Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of orange-yellowcolor blends used to give the impression of the color of the elementgold.
The web colorgold is sometimes referred to as golden to distinguish it from the color metallic gold. The use of gold as a color term in traditional usage is more often applied to the color "metallic gold" (shown below).
The first recorded use of golden as a color name in English was in 1300 to refer to the element gold and in 1423 to refer to blond hair.1
Metallic gold, such as in paint, is often called goldtone or gold-tone. In model building, the color gold is different from brass. A shiny or metallic silvertone object can be painted with transparent yellow to obtain goldtone, something often done with Christmas decorations.
At right is displayed a representation of the color metallic gold (the color traditionally known as gold) which is a simulation of the color of the actual metallic element gold itself—gold shade.
The source of this color is the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955), a color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps—See color sample of the color Gold (Color Sample Gold (T) #84) displayed on indicated web page:2
The distinctive sheen of a metallic color cannot be indicated on a computer screen, as the web color display process has no mechanism for indicating metallic or fluorescent colors.
The first recorded use of gold as a color name in English was in the year 1400.1
Web color gold vs. metallic gold
The American Heritage Dictionary defines the color metallic gold as "A light olive-brown to dark yellow, or a moderate, strong to vivid yellow."
Of course, the visual sensation usually associated with the metal gold is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid color, because the shiny effect is due to the material's reflective brightness varying with the surface's angle to the light source.
This is why, in art, a metallic paint that glitters in an approximation of real gold would be used; a solid color like that of the cell displayed in the box to the right does not aesthetically "read" as gold. Especially in sacral art in Christian churches, real gold (as gold leaf) was used for rendering gold in paintings, e.g. for the halo of saints. Gold can also be woven into sheets of silk to give an East Asian traditional look.
More recent art styles, e.g. art nouveau, also made use of a metallic, shining gold; however, the metallic finish of such paints was added using fine aluminum powder and pigment rather than actual gold.
Cal Poly Pomona gold is one of the two the official colors of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona). The official university colors are green (PMS 349) and gold (PMS 131). The Cal Poly Pomona Office of Public Affairs created the Cal Poly Pomona colors for web development and has technical guidelines, copyright and privacy protection; as well as logos and images that developers are asked to follow in the University's Guidelines for using official Cal Poly Pomona logos. If web developers are using gold on a university website, they are encouraged to use Cal Poly Pomona gold. It is notable for its prominent use representing Cal Poly Pomona's athletic teams, the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos.
Old gold is a dark yellow, which varies from heavy olive or olive brown to deep or strong yellow. The widely-accepted color old gold is on the darker rather than the lighter side of this range.
The first recorded use of old gold as a color name in English was in the early 19th century (exact year uncertain).8
The first recorded use of golden brown as a color name in English was in the year 1891.12 Golden brown is commonly referenced in recipes as the desired color of properly baked foods.
Lions are colored golden in art as a symbol of monarchy. The golden Lion was the symbol of the British Empire and is on the coat of arms of the United Kingdom.
The artist Gustav Klimt often used the color metallic gold in his paintings.
In stock market terminology, a golden share is a nominal share which is able to outvote all other shares in certain specified circumstances, often held by a government organization, in a government company undergoing the process of privatization and transformation into a stock-company.
In marketing, the term Gold Standard refers to a product that so satisfies the consumer that it functions as a standard for all other products of the same type.
In executive compensation, a golden coffin is a package of benefits that continues to accrue to the heirs of a CEO even after the CEO has died.13
In advertising for the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1950s, the southwestern states of the United States served by the Union Pacific were collectively called The Golden Empire because the railroad's diesel engines were and are colored golden, red, and black. Ads with maps showing the Union Pacific's Golden Empire colored golden were placed in many popular mass-circulation magazines.
Cosmetology
Blonde hair in women (or sometimes men) is sometimes referred to poetically as golden. It is estimated by geneticists that the gene for blonde hair originated about 3000 BC in the area now known as Lithuania among the recently arrived Proto-Indo-European settlers of the area (Lithuania is still the country that has the highest percentage of people with blonde hair); it is thought the gene spread quickly through sexual selection into Scandinavia when that area was settled because men found women with blonde hair attractive.1415
Culture
A past era during which the highest quality art was produced or in mythology during which humans were believed to have lived a Utopian lifestyle, is called a golden age.
The Golden Triangle of Mexico is composed of the three Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango, and Chihuahua, where Mexican drug lords engage in a murderous rivalry for control of the drug importation routes north into the United States.16
Education
In K-12 education, when students do well on an assignment, the teacher sometimes gives them a gold star by their name on the classroom bulletin board.
Exploration
On 26 September 1580, Sir Francis Drake returned to England, becoming the second person to circumnavigate the globe. His ship was called the Golden Hinde.
South Sea Pearls, which have historically been cultured in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, in the countries of Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Northern Australia but mostly attributed to the former thalassocraticSultanate of Sulu17 have a gold colored variety from the Pinctada maximaPearl oyster. This golden pearl is the national gemstone of the Philippine Republic18 This can now be manufactured in the laboratory at a much lower cost.19
The Golden Gate (the strait that connects the Pacific Ocean to San Francisco Bay), was named on 1 July 1846 by explorer John C. Frémont who wrote, "To this Gate I gave the name of Chrysopylae, or Golden Gate; for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn."20
In Texas, the area in the southeastern portion of the state is often called the Golden Triangle for its great economic wealth in the petroleum, natural gas and chemical industry.
In ancient Sanskrit, the area we now call Southeast Asia (including both mainland Southeast Asia and the area now known as Maritime Asia (i.e., Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines)) was referred to by the people of ancient India as Suvarnadvipa, which means Golden island (suvarna=golden; dvipa=island).21 The name Suvarnadvipa comes originally from the fact that there were rich gold deposits on the island of Sumatra. The GreekgeographerPtolemy mistakenly applied the Ancient Greek name for gold, Chryse, to the neighboring country of Malaya.22
In the traditional national anthem of Iran, Iran is called our golden country. The first lines of the anthem are: "Oh Iran, our golden country, your land is the wellspring of art. Let the thoughts of your enemies be far from you."23
The Golden Gate (Porta Aurea) was the Imperial entrance gate of the Walls of Constantinople and the largest among the 55 gates around the city walls which protected Constantinople (present-day Istanbul). It had three arches and was plated in solid gold.24
Golden is a warm color that can both provide not only a bright and cheerful feeling but also a somber, traditional, and religious aura. Golden tends to go well with earth colors, but it can also enrich a palette of red or burgundy.
Law
The Lei Áurea (Golden Law), adopted on May 13, 1888, was the law that abolished slavery in Brazil.
Legend
The capital city of Atlantis is said to have been called The City of the Golden Gates.25 Because of this (and because of the existence of the Transamerica Pyramid, which is like the pyramid that is said to have existed as one of the major structures in the City of the Golden Gates), it is thought by some New Age people that a number of the inhabitants of San Francisco (the City by the Golden Gate) are reincarnated from Atlantis.26
Goldfinger is a 1958 novel by British author Ian Fleming in the James Bond series. The story concerns a villain, named Auric Goldfinger whose obsessive love for gold inspires him to rob Ft. Knox gold depository. The subsequent 1964 film adaptation is one of the most notable films of the decade, in particular the famous image of the "golden girl", portrayed by actress Shirley Eaton.
The 50th wedding anniversary is called the Golden Anniversary and one is expected to give gifts made of gold to a couple celebrating that anniversary. By extension, the 50th anniversary of any important event is called the golden jubilee.
Military
The Gold Star Mothers Club is a club in the United States to provide support for mothers that have lost sons or daughters in military combat.
Music
A gold record is a recording that achieves sales of a million copies or more.
The song The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion is one of the most popular songs on the 1967 debut album of the Grateful Dead, The Grateful Dead.
The Gold Experience is an album released by Prince (his stage name at that time being an unpronounceable symbol) on September 26, 1995. The album included the song "Gold".
King Midas, in Greek Mythology, was said to have the Midas touch, i.e., the ability to turn everything into gold (the golden touch). This ability became a curse for him after he turned his daughter to gold, and he was cured by Dionysus.
Comic books published between 1938 (the first ones) and 1945 are called Golden Age comic books.29
In Uncle Scrooge comic books, Scrooge McDuck searches throughout the world and even outer space for gold and other treasures to further increase his wealth. Paintings of Scrooge by Carl Barks often show him with piles of golden money. In one Carl Barks story, The 24 Karat Moon, Scrooge McDuck builds a rocket ship, travels to the asteroid belt and finds an asteroid made of solid gold: [2]30
In Scientology, The Gold Base is the informal name of the international headquarters of the Church of Scientology,3536 located on a 500-acre (2.0 km2) parcel of land near Hemet, California. The area is the home of Golden Era Productions, the media and publications division of the church.
The Holy Roman Empire, which existed from 800 to 1806, had a golden flag with a black double-headed Imperial Eagle on the field, the origin of the use of the color golden in the German and Belgian flags.
The Byzantine Empire from 1261 until its collapse in 1453 had a flag that had a black double-headed eagle on a field of golden. This flag is still used today as the flag of the Mount Athosautonomous region in Greece.38
The Hispanic Flag (Bandera de la Raza) is an ethnic flag that is golden and deep lilac on a white background. It is also used as the Flag of Hispanic America. (This flag is sometimes also called the Flag of the Americas when used on a non-ethnic basis to symbolically represent the combined geographical area of North America and South America together.): File:Hispanic Flag2.png
^ Cavalli-Sforza, L. Luca; Menozzi, Paolo; and Piazza Alberto The History and Geography of Human Genes Princeton, New Jersey: 1994 Princeton University Press Page 266
