Gold (color)

Description

Gold, also called golden, is a color that looks like the shiny metal gold. It is a special and beautiful shade used in art, decorations, and design. The word "golden" was first used to describe this color in English in the year 1300, talking about the real metal gold. Later, in 1400 and again in 1423, the word "gold" began to be used as a color name, especially for blond hair.

Web color

When we talk about the color gold on computers or websites, it is called a web color. Sometimes people use the word "golden" to make it clear they are not talking about the shiny, metallic look of real gold.

Use in art

In art and special paints, a shiny gold color is called goldtone or gold tone. If you see something with a solid gold background, it is called gold ground.

Heraldry

In old styles of drawing and painting known as heraldry, people in France used the word or to mean the color gold.

Models and decorations

When making models, the color gold is different from another shiny metal color called brass. Artists and decorators sometimes paint shiny silver objects with a clear yellow color to give them a goldtone look. This is often done with Christmas decorations.

Metallic gold

Gold (metallic gold)

Here is a picture of the color metallic gold. This color looks like the real metal gold and is taken from a color dictionary used by stamp collectors.

Web color gold vs. metallic gold

The American Heritage Dictionary describes metallic gold as a color that can range from light olive-brown to dark yellow, or a strong, vivid yellow.

Real gold has a shiny, reflective look that cannot be shown with just one solid color. In art, special shiny paints are used to mimic this effect. In Christian churches, real gold leaf was often used to paint halos around saints. In East Asian art, gold can be woven into silk for a traditional look. Later art styles like Art Nouveau also used shiny gold paints, sometimes made with fine aluminum powder instead of real gold.

Shades

Old gold

Main article: Old gold

Old gold is a dark yellow color, from olive or brown to deep yellow. It has been used as a color name since the early 1800s. Many university and sports teams use old gold, such as Texas State University and Purdue University.

Golden yellow

"Gold-yellow" redirects here. For the food color, see Gold yellow. For the RAL color, see RAL 1004 Golden yellow.

Golden yellow is a mix of amber and yellow. It was first used as a color name in 1597. It is one of the colors of the United States Air Force.

Golden poppy

Golden poppy is a gold color named after the California poppy, the official state flower of California. It was first used as a color name in 1927.

Arizona State University (ASU) Gold

Gold has been linked to Arizona State University since 1896. It represents the sunny climate of Arizona and the school’s bright future.

University of Southern California (USC) Gold

The colors of the University of Southern California are USC Cardinal and USC Gold. These colors were chosen in 1895 and help recognize the USC Trojans.

California (Berkeley) Gold

California Gold is an official color of the University of California, Berkeley. It is used in the school’s seal and other materials, along with Berkeley Blue.

Cal Poly Pomona gold

Cal Poly Pomona gold was one of the school’s official colors. The university now uses a new shade of gold for its branding.

UCLA Gold

UCLA approved a specific shade of gold in 2013 for use in their printed materials.

MU Gold

MU Gold is the official color of the University of Missouri, used along with black in their logos and web design.

Pale gold

Pale gold has been the color called gold in Crayola crayons since 1903. It is also a color used by the Lithuanian basketball club Lietkabelis Panevėžys.

Gold medal

Gold medal is a metallic gold color added to Metallic FX crayons in 2019.

Sunglow

Sunglow is a Crayola crayon color created in 1990.

Harvest gold

Harvest gold was popular in the 1970s for things like appliances and carpets but went out of style by the early 1980s.

Goldenrod

Main article: Goldenrod (color)

Goldenrod is a web color that looks like the deep gold of goldenrod flowers. It was first used as a color name in 1915.

Vegas gold

Vegas gold is linked to the famous casinos and hotels in Las Vegas. It is used by many sports teams and the NHL's Vegas Golden Knights.

Satin sheen gold

Satin sheen gold is the color of Captain Kirk's uniform in Star Trek.

Golden brown

Golden brown was first used as a color name in 1891. It is often the color we want food to be when it is baked or fried.

Candlelight

Candlelight is a bright gold color.

Golden in nature

Protista

The golden algae are a large group of heterokont algae. They are mostly found in freshwater.

Plants

Golden bamboo is a type of bamboo. The golden poppy and goldenrod are popular flowers grown in gardens. The Yukon Gold potato is a special kind of potato with a smooth appearance and golden inside.

Animals

The golden bamboo lemur is a medium-sized lemur that lives in southeastern Madagascar. The golden eagle is a large Northern Hemisphere bird of prey. The goldfish is one of the earliest fish people kept as pets and remains very popular today. The golden jackal is a medium-sized wild dog found in Asia and East Europe. The golden retriever is a friendly breed of dog and one of the most loved companion animals. The golden toad was an amphibian that lived in Costa Rica but is no longer found.

Chemical compounds

Besides pure gold, some special mixtures can look like gold. For example, certain types of brasses that have a lot of copper can shine like gold. One special kind is called Prince's metal. Other materials like titanium nitride and zirconium nitride can also have a golden color.