ihram is typically worn during Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month in the Islamic calendar.

In Judaism, during the rituals of Yom Kippur, the ceremony of atonement, the rabbi dresses in white, as do the members of the congregation, to restore the bonds between God and his followers.

In the traditional Japanese religion of Shinto, an area of white gravel or stones marks a sacred place, called a niwa. These places were dedicated to the kami, spirits which had descended from the heavens or had come across the sea. Later, temples of Zen Buddhism in Japan often featured a Zen garden, where white sand or gravel was carefully raked to resemble rivers or streams, designed as objects of meditation.[56]

In the temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Only white clothing is worn inside once they have been officially dedicated, due to white symbolizing purity.[57]

Many religions portray heaven as existing in the clouds, where everything is white. This phenomenon is not limited to western culture; in Yoruba religion, the orisha Obatala in the Ifá tradition is represented by white. Obatala is associated with calmness, morality, old age, and purity.

In Theosophy and similar religions, the deities called the Great White Brotherhood are said to have white auras.[58]

In some Asian and Slavic cultures, white is considered to be a color that represents death.[59] White also represented death in ancient Egypt, representing the lifeless desert that covered much of the country; black was held to be the color of life, representing the mud-covered fertile lands created by the flooding of the Nile and giving the country its name (Kemet, or "black land").


People of the Caucasian race, particularly those of European descent, are often referred to simply as white. The United States Census Bureau defines White people as those "having origins in any of the original peoples of Europe, the Middle East, or North Africa. It includes people who reported “White” or wrote in entries such as Irish, German, Italian, Lebanese, Near Easterner, Arab, or Polish."[60] Whites constitute the majority of the U.S. population, with a total of 223,553,265 or 72.4% of the population in the 2010 United States Census.

The white flag[edit]

A white flag has long been used to represent either surrender or a request for a truce. It is believed to have originated in the 15th century, during the Hundred Years' War between France and England, when multicolored flags, as well as firearms, came into common use by European armies. The white flag was officially recognized as a request to cease hostilities by the Geneva Convention of 1949.[61]

Vexillology and heraldry[edit]

In English heraldry, white or silver signified brightness, purity, virtue, and innocence.[62]

Selected national flags featuring white[edit]

White is a common color in national flags, though its symbolism varies widely. The white in the flag of the United States and flag of the United Kingdom comes from traditional red St George's Cross on a white background of the historic flag of England. The white in the flag of France represents either the monarchy or "white, the ancient French color" according to the Marquis de Lafayette.

Many flags in the Arab world use the colors of the flag of the Arab Revolt of 1916; red, white, green and black. These include the flags of Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait and Iraq.

Idioms and expressions[edit]

  • To whitewash something is to conceal an unpleasant reality.
  • White-collar workers are those who work in offices, as opposed to blue-collar workers, who work with their hands in factories or workshops.
  • The white feather is a symbol of cowardice, particularly in Britain.[65] It supposedly comes from cockfighting and the belief that a cockerel sporting a white feather in its tail is likely to be a poor fighter. At the beginning of the First World War, women in England were encouraged to give white feathers to men who had not enlisted in the British Armed Forces.[66]

See also[edit]


  1. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, 5th Edition (2002). "of the colour of fresh milk or snow." See also Webster's New World Dictionary of American English, Third College Edition, (1988): "Having the color of pure snow or milk." See also The Random House College Dictionary of the English Language, Revised Edition,(1980): "of the color of pure snow; of the margins of this page, etc."
  2. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, 5th Edition (2002) See also Petit Larousse (2005): "de la couleur de la neige, du lait. Lumiere resultant de la combinaison de toutes les couleurs du spectre solaire." (of the color of snow, of milk. Light resulting from the combination of all the colors of the solar spectrum.)
  3. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la couleur- effets ets symboliques, pg. 130–146
  4. ^ Sanskrit-Lexicon.uni-koeln.de (Monier Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary, page 1106).
  5. ^ Max Vasmer, Этимологический словарь русского языка, т.III, Москва 1971, 575-576.
  6. ^ OED; Harper, Douglas (November 2001). "Online Etymology Dictionary". Retrieved 2008-03-26. 
  7. ^ Pigments through the Ages- Prehistory
  8. ^ Michel Pastoureau (2005), Le petit livre des couleurs, pg. 47
  9. ^ a b Anne Varichon (2000), Couleurs- pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples, pg. 16 .
  10. ^ Anne Varichon (2000), Couleurs- pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples, pg. 21.
  11. ^ John Gage (1993) Color and Culture. Pg. 29.
  12. ^ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, (1964)
  13. ^ Stefano Zuffi (2012), Color in Art. (pg. 224–225).
  14. ^ Stefano Zuffi (2012), Color in Art. (pg. 226–227).
  15. ^ Stefano Zuffi, Color in Art, pg. 232–233.
  16. ^ John Gage, (1993), Color and Culture, pg. 117–119.
  17. ^ Michel Pastoureau (2005), Le petit livre des couleurs, pg. 50–51.
  18. ^ Stefano Zuffi (2012), Color in Art, pg. 260.
  19. ^ Philip Ball (2001), Bright Earth, Art and the Invention of Colour, pg. 484–485.
  21. ^ "Of the color of radiated, transmitted, or reflected light containing all the visible rays of the spectrum." Webster's New World Dictionary of American English, College Edition.
  22. ^ "Reflecting nearly all the rays of sunlight or similar light." The Random House Dictionary of the English Language
  23. ^ Wyszecki & Stiles. Color Science (Second ed.). p. 506. 
  24. ^ Weather.about.com (retrieved October 31, 2012)
  25. ^ Glacier and Snow Program of Alaska and Washington Science Centers
  26. ^ Weather Channel, "Why are clouds white?" (retrieved Nov. 29 2013)
  27. ^ "Science of summer- where does beach sand come from?" Livescience.com
  28. ^ Webexhibits.org site on history of pigments (retrieved November 1, 2012)
  30. ^ Webexhibits; pigments through the ages. (Retrieved November 1, 2012)
  31. ^ "Bleaching". Encyclopaedia Britannica (9th Edition (1875) and 10th Edition (1902) ed.). Retrieved 2 May 2012. 
  34. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques, pg. 144
  37. ^ Friedman W. R. (June 2006). "Environmental Adaptations of the Beluga Whale (Delphinapterus leucas)". Cognitive Science 143. 
  39. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la couleur- effets et symboliques, (pg. 144–148
  40. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques (pg. 135–136).
  41. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques (pg. 137).
  42. ^ Stefano Zuffi (2012), Color in Art, (pg. 254)
  43. ^ Codex Sinaiticus, Rev 6:8.
  44. ^ Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon: χλωρός.
  45. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la Couleur - effets et symboliques, (pg. 133).
  46. ^ Heller, Eva, Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques, Pyramyd. pp. 136–137
  47. ^ Anne Varichon, (2000), Couleurs - pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples, (pg. 33).
  48. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la Couleur - effets et symboliques, p. 136.
  49. ^ Eva Heller (2000), Psychologie de la Couleur - effets et symboliques, (pg. 84).
  50. ^ Site on Japanese funeral customs
  51. ^ Japanese Buddhist Funeral Customs
  52. ^ Anne Varichon, (2000), Couleurs - pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples, (pg. 16-35).
  53. ^ John Gage (1993), Couleur et Culture, (pg. 11-29)
  54. ^ Stefano Zuffi, Color in Art (2012), pg. 244.
  55. ^ Eva Heller (2000). Psychologie de la couleur, effets et symboliques. pg. 132.
  56. ^ David and Michigo Young (2005), The Art of the Japanese Garden. pg. 64
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