Pink Painting by Leah Mariani

Pink: 5 Surprising Facts About the Colour Pink

Pink is a very popular colour and is synonymous with femininity. It's used in home décor, girls' fashion and women's fashion. It's also used in branding, packaging and advertising for everything from food, beauty products and fundraising organisations. And yet you may not know pink as well as you think you do. Here are five facts about the colour pink which may surprise you. Do you know pink as well as you think you do?

1. During the Holocaust, the Nazis used pink triangles to identify homosexual men, bisexual men, and transgender women. During the 1970s, gay rights activists reclaimed the symbol as their own.

2. Pink was named as such in the mid-1700s. Before this, pink was simply referred to as a shade of red. A specific rose tint was created for Madame de Pompadour, a mistress of Louis XV, by the renowned Sèvres porcelain company. They named it ‘pink’ after a flower of the same name. Since then, the name pink has come to represent all forms of pink.

3. During the 1980s, after a study showed that certain shades of pink could reduce aggression, prison wardens started painting the insides of cells a shade of pink called ‘Baker-Miller Pink’. Baker-Miller Pink is not a pale, gentle pink, but a bright, hot pink. The calming effects could not be replicated in later studies and there is considerable doubt over whether the Baker-Miller Pink is a relaxing colour. Despite this, in 2017, Kendall Jenner painted her living room Baker-Miller Pink and raved about how it made her feel much calmer.

4. Pink doesn't appear in the colours of the rainbow, as there is no single wavelength of light that appears pink. Pink requires a mixture of red and purple light colours from opposite ends of the visible spectrum, and opposite sides of the rainbow.

5. Pink is the oldest surviving pigment found on Earth. Scientists recently discovered bright pink pigments that had survived 1.1 billion years underground within rocks. The natural pigments came from ancient algae, whose molecules have survived trapped inside oil shale deposits.

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Next read >> Fifty Shades of Pink & What They Mean

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About the author

Leah is a Melbourne/Naam based artist who started painting later in life, after training to become a Chartered accountant. Her figurative artworks explore the portrayal of womanhood in popular culture. In addition to painting people, counting money, and raising small humans, she sometimes finds time to write. Leah has had artciles published in Money Magazine online. This Artist Blog covers exhibition news, behind the scene insights, artist inspiration and art collecting tips. Join the INVITE ONLY list below and have new blog posts dropped in your inbox.

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