Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future.
Complementary Colors
The complementary color of yellow is purple.
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Color Psychology: Yellow
Understanding how color affects our world.
- by Kate Smith
Yellow promotes optimism, enlightenment and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colors, instill optimism and energy and spark creative thoughts.
Feeling Yellow
The color yellow affects us physically by:
- Stimulating the nervous system
- Exciting mental processes
- Activating memory
- Encouraging communication
Yellow in the GardenConsidered a warm color in landscape design, yellow adds a stimulating element to any garden. Yellow flowers appear to come forward in the landscape, making a large garden feel cozy. The complementary color of yellow is purple.
Unique Facts about Yellow
- In terms of psychological effects, yellow is the happiest color in the spectrum.
- The comic book character Green Lantern was afraid of the color yellow.
- Three quarters of the pencils sold in the United States are painted yellow.
- The color yellow is used by U.S. intelligence agencies to denote an elevated threat level when dealing with terrorist activities.
- Medical establishments use a yellow flag to denote quarantine.
- Yellow represents greed in Christianity.
- In auto racing, a yellow flag is used to signal caution. In football, it represents a penalty.
- Driving a yellow vehicle suggests you are young at heart and have a sunny disposition; however, a yellow-gold vehicle will paint you as intelligent and warm.
Seeing Yellow
Yellow is the signature color of a number of products, companies and organizations:
- Midas
- Stanley Tools
- McDonald’s
Speaking Yellow
Popular phrases and quotes that include yellow are:
- Yellowbellied: a cowardly manner
- Yellow fever: a disease involving high fever and jaundice
- Yellow jack: a flag flown on a vessel to show it’s under quarantine
- Yellow dog contract: a contract which denies a person the right to join a worker’s union
- Yellow journalism: newspaper articles thought to be sensationalized in order to increase sales
Singing Yellow
Songs with yellow in the title:
- “Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell
- “Black, Red, Yellow” by Pearl Jam
- “Blue and Yellow” by The Used
- “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” by Frank Zappa
- “Double Yellow Line” by The Music Machine
- “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John
- “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss
- “Mellow Yellow” by Donovan
- “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” by Tony Orlando and Dawn
- “Yellow Submarine” by The Beatles
Yellow Around the World
Throughout history, cultures around the world have associated yellow with sadness, jealousy and celebration.
- In China, yellow is a predominant color and has a very significant history. Yellow is the color most often associated with both the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
- The French painted the front doors of traitors and criminals yellow in the 10th century.
- In India, yellow is the color of the Vaisya caste (farmers), and is the color Hindus wear to celebrate the Festival of Spring.
- In the United States, most taxi cabs and school buses are painted yellow.
- In Greece, the color yellow represents sadness.
- In Aztec culture, yellow was used to symbolize food as it was the color of corn, their primary food staple.
- In France, yellow often represents jealousy.
- Japanese warriors wore yellow chrysanthemums as a pledge of courage during the 1357 War of Dynasty.