Crimson

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Crimson is a strong, bright deep red color combined with some blue, resulting in a degree of purple. It is originally the color of the dye produced from the dried bodies of the cochineal insect (Coccus cacti); however the name is also used for red colors in general.

Contents

Etymology

The word "crimson", recorded in English since 1416, in its earlier forms cremesin, crymysyn, also cramoysin, cf. cramoisy (a red cloth), is adapted via Old Spanish cremesin "of or belonging to the kermes", from the Medieval Latin cremesinus for kermesinus or carmesinus, the dye produced from the shield-louse Kermes vermilio (Coccus ilicis), Arabic & Persian quirmiz, which stems from Sanskrit krmi-ja (cognate with Latin vermis and English worm. From the Latin carminus, a shortened form of carmesinus, comes carmine), a compound meaning "(red dye produced by a worm", from krmih "worm" + -ja, "produced" (from Proto-Indo-European *gene-). Cognates include O.C.S. čruminu, Russian čermnyj "red," from the same source. Cf. also vermilion.

Symbolism

Traditional western symbolism

In English, it is traditionally considered to be the color of blood, hence associated with violence, courage and martyrdom. However, the haemoglobin red is slightly different, more like carmine, which is a more blueish red. It was the most distinctive color of British uniforms (hence the "redcoats" of the American War of Independence) until the introduction of khaki camouflage, and remains in use for the colours (flag).

For most practical purposes, crimson also has taken over the traditional symbolic meaning of purple. Probably the colour obtained from the snails was closer to crimson than to what we call purple anyway, and true purple eventually fell out of use due to the complicated and expensive dyeing process. Aristoteles describes its value as ten to twenty times its weight in gold. During the Roman empire and later ages it was replaced by somewhat cheaper, but still expensive dyes (see section on dyes). So crimson became the colour of Kings, Bishops, and other high rulers. It still can symbolise power and rulership in some contexts.

Kabbalah

In the system of the Golden Dawn and Hermetic Kabalah crimson is the colour of Binah in Atziluth, the world of Archetypes. Binah is the first Sephira of the left (=passive/female ="evil") path of the tree. Binah is the potential to take form, and as such the opposite of Chokmah, which is pure energy/force. Binah is also the root of destruction because forms are created and destroyed, and in most situations, old forms have to be destroyed to create new ones. Without forms that can be destroyed there can be no destruction, no matter how mighty the forces at work are. So the colour (as a symbol of violence) fits. But in practical magick, usually Black is used to symbolise Binah, it's colour in Briah, the world of creation.

mundane uses

mundane symbolism

  • in Polish, karmazyn 'crimson' is also a synonym for a Magnate, that is, a member of the polish nobility, and metaphorically, any powerful person
  • In the catholic church, Bishops and other important persons may wear crimson on their robes
  • In Germany, the Judges of the ``Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court) wear (more or less) crimson robes
  • Crimson is the school color of several universities, including Harvard University, Saint Joseph's University, the University of Alabama, Washington State University, Indiana University Bloomington, and the University of Oklahoma.
    • The daily newspaper at Harvard is called The Harvard Crimson while the daily newspaper at Alabama is called The Crimson White.
    • Harvard's athletic teams are the Crimson, while the University of Alabama competes as The Crimson Tide.
    • Also duPont Manual High School adopted the Crimson in 1892 and the football team is known as the Manual Crimsons.
  • In fiction, the primary villain of Stephen King's Dark Tower series is the Crimson King. The Crimson King also makes appearances in other King works, such as the novel Insomnia. Bev Vincent notes in his The Road to the Dark Tower that the color is intended to symbolize sickness, madness, and pain.
  • In the United States Army, crimson is the color of the Ordnance Corps.

Practical uses

This dye was once widely prized in both the Americas and in Europe. It was used in paints by Michelangelo and on the 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. They are also used in some oil paints and watercolors used by artists. But in art, Alizarin pigments are more and more replaced by modern, more colourfast pigments in similar shades.

Dyes and Pigments

Pigment from snails

The most ancient bluish red dye was probably the dye derrived from the purple snail. In theory, it is possible to obtain various hues ranging from deep crimson red to deep violet or even indigo blue from them. It is no longer known which shades the antique dying processes really yielded, but most probably it was some shade of red-violet or deep crimson because the red hues are more difficult to obtain, but were also very appreciated. Pure snail purple is dark crimson, but it is easiely converted to indigo, so often some shade of violet is obtained. This purple was very expensive because lots of snails were needed, and the dyeing process is laborious and difficult. So it was the colour of Kings and religious leaders, everybody else was forbidden to wear it. Today, we call a deep violet purple. Soon cheaper, but still expensive colours replaced this one, but they were crimson or carmine rather than violet. So crimson took over the role of purple for most practical purposes.

Kermes vermilio and related pigments

In medieval times blueish red was obtained from Kermes vermilio. The insects were gathered commercially in Mediterranean countries, where they live on the Kermes oak, and sold throughout Europe. Kermes dyes have been found in burial wrappings in Anglo-Scandinavian York. It fell out of use with the introduction of cochineal. The dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity, but ten to twelve times as much kermes was needed to produce the same effect as cochineal.

Crimson, or crimson Lake, or carmine is sometimes the names given to the dye made from the dried bodies of the female cochineals although it is more common to call the pigment "cochineal" after the insect from which it is made. It appears to have been discovered during the conquest of Mexico by Spaniard Hernán Cortés and brought to Europe in early 1500s. Carmine was first described by Mathioli in 1549. It has the same colour as Kermes pigment when prepared the same way, but about twelve times less lice are needed because the Mexican lice contain more colour.

Carmine is an aluminium and calcium salt of carminic acid and carmine lake is an aluminium or aluminum-tin lake of cochineal extract, whereas Crimson lake is prepared by striking down an infusion of cochineal with a 5 percent solution of alum and Potassium tartrate. Purple lake is prepared like carmine lake with the addition of lime to produce the deep purple tone. Carmine dyes tend to fade fast. Carmine is darker and more blueish.

As a food additive, carmines have E number E120. It is also called cochineal and Natural Red 4.

A cheaper surrogate for this was madder lake which was made from the roots of the madder plant. It was predominantly used for dyeing textiles, but could also be used to make a pigment for painting. While cheaper than true crimson, it was still quite expensive because of the need to grow the plants on farms in large quantites, and the laborious dying process. Natural madder is no longer in use today, exept for restauration of old art, or experiments with plant dying.

Alizarin crimson is a pigment that was first synthesized in 1868 by the German chemists Carl Gräbe and Carl Liebermann and replaced the natural pigment madder lake. It is in fact the same chemical that is contained in natural madder dye, which was also turned into a pigment the same way. Alizarin crimson is a dye bonded onto alum which is then used as a pigment. It is not totally colorfast, when mixed with ochre, sienna and umber. It is still of use in artist's watercolours although it's colourfastness isn't really good enough for modern standards. While it's colour can be emulated using modern organic pigments, it's unique consistence and behaviour can't.

Modern Surrogates

The most promising modern blueish red pigments that are synthetic organic are the quinacridone reds. They come in various shades including deep blueish red (close to crimson), magenta and red-violet. They are very permanent and transparent. This lack of opacity may be an avdvantage or disadvantage, depending on the painter's goal. They are very lightfast and permanent. The y are widely used in artist's paints, but also for car laquer and other industrial products that are meant to have lasting beauty.

Sometimes the darkest shade of Cadmium red can be used as a cold red, but it is also slightly desaturated.

Sources

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.org article "Crimson". You may wish to read this explanation of Why we are using content from wikipedia.org.

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