THE COLOUR GOLD
MEANING
The colour gold represents wealth, extravagance, luxury and riches. It is associated with illumination, courage, magic and wisdom. It also symbolises success, achievement, and triumph.
Negative meanings of gold include excessive materialism greed and vulgarity.
HISTORY
Since gold ore was first discovered (the earliest gold artifacts date from the 4th century BC from archaeological sites in the Levant and Bulgaria), the precious metal has been treasured, hoarded, and melted down to create jewellery, statues, masks, and currency.
In ancient mythology, gold is often used as a symbolic colour of aspiration, rarity, and beauty.
The Greek legend of the Golden Fleece sees the hero, Jason, and the Argonauts set out on a quest to retrieve a gold-flecked fleece, symbolic of his rightful ownership of the throne of Iolcus in Thessaly. The Book of Revelation describes the beautiful city of Jerusalem as having streets “made of pure gold, clear as crystal”.
In the Old Testament gold is often symbolic of greed, excess, and immorality. Stories like that of the golden calf highlight the pitfalls of worshipping false idols and material wealth.
Generally accessible by only the richest in society, gold is historically associated with royalty and the merchant classes. In many societies across the world gold became the most highly prized material, valued for its rarity and beauty.
Historically, gold inspired many ambitious expeditions, including the Conquistadors’ quest for the mythical City of Gold, El Dorado, in the 1500s. It also drove the 19th century gold rushes, in which masses of hopeful individuals journeyed to parts of California, Australia, and South Africa in the hope of discovering fresh gold fields.
The World Gold Council estimates that 190,040 metric tons of gold have been mined and are in circulation today. Gold has retained a high value but is also more widely accessible and visible. Gold jewellery accounts for about 50% of the world consumption of the metal, making it a visible indicator of wealth and status. Gold-imitation materials, such as brass and fool’s gold, as well as metallic paints and other industrial finishes have allowed the look of gold to be translated to products and furniture without the high price tag.
The visual sensation usually associated with the metal gold is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid colour 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. 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 aluminium powder and pigment rather than actual gold.
In some parts of the world, such as Asia and many Islamic countries, gold is connected to spirituality and knowledge, with the colour symbolic of purity and wisdom. The colour gold has a strong connection to Buddhism. It is symbolic of enlightenment, purity, and happiness. Statues of the Buddha are usually painted metallic gold or covered in cold plating.
Gold is often used in language as a signifier of superior quality or outstanding talent. Gold medals are awarded to Olympic champions, the “gold standard” is a signifier of excellent quality or service, and a “golden child” is considered to be a favoured or particularly talented person.
Gold can be symbolic of achievement and longevity. It is the official fiftieth wedding anniversary metal (with copper for seventh, bronze for eighth, and silver for twenty-fifth).
GOLD AND BRANDING
Gold is seen as the colour of inner wisdom, quality and wealth. Its association with prestige, luxury and material wealth, suggests that a product or service is expensive and exclusive.