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Crimson

Crimson is a strong, red color, inclining to purple. 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 black and rose.

Color coordinates
Hex triplet #DC143C
RGB (r, g, b) (220, 20, 60)
CMYK (c, m, y, k) (0, 100, 100, 40)
HSV (h, s, v) (348°, 91%, 86%)

History
Crimson (NR4) is produced using the dried bodies of the kermes insect, which 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. They fell out of use with the introduction of cochineal, because although the dyes were comparable in quality and color intensity it needed ten to twelve times as much kermes 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 during the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniard Hernán Cortés, and the name ‘carmine’ is derived from the French carmin. It was first described by Mathioli 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 Gräbe 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 production
The cochineal that produces carmine breeds naturally on the prickly pears of desert Andean regions.

Peru, the leading supplier of cochineal carmine, accounts for 80% of world production, 60% of which is in the form of insects and 40% in cochineal form. Cochineal is harvested from prickly pears and transported to dye extraction plants near production areas. Hand-collected insects are sun-dried before being sold to carmine processors in Lima. The carmine powder is produced by drying the precipitation of a filtrate obtained by scalding the dried female insects and then filtering the residue before proceeding to the precipitation, washing and drying of the final product.

The sale of this dye used in food, confectionery and for the manufacture of drugs or cosmetics has been boosted by the bans of certain synthetic dyes and the public demand for more “natural” products.

Producers currently receive only about 10% of the income from the transformation of the cochineal. Intermediaries and dye producers have the largest profit margin.

In 2005, about 50,000 people were harvesting and processing in Peru.

The Instituto de Investigacion Tecnológica Industrial y de Normas Técnicas (ITINTEC) in Peru, and Simon Fraser University are seeking to double or triple the yield of extraction.

Dyes
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.

Related Post

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 nature
Algae
The crimson tide which sometimes occurs on beaches is caused by a type of algae known as Karenia brevis.

Birds
The crimson sunbird is the national bird of Singapore

In culture
Literature
In George R.R. Martin’s series A Song Of Ice and Fire, crimson is the family color of House Lannister

TV and film
The Crimson Chin is a superhero in the animated TV series The Fairly OddParents

Nobility
In Polish, karmazyn (crimson) is a synonym for a magnate, i.e., a member of the rich, high nobility

Religion
In texts of the Bahá’í Faith, crimson stands for tests and sacrifice, among other things

Food
Rhubarb is sometimes poetically referred to as crimson stalks.

Military
A regiment of the British Army, The King’s Royal Hussars still wears crimson trousers as successors to the 11th Hussars (the “Cherrypickers”)
In the United States Army, crimson is the color of the Ordnance Corps.

School colors
Multiple 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: University of Kansas, Harvard University, Indiana University, Korea University, New Mexico State University, Saint Joseph’s University, Tuskegee University, University of Alabama, University of Belgrano, University of Denver, University of Mississippi, University of Nebraska at Omaha, 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

Vexillology
Crimson is the national color of Nepal and forms the background of the country’s flag,and it also appears on the flag of Poland as well as being the main color on the flag of China

From Wikipedia
Souce: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimson#American_rose

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