White

Some non-European languages have a wide variety of terms for white. The Inuit language has seven different words for seven different nuances of white. Sanskrit has specific words for bright white, the white of teeth, the white of sandalwood, the white of the autumn moon, the white of silver, the white of cow's milk, the white of pearls, the white of a ray of sunlight, and the white of stars. Japanese has six different words, depending upon brilliance or dullness, or if the color is inert or dynamic.^[8]

History and art

Prehistoric and ancient history

White was one of the first colors used in art. The

In Greece and other ancient civilizations, white was often associated with mother's milk. In Greek mythology, the chief god Zeus was nourished at the breast of the nymph Amalthea. In the Talmud, milk was one of four sacred substances, along with wine, honey, and the rose.^[12]

The ancient Greeks saw the world in terms of darkness and light, so white was a fundamental color, According to Pliny the Elder in his Natural History, Apelles (4th century BC) and the other famous painters of ancient Greece used only four colors in their paintings; white, red, yellow and black.^[13] For painting, the Greeks used the highly toxic pigment lead white, made by a long and laborious process.^[14]

A plain white toga, known as a toga virilis, was worn for ceremonial occasions by all Roman citizens over the age of 14–18. Magistrates and certain priests wore a toga praetexta, with a broad purple stripe. In the time of the Emperor Augustus, no Roman man was allowed to appear in the Roman forum without a toga.

The ancient Romans had two words for white; albus, a plain white, (the source of the word albino); and candidus, a brighter white. A man who wanted public office in Rome wore a white toga brightened with chalk, called a toga candida, the origin of the word candidate. The Latin word candere meant to shine, to be bright. It was the origin of the words candle and candid.^[15]

In

• 
  Prehistoric paintings in Chauvet Cave, France (30,000 to 32,000 BC)
• 
  Painting of the goddess Isis (1380–1385 BC). The priests of her cult wore white linen.
• 
  Paintings of women in white from a tomb (1448–1422 BC).
• 
  Statue of the chief Vestal Virgin, wearing a white palla and a white veil.

Postclassical history

The early Christian church adopted the Roman symbolism of white as the color of purity, sacrifice and virtue. It became the color worn by priests during Mass, the color worn by monks of the

Postclassical history art, the white lamb became the symbol of the sacrifice of Christ on behalf of mankind. John the Baptist described

The white unicorn was a common subject of Postclassical history manuscripts, paintings and tapestries. It was a symbol of purity, chastity and grace, which could only be captured by a virgin. It was often portrayed in the lap of the Virgin Mary.^[18]

During the Postclassical history, painters rarely ever mixed colors; but in the Renaissance, the influential humanist and scholar Leon Battista Alberti encouraged artists to add white to their colors to make them lighter, brighter, and to add hilaritas, or gaiety. Many painters followed his advice, and the palette of the Renaissance was considerably brighter.^[19]

Modern history

Until the 16th century, white was commonly worn by widows as a color of mourning. The widows of the kings of France wore white until Anne of Brittany in the 16th century. A white tunic was also worn by many knights, along with a red cloak, which showed the knights were willing to give their blood for the king or Church.

• 
  The monks of the

  Sodoma

  on the life of Saint Benedict (1504). They later changed to black robes, the color of humility and penitence.
• 
  Under Pope Pius V (1504–1572), a former monk of the Dominican Order, white became the official color worn by the Pope.
• 
  The white lamb in the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck. (1432)
• 
  The Transfiguration by Fra Angelico (1440–1442)
• 
  Mary Stuart wore white in mourning for her husband, King Francis II of France, who died in 1560.

18th and 19th centuries

White was the dominant color of architectural interiors in the Baroque period and especially the Rococo style that followed it in the 18th century. Church interiors were designed to show the power, glory and wealth of the church. They seemed to be alive, filled with curves, asymmetry, mirrors, gilding, statuary and reliefs, unified by white.

White was also a fashionable color for both men and women in the 18th century. Men in the aristocracy and upper classes wore powdered white wigs and white

After the French Revolution, a more austere white (blanc cassé) became the most fashionable color in women's costumes which were modeled after the outfits of Ancient Greece and Republican Rome. Because of the rather revealing design of these dresses, the women wearing them were called les merveilleuses (the marvellous) by French men of that era.^[20] The Empire style under Emperor Napoléon I was modeled after the more conservative outfits of Ancient Imperial Rome. The dresses were high in fashion but low in warmth considering the more severe weather conditions of northern France; in 1814 the former wife of Napoleon, Joséphine de Beauharnais, caught pneumonia and died after taking a walk in the cold night air with Tsar Alexander I of Russia.^[21]

White was the universal color of both men and women's underwear and of sheets in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was unthinkable to have sheets or underwear of any other color. The reason was simple; the manner of washing linen in boiling water caused colors to fade. When linen was worn out, it was collected and turned into high-quality paper.^[22]

The 19th-century American painter James McNeill Whistler (1834–1903), working at the same time as the French impressionists, created a series of paintings with musical titles where he used color to create moods, the way composers used music. His painting Symphony in White No. 1 – The White Girl, which used his mistress Joanna Hiffernan as a model, used delicate colors to portray innocence and fragility, and a moment of uncertainty.^[23]

• 
  A highly theatrical white Rococo interior from the 18th century, at the Basilica at Ottobeuren, in Bavaria.
• 
  White gown of

  Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun

  in 1783.
• 
  President George Washington in a white powdered wig. The first five Presidents of the United States wore dark suits with powdered wigs for formal occasions.
• 
  Portrait of Joséphine de Beauharnais in a classic Empire gown, modeled after the clothing of ancient Rome. (1801), by François Gérard. (The State Hermitage Museum).
• 
  Empress Maria Leopoldina of Brazil wearing a white gown and a white pearls necklace, by Luís Schlappriz
• 
  Symphony in White No. 1 – The White Girl, by James McNeill Whistler (1862).
• 
  Queen Natalie of Serbia (1890)

20th and 21st centuries

The White movement was the opposition that formed against the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War, which followed the Russian Revolution in 1917. It was finally defeated by the Bolsheviks in 1921–22, and many of its members emigrated to Europe.

At the end of the 19th century, lead white was still the most popular pigment; but between 1916 and 1918, chemical companies in

The absoluteness of white appealed to modernist painters. It was used in its simplest form by the Russian suprematist painter Kazimir Malevich in his 1917 painting 'the white square,' the companion to his earlier 'black square.' It was also used by the Dutch modernist painter Piet Mondrian. His most famous paintings consisted of a pure white canvas with grid of vertical and horizontal black lines and rectangles of primary colors.

Black and white also appealed to modernist architects, such as Le Corbusier (1887–1965). He said a house was "a machine for living in" and called for a "calm and powerful architecture" built of reinforced concrete and steel, without any ornament or frills.^[25] Almost all the buildings of contemporary architect Richard Meier, such as his museum in Rome to house the ancient Roman Ara Pacis, or Altar of Peace, are stark white, in the tradition of Le Corbusier.

• 
  Poster for the White Army during the Russian Civil War (1917–22). The poster says: "for a United Russia."
• 
  The Villa Savoye (1928–31) by Le Corbusier; Le Corbusier called for a "calm and powerful" architecture built of steel and reinforced concrete, without color or ornament.

Scientific understanding (color science)

Light is perceived by the human visual system as white when the incoming light to the eye stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the eye in roughly equal amounts.^[26] Materials that do not emit light themselves appear white if their surfaces reflect back most of the light that strikes them in a diffuse way.

White light

• 
  In the RGB color model, used to create colors on TV and computer screens, white is made by mixing red, blue and green light at full intensity.
• 
  refracted in a prism

  revealing the color components.

In 1666, Isaac Newton demonstrated that white light was composed of multiple colors by passing it through a prism to break it up into components then using a second prism to reassemble them. Before Newton, most scientists believed that white was the fundamental color of light.^[27]

White light can be generated by the sun, by stars, or by earthbound sources such as

The fact that light sources with vastly different spectral power distributions can result in a similar sensory experience is due to the way the light is processed by the visual system. One color that arises from two different spectral power distributions is called a metamerism.

Many of the light sources that emit white light emit light at almost all visible wavelengths (sun light, incandescent lamps of various Color temperatures). This has led to the notion that white light can be defined as a mixture of "all colors" or "all visible wavelengths".^[28][29]

A range of spectral distributions of light sources can be perceived as white—there is no single, unique specification of "white light". For example, when buying a "white" light bulb, one might buy one labeled 2700K, 6000K, etc., which produce light having very different spectral distributions, and yet this will not prevent the user from identifying the color of objects that those light bulbs illuminate.^[30]

White objects

Color vision allows us to distinguish different objects by their color. In order to do so, color constancy can keep the perceived color of an object relatively unchanged when the illumination changes among various broad (whitish) spectral distributions of light.^[30]

The same principle is used in photography and cinematography where the choice of

While there is no single, unique specification of "white light", there is indeed a unique specification of "white object", or, more specifically, "white surface". A perfectly white surface

Reflection of 100% of incident light at all wavelengths is a form of uniform reflectance, so white is an achromatic color, meaning a color without hue.^[34][35] The color stimulus produced by the perfect diffuser is usually considered to be an achromatic stimulus for all illuminants, except for those whose light sources appear to be highly chromatic.^[36]

Color constancy is achieved by chromatic adaptation. The International Commission on Illumination defines white (adapted) as "a color stimulus that an observer who is [chromatically] adapted to the viewing environment would judge to be perfectly achromatic and to have a luminance factor of unity. The color stimulus that is considered to be the adapted white may be different at different locations within a scene.^[37]

White features in nature

• 
  Snow is composed of ice and air; it scatters or reflects sunlight without absorbing other colors of the spectrum.
• 
  Cumulus clouds look white because the water droplets reflect and scatter the sunlight without absorbing other colors.
• 
  The White Cliffs of Dover, made of limestone
• 
  Hyams Beach, New South Wales

  appears white because the sunlight is reflected or scattered by the quartz or limestone sand

Beaches with sand containing high amounts of quartz or eroded limestone also appear white, since quartz and limestone reflect or scatter sunlight, rather than absorbing it. Tropical white sand beaches may also have a high quantity of white calcium carbonate from tiny bits of seashells ground to fine sand by the action of the waves.^[38]

The White Cliffs of Dover take their white color from the large amount of chalk, made of limestone, which they contain, which reflects the sunlight.

Snow is a mixture of air and tiny ice crystals. When white sunlight enters snow, very little of the spectrum is absorbed; almost all of the light is reflected or scattered by the air and water molecules, so the snow appears to be the color of sunlight, white. Sometimes the light bounces around inside the ice crystals before being scattered, making the snow seem to sparkle.^[39]

In the case of glaciers, the ice is more tightly pressed together and contains little air. As sunlight enters the ice, more light of the red spectrum is absorbed, so the light scattered will be bluish.^[40]

Clouds are white for the same reason as ice. They are composed of water droplets or ice crystals mixed with air, very little light that strikes them is absorbed, and most of the light is scattered, appearing to the eye as white. Shadows of other clouds above can make clouds look gray, and some clouds have their own shadow on the bottom of the cloud.^[41]

Many mountains with winter or year-round snow cover are named accordingly: Mauna Kea means white mountain in Hawaiian, Mont Blanc means white mountain in French. Changbai Mountains literally meaning perpetually white mountains, marks the border between China and Korea.

White materials

• 
  Titanium white, made with titanium dioxide, is the brightest white paint available. It also colors most toothpaste and sunscreen.
• 
  Zinc white is made from zinc oxide. Zinc oxide is used in paints, suntan lotion, and some foods.

Chalk is a type of limestone, made of the mineral calcite, or calcium carbonate. It was originally deposited under the sea as the scales or plates of tiny micro-organisms called Coccolithophore. It was the first white pigment used by prehistoric artists in cave paintings. The chalk used on blackboards today is usually made of gypsum or calcium sulphate, a powder pressed into sticks.

Bianco di San Giovanni is a pigment used in the Renaissance, which was described by the painter Cennino Cennini in the 15th century. It is similar to chalk, made of calcium carbonate with calcium hydroxide. It was made of dried lime which was made into a powder, then soaked in water for eight days, with the water changed each day. It was then made into cakes and dried in the sun.^[42]

Lead white was being produced during the 4th century BC; the process is described is Pliny the Elder, Vitruvius and the ancient Greek author Theophrastus. Pieces of lead were put into clay pots which had a separate compartment filled with vinegar. The pots in turn were piled on shelves close to cow dung. The combined fumes of the vinegar and the cow dung caused the lead to corrode into lead carbonate. It was a slow process which could take a month or more. It made an excellent white and was used by artists for centuries, but it was also toxic. It was replaced in the 19th century by zinc white and titanium white.^[43]

Titanium white is the most popular white for artists today; it is the brightest available white pigment, and has twice the coverage of lead white. It first became commercially available in 1921. It is made out of titanium dioxide, from the minerals brookite, anatase, rutile, or ilmenite, currently the major source. Because of its brilliant whiteness, it is used as a colorant for most toothpaste and sunscreen.^[44]

Some materials can be made to look "whiter than white", this is achieved using optical brightener agents (OBA). These are chemical compounds that absorb light in the ultraviolet and violet region (usually 340–370 nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum, and re-emit light in the blue region (typically 420–470 nm). OBAs are often used in paper and clothing to create an impression of very bright white. This is due to the fact that the materials actually send out more visible light than they receive.

Bleach and bleaching

Sunlight acts as a bleach through a similar process. High energy photons of light, often in the violet or ultraviolet range, can disrupt the bonds in the chromophore, rendering the resulting substance colorless.^[49]

Some detergents go one step further; they contain

A

• 
  The

  dove

  is an international symbol of peace.
• 
  The ermine, or stoat. Once considered the most noble of animals because it would rather die than dirty its fur.
• 
  The Beluga whale lives in Arctic and sub-arctic waters, where its color is an effective camouflage
• 
  A Polar Bear in Alaska. Its color is a form of camouflage

Religion and culture

• 
  Statuette of the goddess Astarte.
• 
  Thousands of pilgrims in white gather in Mecca for the beginning of their pilgrimage, or Hajj.
• 
  Pope Francis at the Vatican. Popes have traditionally worn white since 1566.
• 
  A pilgrim in Japan.
• 
  In the Shinto religion of Japan brides traditionally wear a white wedding kimono.
• 
  The Buddhist deity Tara is often depicted with white skin.

White is an important symbolic color in most religions and cultures, usually because of its association with purity.

In the

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the color white is used as a symbol of purity, innocence, and cleanliness, particularly in religious ceremonies such as baptism^[57] and temple ceremonies.^[58] In temple ceremonies, white clothing is also worn by all participants, both men and women, to also symbolize unity and equality before God.^[59][60]

In Islam, white clothing is worn during required pilgrimage to Mecca, or

.

White also has a long history of use as a religious and political symbol in Islam, beginning with the white banner that tradition ascribes to the

Sunni Abbasid Caliphate, whose color was black.^[61]

In Judaism, during the rituals of Yom Kippur, the ceremony of atonement, the rabbi dresses in white, as do the members of the congregation, to restore the bonds between God and his followers.

In the traditional Japanese religion of

Zen garden, where white sand or gravel was carefully raked to resemble rivers or streams, designed as objects of meditation.^[62]

In the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church or also known as Mormon), White clothing is worn inside once they have been officially dedicated, due to white symbolizing purity.^[63]

Many religions symbolize heaven by using a sky with white clouds. This phenomenon is not limited to western culture; in

Obatala in the Ifá

tradition is represented by white. Obatala is associated with calmness, morality, old age, and purity.

In

Theosophy and similar religions, the deities called the Great White Brotherhood are said to have white auras.^[64]

In some Asian and Slavic cultures, white is considered to be a color that represents death.[65] White also represented death in ancient Egypt, representing the lifeless desert that covered much of the country; black was held to be the color of life, representing the mud-covered fertile lands created by the flooding of the Nile and giving the country its name (Kemet, or "black land").

In China, Korea, and some other Asian countries, white, or more precisely, the whitish color of undyed linen, is the color of mourning and funerals.^[66]

In traditional China, undyed linen clothing is worn at funerals. As time passes, the bereaved can gradually wear clothing dyed with colors, then with darker colors. Small sacks of

quicklime, one for each year of the life of the deceased are placed around the body to protect it against impurity in the next world, and white paper flowers are placed around the body.^[67]

In China and other Asian countries, white is the color of reincarnation, showing that death is not a permanent separation from the world.[68]

In China, white is associated with the masculine (the yang of the yin and yang); with the unicorn and tiger; with the fur of an animal; with the direction of west; with the element metal; and with the autumn season.^[69]

In Japan, undyed linen white robes are worn by pilgrims for rituals of purification, and bathing in sacred rivers. In the mountains, pilgrims wear costumes of undyed jute to symbolize purity. A white kimono is often placed in the casket with the deceased for the journey to the other world, as white represents death sometimes.^[70] Condolence gifts, or kooden, are tied with black and white ribbons and wrapped in white paper, protecting the contents from the impurities of the other world.^[71]

In India, it is the color of purity, divinity, detachment and serenity. In Hindi, the name Sweta means white.

In Tibetan Buddhism, white robes were reserved for the lama of a monastery.

In the Bedouin and some other pastoral cultures, there is a strong connection between milk and white, which is considered the color of gratitude, esteem, joy, good fortune and fertility.^[72]

In Paganism, it is used for peace, innocence, illumination, and purity. It can also be used to stand for any color.^[73] White is also associated with cleansing, a Pagan practice that cleans something using the elements. In Wicca, a white-handled knife called the boline is used in rituals.^[74]

Political movements

See also: White (political adjective)

White is often associated with

Revolt in the Vendée

).

During the

Civil War in Finland

in the same period.

The Ku Klux Klan is a

anti-immigrant organization which flourished in the Southern United States after the American Civil War

. They wore white robes and hoods, burned crosses and violently attacked and murdered black Americans.

In Iran, the White Revolution was a series of social and political reforms launched in 1963 by the last Shah of Iran before his downfall.

White is also associated with peace and passive resistance. The white ribbon is worn by movements denouncing violence against women and the White Rose was a non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany.

Selected national flags featuring white

White is a common color in national flags, though its symbolism varies widely. The white in the

Marquis de Lafayette

.

Many flags in the Arab world use the colors of the flag of the Arab Revolt of 1916; red, white, green and black. These include the flags of Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait and Iraq.

The Philippines also use white as their symbol for unity in their flag.

• 
  Flag of the

  Bourbons, royal family of France until the French Revolution

  and during the restoration of the monarchy afterwards.
• 
  The

  Jesus Christ to Saint Peter

  : the gold of spiritual power, the white of worldly power. The keys have been the Papal symbol since the 13th century.
• 
  The flag of the Netherlands (1572) was the first red, white and blue national flag. Peter the Great adopted the colors for the flag of Russia.
• 
  The flag of India (1947). White represents "light, the path of truth".^[75]
• 
  The flag of Ireland. According to the Irish government press office, citing Thomas Francis Meagher, "The green represents the older Gaelic tradition while the orange represents the supporters of William of Orange. The white in the centre signifies a lasting truce between Orange and Green".^[76]

Idioms and expressions

• To whitewash something is to conceal an unpleasant reality.
• A white lie is an innocent lie told out of politeness.
• White noise is the noise of all the frequencies of sound combined. It is used to cover up unwanted noise.
• A white knight in finance is a friendly investor who steps in to rescue a company from a hostile takeover.
• White-collar workers are those who work in offices, as opposed to blue-collar workers, who work with their hands in factories or workshops.
• A white paper is an authoritative report on a major issue by a team of experts; a government report outlining policy; or a short treatise whose purpose is to educate industry customers. Associating a paper with white may signify clean facts and unbiased information.
• The
  cockerel sporting a white feather in its tail is likely to be a poor fighter. At the beginning of the First World War, women in England were encouraged to give white feathers to men who had not enlisted in the British Armed Forces.^[78]
• In the US, a
  white shoe firm is an older, conservative firm, usually in a field such as banking or law. The phrase derives from the "white bucks", laced suede or buckskin shoes with red soles, long popular in the Ivy League colleges.^[79]
• In Russia, the nobility are sometimes described as white bone (белая кость, bélaya kost'), commoners as black bone.[80]

Associations and symbolism

Innocence and sacrifice

In Western culture, white is the color most often associated with innocence, or purity.

Virgin Mary

.

Beginnings

White is the color in Western culture most often associated with beginnings. In Christianity, children are baptized and first take communion wearing white. Christ after the Resurrection is traditionally portrayed dressed in white.

Queen

debutantes

traditionally wear white for their first ball.

Weddings

White has long been the traditional color worn by brides at royal weddings, but the white wedding gown for ordinary people appeared in the 19th century. Before that time, most brides wore their best Sunday clothing, of whatever color.^[82] The white lace wedding gown of Queen Victoria in 1840 had a large impact on the color and fashion of wedding dresses in both Europe and America down to the present day.

• 
  The wedding dress of Queen Victoria (1840) set the fashion for wedding dresses of the Victorian era and for the 20th century.
• 
  The

  Barong Tagalog is a traditional folk costume of the Philippines

  ; this attire is worn on formal gatherings and weddings.
• 
  Japanese formal wedding dress still used today.

Cleanliness

White is the color most associated with cleanliness. Objects which are expected to be clean, such as refrigerators and dishes, toilets and sinks, bed linen and towels, are traditionally white. White was the traditional color of the coats of doctors, nurses, scientists and laboratory technicians, though nowadays a pale blue or green is often used. White is also the color most often worn by chefs, bakers, and butchers, and the color of the aprons of waiters in French restaurants.^[83]

Ghosts, phantoms and two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

White is the color associated with ghosts and phantoms. In the past the dead were traditionally buried in a white shroud. Ghosts are said to be the spirits of the dead who, for various reasons, are unable to rest or enter heaven, and so walk the earth in their white shrouds. White is also connected with the paleness of death. A common expression in English is "pale as a ghost."^[84]

The

Hohenzollern

dynasty.

Seeing a white horse in a dream is said to be presentiment of death.

white horse with a bow and arrow, according to different interpretations, represents either War and Conquest, the Antichrist, or Christ himself, cleansing the world of sin. Death rides a horse whose color is described in ancient Greek as khlōros (χλωρός) in the original Koine Greek,^[86] which can mean either green/greenish-yellow or pale/pallid.^[87]

Opposite of black

Further information: Black-and-white dualism

Black and white often represent the contrast between light and darkness, day and night, male and female, good and evil.

In taoism, the two complementary natures of the universe, yin and yang, are often symbolized in black and white, Ancient games of strategy, such as go and chess, use black and white to represent the two sides.

In the French monarchy, white symbolized the King and his power par la grâce de Dieu ("by the grace of God") and in contrast black was the color of the queen who according to the Salic Law which excluded women from the throne (and thus from power) could never become the ruling monarch.

Black and white also often represent formality and seriousness, as in the costumes of judges and priests, business suits, of formal evening dress. Monks of the Dominican Order wear a black cloak over a white habit. Until 1972, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation were informally required by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to wear white shirts with their suits, to project the correct image of the FBI.^[88]

Names taken from white

White is the source of more names for women in western countries than any other color.^[89] Names taken from white include Alba, Albine (Latin). Blandine, Blanche and Blanchette (French); Bianca (Italian); Jennifer (Celt); Genevieve, Candice (from Latin Candida); Fenela, Fiona and Finola (Irish); Gwendoline, Gwenael, Nol(g)wen (white woman) (Celt), Nives (Spanish) and Zuria (Basque).^[90]

In addition many names come from white flowers: Camille, Daisy, Lily, Lili, Magnolie, Jasmine, Yasemine, Leila, Marguerite, Rosalba, and others.

Other names come from the white pearl; Pearl, Margarita (Latin), Margaret, Margarethe, Marga, Grete, Rita, Gitta, Marjorie, Margot.

Temples, churches and government buildings

Since ancient times, temples, churches, and many government buildings in many countries have traditionally been white, the color associated with religious and civic virtue. The

neoclassic style

of the 18th and 19th centuries. White stone became the material of choice for government buildings in Washington, D.C., and other American cities. European cathedrals were also usually built of white or light-colored stone, though many darkened over the centuries from smoke and soot.

The Renaissance architect and scholar

Protestant churches of New England, such as Old North Church in Boston

.

• 
  Although the Parthenon in Athens (5th century BC) is white today, it was originally painted with many colors
• 
  The

  Cathedral of Milan

  (1386–1965)
• 
  Dutch Reformed Church interior in Delft, the Netherlands (16th century)
• 
  Interior of Old North Church, Boston (1723)
• 
  The White House (1801), Washington, D.C.

Ethnography

People of the

2020 United States Census

.

White flag

A

Geneva Convention of 1949.^[95]

Vexillology and heraldry

In English heraldry, white or silver signified brightness, purity, virtue, and innocence.^[96]

See also

• Color realism
• List of colors
• Variations of white

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15. ^ Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language, 1964.
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Bibliography

• Ball, Philip (2001). Bright Earth – Art and the Invention of Colour. Penguin Group.
  ISBN 978-2-7541-0503-3
  .
• Gage, John (2009). La Couleur dans l'art. Thames & Hudson.
  ISBN 978-2-87811-325-9
  .
• Heller, Eva (2000). Psychologie de la couleur – Effets et symboliques. Pyramyd (French translation).
  ISBN 978-2-35017-156-2
  .
• Pastoureau, Michel (2005). Le petit livre des couleurs. Editions du Panama.
  ISBN 978-2-7578-0310-3
  .
• St. Clair, Kassia (2016). The Secret Lives of Colour. London: John Murray.
  OCLC 936144129
  .
• Varichon, Anne (2005). Couleurs – pigments et teintures dans les mains des peuples (in French). Editions de Seuil.
  ISBN 978-2-02-084697-4
  .
• Zuffi, Stefano (2012). Color in Art. Abrams.
  ISBN 978-1-4197-0111-5
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External links

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