Saffron (color)

Saffron threads from Iran

The word saffron ultimately derives (via Arabic) from the Middle Iranian ja'far-. The name was used for the saffron spice in Middle English from c. 1200. As a colour name, it dates to the late 14th century.[5]

Stigmas (i.e., flower threads) from saffron crocus are plucked, piled, and dried.

Plants

• Saffron spice is derived from the flowers of the plant named saffron crocus (Crocus sativus).

Birds

• The saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America, and is common in both open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon basin.

Deep saffron (Kesari)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#FF9933
HSV       (h, s, v)	(34°, 80%, 87%)
sRGBB  (r, g, b)	(255, 153, 51)
Source	Vexillological:
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Strong orange
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

The Flag of India (since 1947) is saffron, white and green

Bhagwa Dhwaj, used as the flag of the Maratha Empire.

Deep saffron approximates the colour of India saffron (also known as bhagwa or kesari).[6][7] India saffron, representing courage and sacrifice, was chosen for one of the three bands of the National Flag of India, along with white (peace and truth) and what is now called India green (faith and chivalry).[8] The Flag of India is officially described in the Flag Code of India as follows:

The colour of the top panel shall be India saffron (Kesari) and that of the bottom panel shall be India green. The middle panel shall be white, bearing at its centre the design of Ashoka Chakra in navy blue colour with 24 equally spaced spokes.[9]

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President and second President, described the significance of the Indian National Flag as follows:

Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.[10]

In Rajasthani, this colour is called kay-ser-ia. The word derives its name from kesar, a spice crop from Kashmir.

In politics, it was used Indian independence movement, and it was chosen as one of the three colours of the Indian national flag after independence in 1947, and is used by Hindus.[11]

Flag of the Sikh religion- the Sikh - Nishan Sahib.

Theravada monk in Thailand

Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition

• In Hinduism, the deep saffron colour is associated with sacrifice, religious abstinence, quest for light and salvation. Saffron or bhagwa is the most sacred colour for the Hindus and is often worn by sanyasis who have left their home in search of the ultimate truth and serving the society before self.
• Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition typically wear saffron robes (although occasionally maroon—the colour normally worn by Vajrayana Buddhist monks—is worn). The tone of saffron typically worn by Theravada Buddhist monks is the lighter tone of saffron shown above.
• The Maratha Confederacy used "Jari Patka" as their flag. It is a saffron swallowtail flag, with sometimes added red/golden frilled border.
• Sikhs don't use it, instead they use Lemon Yellow & Navy Blue which have been Sikh colours according to Akal Takht sahib, but the 10th Lord approved navy blue colour for Sikh warrier’s uniform and flag, the Nishan Sahib, the flag of the Sikh religion, upon which is displayed the khanda in black. Brahmin scriptures consider navy blue as the colour of Shudra the depressed ones.Thus Guru wishes that his Sikhs identify themselves with the low i.e humility.
• In fundamentalist Islam, the colour is strongly prohibited to be worn by the males.[12]

• Because Therevada Buddhist monks were at the forefront of the 2007 Burmese anti-government protests, the uprising has been referred to as the Saffron Revolution by some in the international media.[13]

Saffron-coloured cloth had a history of use among the Gaelic-Irish. A saffron kilt is worn by the pipers of certain Irish regiments in the British Army, and the saffron léine in the defence forces of the Republic of Ireland. The latter garment is also worn by some Irish and Irish-American men as an item of national costume (though most wear kilts, believing them to be Irish). Its colour varies from a true saffron orange to a range of dull mustard and yellowish-brown hues.

The Antrim GAA teams are nicknamed "The Saffrons" because of the saffron-coloured kilt which they play in. The Old Irish word for saffron, cróc,[14] derives directly from the Latin Crocus sativus. In Ireland between the 14th and 17th centuries, men wore léine,[15] a saffron-coloured loose shirt that reached down to mid-thigh or the knee.[16] (see Irish clothing).

The colour saffron is associated with the goddess of dawn (Eos in Greek mythology and Aurora in Roman mythology) in classical literature:

Cymon and Iphigeneia c. 1884 by Frederic Leighton - saffron suffuses the canvas at sunrise

Homer's Iliad:[17]

Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening from the streams of Okeanos, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her. (19.1)

Virgil's Aeneid:[18]

Aurora now had left her saffron bed,

And beams of early light the heav'ns o'erspread,

When, from a tow'r, the queen, with wakeful eyes,

Saw day point upward from the rosy skies.

• The lyrics of Donovan's 1966 song, "Mellow Yellow" repeat the line, "I'm just mad about Saffron".[19]
• In the Pokémon games, there is a city named Saffron City.
• The Gates is a site-specific art installation by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 metal "gates" along 23 miles (37 km) of pathways in Central Park in New York City. From each gate hung a flag-shaped piece of deep saffron-coloured nylon fabric. The exhibit ran from February 12, 2005 through February 27, 2005.

• Saffron, spice of the saffron crocus
• History of saffron
• List of colours
• Saffron Type System, an anti-aliased text-rendering engine