An Investigation of Colour Names
Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:00 am
G'day everyone,
I wrote this article a few years ago for the FB EK Holden Car Club of NSW Newsletter and thought it might be of interest to reproduce here.
regards
Stewart
An Investigation of Colour Names
How does a colour get a name and in particular a car colour? In June/July 2002, two articles in the Drive section of the Sydney Morning Herald discussed the variety and origins of car colour names and invited readers to send in some of the more unusual names. Examples of weird Holden colour names included Barneys Shirt, Lettuce Alone Lime Green and Plum Crazy Purple. Marketing departments have a field day when it comes to this sort of thing.
One article also quoted Meryl Baker, Holden colour and trim designer, “Like the colours they represent, colour names are signifiers of their age…Names can be serious or a bit of fun.” With that in mind I wondered whether Holden car colours for 1960 to 1962 represented anything of Australia at that time.
OK, so I can hear some members saying, “So what, who cares what the name of a colour is?” Absolutely true, it doesn’t really matter but I for one have always been intrigued why Holden, ‘the only car designed specifically for Australia’ could have a range of colour names removed from anything Australian. Images of a farmer driving down a dusty road out the back of Bourke in his Kodiak Brown FB Station Sedan does have a certain element of peculiarity. (Kodiak bears don’t have a great deal to do with Australia but are a unique subspecies of the brown or grizzly bear that live exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago, off the coast of Alaska.) Here's a pic of two of my favourites Kodiak Brown FBs..
(Brown Bears wagon and my sedan)...
Looking at the total number of colours available for General Motors Holden Ltd between 1960-1962 (approximately 110), there doesn’t appear to be any common thread or pattern to the naming. Refer to this page for the colour chart http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=929. However, using the idea of themes (a way of describing a force or process that has contributed to history), it is possible to group colour names to identify a theme. Looking through the list I grouped colours into six identifiable themes that I have called World Places, Australian Places, Geographic Features, Colour Association/Play on Words, Given Names and Australiana.
World Places: includes countries, states, cities, areas and towns throughout the world (16 colours).
Argyle Green (England), Arctic Beige (Arctic), Alamo Beige (United States), Banff Blue (Canada), Biscay Green (Spain/France), Carlsbad Black (Germany), Castile Green (Spain), Dartford Grey (England), Egyptian Tan (Egypt), Madang Maroon (Papua New Guinea), Mexican Tan (Mexico), Montana Grey (United States), Parisian Lilac (France), Sherwood Green (England), Trieste Turquoise (Italy), Tuscany Yellow (Italy)
Australian Places: includes areas and towns throughout Australia (14 colours).
Atherton Ivory, Belmont Green, Cataract Grey, Cottesloe Green, Euroa Gold, Hayman Coral, Hotham Blue, Katherine Beige, Nepean Grey, Pittwater Green, Riverina Blue, Seaforth Green, Silverton Grey, Wimmera Green.
Geographic Features: includes physical and natural features of the earth (8 colours).
Alpine Blue, Canyon Blue, Coast Green, Desert Glow, Glade Green, Marine Blue, Reef Green and Strata Blue.
Colour Association/Play-on-words: includes things related with colour (8 colours).
Apache Red – An Apache Indian is commonly referred to as a Red Indian.
Armada Grey - A fleet of warships, mostly grey in colour, is an armada.
Brigade Red - Possible link to the fire brigade.
Goddess Gold - Association between higher being and a precious metal.
Satellite Yellow - In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s the comic book fiction of spaceflight became reality. Sputnik 1 was the first satellite to successfully orbit the earth in 1957. In 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
Trooper Blue - Possible link to the blue uniform worn by United States troopers.
Wedgewood Blue – Reference to the dark blue in wedgewood crockery.
Triton Green – Possible link between the green ocean and three-pronged pitchfork held by King Neptune (King of the Ocean).
Given Names: includes given, christian names (5 colours).
Colleen Green (popular Irish girl’s name), Fernando Yellow, Katherine Beige, Nicholas White, Raphael Ivory.
Australiana: includes things related to Australia (4 colours).
Barrier Coral – The largest coral reef in the world is the Great Barrier Reef (2000km long).
Bunyip Bronze - An Australian fictitious monster.
Namatjira Red - Albert Namatjira is one of Australia's great artists, and perhaps the best known Aboriginal painter. He died in 1959.
Ti-Tree Green – A native plant to Australia plant used for oils, soaps and natural medicines.
You may also have noticed that many colour names fit into more than one theme. For example Euroa Gold fits both themes Australian place and Colour Association/Play-on-words. Euroa is located in Western Victoria and is associated with Ned Kelly and the gold rushes of 1850s.
From looking at the themes I can make the following points.
1. The large number of world place names may reflect the effort of General Motors to give Holden a more international flavour. By the end of 1961 Holdens were being exported to 46 countries. It is also significant that the FB was the first Holden model for which left-hand drive versions were produced.
2. By using Australian place names and Australiana, General Motors may have been reinforcing the image of ‘Australia’s own car’ and the ‘only car designed specifically for Australia’. Holden received an enthusiastic reception from the Australian public and enjoyed continued sales success since 1948. In 1961 Holden car and station sedans captured 46 per cent of the registrations in the passenger field and Holden panel vans and utilities captured 55.2 per cent of the light commercial field. By using Australian place names and Australiana, General Motors was taking advantage of nationalistic fervour felt at this time.
3. Regardless of the theme, many of the names indicate or signify a colour. This traverses most of the themes. For example Ti-Tree and Sherwood both signify green. Marine and Strata both signify blue.
4. I found only three of the colour names to signify their age. These were Namatjira Red, Satellite Yellow and Alamo Beige (rather tenuous link: Davey Crocket was killed in the Battle of the Alamo and I have been told that he was popular in the late 1950s.)
Essentially, colour naming comes down to marketing. Judging by sales figures, Holden was doing something right. No matter how much theorising, it’s what sells that counts. However that doesn’t stop me smiling when I think of Mum and Dad and the three kids sitting on Elascofab plastic seats, stuck in a three-hour traffic jam somewhere outside Gosford, in 40 degree heat in an Arctic Beige FB sedan.
Stewart Watters
References
Australian Motor Sports, Holden Make a Million, October 1962.
Dulux Australia, 3D Car Colour Directory No.11, September 1976.
Her's a pic of my Parisian Lilac EK wagon taken in the early 1970's...somewhere near Lithgow...gathering firewood...nothing 'Parisian' about this...
I wrote this article a few years ago for the FB EK Holden Car Club of NSW Newsletter and thought it might be of interest to reproduce here.
regards
Stewart
An Investigation of Colour Names
How does a colour get a name and in particular a car colour? In June/July 2002, two articles in the Drive section of the Sydney Morning Herald discussed the variety and origins of car colour names and invited readers to send in some of the more unusual names. Examples of weird Holden colour names included Barneys Shirt, Lettuce Alone Lime Green and Plum Crazy Purple. Marketing departments have a field day when it comes to this sort of thing.
One article also quoted Meryl Baker, Holden colour and trim designer, “Like the colours they represent, colour names are signifiers of their age…Names can be serious or a bit of fun.” With that in mind I wondered whether Holden car colours for 1960 to 1962 represented anything of Australia at that time.
OK, so I can hear some members saying, “So what, who cares what the name of a colour is?” Absolutely true, it doesn’t really matter but I for one have always been intrigued why Holden, ‘the only car designed specifically for Australia’ could have a range of colour names removed from anything Australian. Images of a farmer driving down a dusty road out the back of Bourke in his Kodiak Brown FB Station Sedan does have a certain element of peculiarity. (Kodiak bears don’t have a great deal to do with Australia but are a unique subspecies of the brown or grizzly bear that live exclusively on the islands in the Kodiak Archipelago, off the coast of Alaska.) Here's a pic of two of my favourites Kodiak Brown FBs..
(Brown Bears wagon and my sedan)...Looking at the total number of colours available for General Motors Holden Ltd between 1960-1962 (approximately 110), there doesn’t appear to be any common thread or pattern to the naming. Refer to this page for the colour chart http://www.fbekholden.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=929. However, using the idea of themes (a way of describing a force or process that has contributed to history), it is possible to group colour names to identify a theme. Looking through the list I grouped colours into six identifiable themes that I have called World Places, Australian Places, Geographic Features, Colour Association/Play on Words, Given Names and Australiana.
World Places: includes countries, states, cities, areas and towns throughout the world (16 colours).
Argyle Green (England), Arctic Beige (Arctic), Alamo Beige (United States), Banff Blue (Canada), Biscay Green (Spain/France), Carlsbad Black (Germany), Castile Green (Spain), Dartford Grey (England), Egyptian Tan (Egypt), Madang Maroon (Papua New Guinea), Mexican Tan (Mexico), Montana Grey (United States), Parisian Lilac (France), Sherwood Green (England), Trieste Turquoise (Italy), Tuscany Yellow (Italy)
Australian Places: includes areas and towns throughout Australia (14 colours).
Atherton Ivory, Belmont Green, Cataract Grey, Cottesloe Green, Euroa Gold, Hayman Coral, Hotham Blue, Katherine Beige, Nepean Grey, Pittwater Green, Riverina Blue, Seaforth Green, Silverton Grey, Wimmera Green.
Geographic Features: includes physical and natural features of the earth (8 colours).
Alpine Blue, Canyon Blue, Coast Green, Desert Glow, Glade Green, Marine Blue, Reef Green and Strata Blue.
Colour Association/Play-on-words: includes things related with colour (8 colours).
Apache Red – An Apache Indian is commonly referred to as a Red Indian.
Armada Grey - A fleet of warships, mostly grey in colour, is an armada.
Brigade Red - Possible link to the fire brigade.
Goddess Gold - Association between higher being and a precious metal.
Satellite Yellow - In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s the comic book fiction of spaceflight became reality. Sputnik 1 was the first satellite to successfully orbit the earth in 1957. In 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space.
Trooper Blue - Possible link to the blue uniform worn by United States troopers.
Wedgewood Blue – Reference to the dark blue in wedgewood crockery.
Triton Green – Possible link between the green ocean and three-pronged pitchfork held by King Neptune (King of the Ocean).
Given Names: includes given, christian names (5 colours).
Colleen Green (popular Irish girl’s name), Fernando Yellow, Katherine Beige, Nicholas White, Raphael Ivory.
Australiana: includes things related to Australia (4 colours).
Barrier Coral – The largest coral reef in the world is the Great Barrier Reef (2000km long).
Bunyip Bronze - An Australian fictitious monster.
Namatjira Red - Albert Namatjira is one of Australia's great artists, and perhaps the best known Aboriginal painter. He died in 1959.
Ti-Tree Green – A native plant to Australia plant used for oils, soaps and natural medicines.
You may also have noticed that many colour names fit into more than one theme. For example Euroa Gold fits both themes Australian place and Colour Association/Play-on-words. Euroa is located in Western Victoria and is associated with Ned Kelly and the gold rushes of 1850s.
From looking at the themes I can make the following points.
1. The large number of world place names may reflect the effort of General Motors to give Holden a more international flavour. By the end of 1961 Holdens were being exported to 46 countries. It is also significant that the FB was the first Holden model for which left-hand drive versions were produced.
2. By using Australian place names and Australiana, General Motors may have been reinforcing the image of ‘Australia’s own car’ and the ‘only car designed specifically for Australia’. Holden received an enthusiastic reception from the Australian public and enjoyed continued sales success since 1948. In 1961 Holden car and station sedans captured 46 per cent of the registrations in the passenger field and Holden panel vans and utilities captured 55.2 per cent of the light commercial field. By using Australian place names and Australiana, General Motors was taking advantage of nationalistic fervour felt at this time.
3. Regardless of the theme, many of the names indicate or signify a colour. This traverses most of the themes. For example Ti-Tree and Sherwood both signify green. Marine and Strata both signify blue.
4. I found only three of the colour names to signify their age. These were Namatjira Red, Satellite Yellow and Alamo Beige (rather tenuous link: Davey Crocket was killed in the Battle of the Alamo and I have been told that he was popular in the late 1950s.)
Essentially, colour naming comes down to marketing. Judging by sales figures, Holden was doing something right. No matter how much theorising, it’s what sells that counts. However that doesn’t stop me smiling when I think of Mum and Dad and the three kids sitting on Elascofab plastic seats, stuck in a three-hour traffic jam somewhere outside Gosford, in 40 degree heat in an Arctic Beige FB sedan.
Stewart Watters
References
Australian Motor Sports, Holden Make a Million, October 1962.
Dulux Australia, 3D Car Colour Directory No.11, September 1976.
Her's a pic of my Parisian Lilac EK wagon taken in the early 1970's...somewhere near Lithgow...gathering firewood...nothing 'Parisian' about this...
cause to me that colour looks salmon pink that may be the link 
...no offense intended to all the drivers of pink FB EKs... 
and allways just refered to it as that salmony pink colour 
