THE COLOUR SILVER
MEANING
The colour silver is associated with glamour, gracefulness, sophistication, and elegance. It is also associated with meanings of industrial, sleek, high-tech, and modern.
Negative meanings of silver include indecision, coldness and being non-committal.
HISTORY
Silver or metallic grey is a colour tone resembling grey that is a representation of the colour of polished silver.
The first recorded use of old silver as a colour name in English was in 1905 and our word for silver comes from the Germanic roots of many older English words. The name silver is thought to be based upon the colour of the river Lycia, in modern day Turkey.
Known in Anglo-Saxon times as Seolfor, Silver has the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals as well as being the most reflective too, hence why it polishes up to a high gloss finish. Due to the polished finish, it has also been traditionally used in the manufacture of mirrors and telescopes.
Even the Chemical Symbol Represents the reflective nature of this metal. Ag, as it’s referred to on the periodic table, is derived from the Latin for Argentum, which comes from the Sanskrit word Argunas, which actually means shiny.
Although no-one is quite sure when silver was first recognized and made, Archaeologists have found the remains of silver smelting operations dating earlier that 4000 BC.
Unlike gold, copper (and occasionally meteoritic iron) which ancient man found as natural nuggets virtually ready to use, in nature silver very rarely occurs in its pure metallic state. Silver had to be discovered and extracted from ores and this probably happened when heating copper deposits. Even today, most silver is a produced as a fractional by-product of smelting of other metals such as lead - where for each ton of lead, a few ounces of silver are generated.
Silver is malleable and ductile. It is one of the few metals which can be beaten into delicate thin sheets of leaf or pulled to make a strong wire. Hence its appeal to makers of jewellery.
Since antiquity, artists have seized upon the colour silver, keen to tap into its metallic mysteries - silver flasks, jars, and tureens, marooned amid heaps of overripe fruit and flowers were common. From the 17th-Century Dutch artist Willem Kalf’s Still Life with a Silver Jug (1655-60) to the crumpled beauty of Cornelia Parker’s contemporary installation Thirty Pieces of Silver (1988-89) – which consists of over a thousand teapots and trombones, candlesticks and cutlery, steamrolled and bundled into 30 levitating clusters of precious junk – the colour has endured through art history.
The visual sensation usually associated with the metal silver is its metallic shine. This cannot be reproduced by a simple solid colour because the shiny effect is due to the material's brightness varying with the surface angle to the light source. In addition, there is no mechanism for showing metallic or fluorescent colours on a computer without resorting to rendering software which simulates the action of light on a shiny surface. Consequently, in art and in heraldry a metallic paint that glitters like real silver is commonly used. A matte grey colour could also be used to represent silver.
In Europe, both the colour and the metal are believed to destroy evil. This was because a silver bullet was said to be the only weapon that was effective against witches, werewolves and other types of monsters. Silver also represents excellent craftsmanship. In Egypt, the metal silver was much rarer than gold and held a higher value. Due to this, the colour too was considered valuable. The colour represented the moon, stars and the sun rising at dawn. In India, like in Egypt and Greece, silver is believed to represent the moon and symbolizes motherhood. It’s also believed to help fight all negative emotions and improve one’s dreams. In Chinese culture, silver is considered to be a part of the ‘white’ family of colours and is symbolic of wealth, cleanliness and purity.
Over the course of the 20th century, with the development of advanced machinery and increased use of sophisticated metals, the colour silver became strongly associated with space travel and technological advancements. Silver-coloured metals and textiles became a prominent feature of architecture, interiors, and fashion in the 1960s. The style is sometimes termed the “Atomic Age” of design.
The silver screen is a poetic name for a motion picture screen. This metaphor derives from the early 20th century, when all movies were filmed in black and white, and some screens of the era used metallic silver as a reflecting agent.
The 25th wedding anniversary is called the silver anniversary and guests at a 25th wedding anniversary party are expected to bring gifts made of silver. By extension, the 25th anniversary of any important event is called its Silver Jubilee.
The Silver Star Medal (SSM) is the United States Armed Forces' third-highest military decoration for valour in combat. The Silver Star Medal is awarded primarily to members of the United States Armed Forces for gallantry in action against an enemy of the United States.
SILVER AND BRANDING
Silver is seen as a colour of sophistication and elegance as well as being modern, technological and industrial. It has wide-spread use in branding within the Automotive industry.