Crimson
is a rich, deep
red
color, inclining to
purple
.
[2]
It originally meant the
color
of the
kermes dye
produced from a
scale insect
,
Kermes vermilio
, but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red colors that are between red and
rose
. It is the
national color
of
Nepal
.
Crimson
|
---|
|
|
Hex triplet
| #DC143C
|
---|
sRGB
B
(
r
,
g
,
b
)
| (220, 20, 60)
|
---|
HSV
(
h
,
s
,
v
)
| (348°, 91%, 86%)
|
---|
CIELCh
uv
(
L
,
C
,
h
)
| (47, 140, 8°)
|
---|
Source
| HTML/CSS
[1]
|
---|
ISCC?NBS descriptor
| Vivid red
|
---|
B
: Normalized to [0?255] (byte)
|
Crimson
(NR4) is produced using the dried bodies of a
scale insect
,
Kermes
, which were gathered commercially in Mediterranean countries, where they live on the
kermes oak
, and sold throughout Europe.
[3]
Kermes dyes have been found in burial wrappings in
Anglo-Scandinavian
York
. They fell out of use with the introduction of
cochineal
, also made from scale insects, because although the dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity, ten to twelve times as much kermes is needed to produce the same effect as cochineal.
Carmine
is the name given to the dye made from the dried bodies of the female cochineal, although the name
crimson
is sometimes applied to these dyes too. Cochineal appears to have been brought to Europe by the Spaniard
Hernan Cortes
during the
conquest of the Aztec Empire
and the name 'carmine' is derived from the French
carmin
. It was first described by
Pietro Andrea Mattioli
in 1549. The pigment is also called
cochineal
after the insect from which it is made.
Alizarin
(PR83) is a pigment that was first synthesized in 1868 by the German
chemists
Carl Grabe
and
Carl Liebermann
and replaced the natural pigment
madder lake
. Alizarin crimson is a dye bonded onto
alum
which is then used as a pigment and mixed with
ochre
,
sienna
and
umber
. It is not totally colorfast.
The word
crimson
has been recorded in English since 1400,
[4]
and its earlier forms include
cremesin
,
crymysyn
and
cramoysin
(cf. cramoisy, a crimson cloth). These were adapted via
Old Spanish
from the
Medieval Latin
cremesinus
(also
kermesinus
or
carmesinus
), the dye produced from
Kermes
scale insects, and can be traced back to Arabic
qirmizi (?????)
("red")
[qrmzj]
(
listen
ⓘ
), also borrowed in
Turkic languages
kırmız'
and many other languages, e.g. German
Karmesin
, Italian
cremisi
, French
cramoisi
, Portuguese
carmesim
, Dutch “karmozijn”, etc. (via Latin). The ultimate source may be Sanskrit ?????
k?mi-j?
meaning "worm-made".
[5]
A shortened form of
carmesinus
also gave the Latin
carminus
, from which comes
carmine
.
Other cognates include the Persian
ghermez
"red" derived from "kermest" the red worm,
[6]
Old Church Slavonic
чрьвл??нъ
(
?rьvl'enъ
), archaic
Russian
чермный (
?ermnyj
),
Bulgarian
червен
(
cherven
), and
Serbo-Croatian
crven
"red". Cf. also
vermilion
.
Carmine
dyes
, which give crimson and related red and purple colors, are based on an
aluminium
and
calcium
salt
of
carminic acid
.
Carmine lake
is an aluminium or aluminium-tin
lake
of cochineal extract, and
crimson lake
is prepared by striking down an infusion of cochineal with a 5
percent
solution
of
alum
and
cream of tartar
.
Purple lake
is prepared like carmine lake with the addition of
lime
to produce the deep purple tone. Carmine dyes tend to fade quickly.
Carmine dyes were once widely prized in both the Americas and in Europe. They were used in paints by
Michelangelo
and for the crimson fabrics of the
Hussars
, the
Turks
, the
British Redcoats
, and the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
.
Nowadays carmine dyes are used for coloring foodstuffs, medicines and cosmetics. As a
food additive
in the European Union, carmine dyes are designated
E120
, and are also called
cochineal
and
Natural Red 4
. Carmine dyes are also used in some
oil paints
and
watercolors
used by artists.
- In
Guillermo del Toro
's 2015
gothic romance
film
Crimson Peak
, the Sharpes' dilapidated mansion Allerdale Hall, which is steadily sinking into the red clay, is referred to as "Crimson Peak" due to the warm red clay seeping through the snow.
- The 1952 film
The Crimson Pirate
starred
Burt Lancaster
and
Nick Cravat
. Set late in the 18th century, on the fictional Caribbean islands of San Pero and Cobra, where a rebellion on Cobra is underway by the mysterious "El Libre". Pirate Captain Vallo captures the King's ship carrying His Majesty's envoy.
- In Polish,
karmazyn
(crimson) is a synonym for a
magnate
, i.e., a member of the rich, high
nobility
as only they may wear robing dyed from the scale insect.
Crimson (
UA
)
|
---|
|
|
Hex triplet
| #9E1B32
|
---|
sRGB
B
(
r
,
g
,
b
)
| (158, 27, 50)
|
---|
HSV
(
h
,
s
,
v
)
| (349°, 83%, 62%)
|
---|
CIELCh
uv
(
L
,
C
,
h
)
| (35, 91, 7°)
|
---|
Source
| [11]
|
---|
ISCC?NBS descriptor
| Vivid red
|
---|
B
: Normalized to [0?255] (byte)
|
- Some
Greek letter organizations
use crimson as one of their official colors:
Delta Sigma Theta
(ΔΣΘ),
Kappa Alpha Psi
(ΚΑΨ), and
Kappa Alpha Order
(ΚΑ).
- Crimson is the school color of several universities, including
Korea University
,
University of Belgrano
and
University of Talca
- In the United States including,
Harvard University
,
University of Kansas
,
Indiana University
,
New Mexico State University
,
Saint Joseph's University
,
Tuskegee University
,
University of Alabama
,
[11]
University of Denver
,
University of Mississippi
,
University of Nebraska
,
University of Oklahoma
,
University of Utah
,
Washington State University
and
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
- The daily newspaper at Harvard is
The Harvard Crimson
.
- The daily newspaper at Alabama is called
The Crimson White
.
- Harvard's athletic teams are the
Crimson
, and those of the
University of Alabama
are the Crimson Tide.
Look up
crimson
in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Crimson
.