Pink is any of the colors between bluish red (purple) and red, of medium to high brightness and of low to moderate saturation. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color "pink" was first recorded in the late 17th century.
Although pink is roughly considered just as a tint of red, most variations of pink lie between red, white and magenta colors. This means that the pink's hue is somewhat between red and magenta.
Roseus is a Latin word meaning "rosy" or "pink." Lucretius used the word to describe the dawn in his epic poem On the Nature of Things (De Rerum Natura). The word is also used in the binomial names of several species, such as the Rosy Starling (Sturnus roseus) and Catharanthus roseus. In most Indo-European languages, the color pink is called rosa. In Persian, it is called sourati, meaning "color of the face." In Hindi, it is called gulabi, meaning "color of a rose."
The Color Psychology of Pink
Pink is essentially a light red and is usually associated with love and romance.
Pink is thought to have a calming effect. One shade known as "drunk-tank pink" is sometimes used in prisons to calm inmates. Sports teams sometimes paint the opposing teams locker room pink to keep the players passive and less energetic.
While pink's calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers of color psychology have found that this effect only occurs during the initial exposure to the color. When used in prisons, inmates often become even more agitated once they become accustomed to the color.
The color pink is named after the flowers called pinks, flowering plants in the genus Dianthus. The name derives from the frilled edge of the flowers—the verb "to pink" dates from the 14th century and means "to decorate with a perforated or punched pattern" (possibly from German "pinken" = to peck). The word "pink" was first used as a noun to refer to the color known today as pink in the 17th century. The verb sense of the word "pink" continues to be used today in the name of the hand tool known as pinking shears.
A Pink Fiat & a Pink Cadillac
The color pink is often used to represent women or young girls but the association of pink with girls dates to the modern era, probably developing at different times in different countries.
An 1868 American source, Louisa May Alcott's Little Women refers to French fashion's assignment of colors−"Amy put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French fashion, so you can always tell [them apart]."−but it is unclear whether the French fashion was to use colors to distinguish between children or between boys and girls. Before the 20th century, Europeans countries varied, with some assigning colors based on the baby's complexion, and others assigning pink sometimes to boys and sometimes to girls.
Some date the origin of the association of pink with girls in the United States to the 1910s or 1920s. Many have noted the contrary association of pink with boys in 20th-century America. An article in the trade publication Earnshaw's Infants' Department in June 1918 said:
The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.
Pink Ribbon
The pink ribbon is the international symbol of breast cancer awareness. Pink was chosen partially because it is so strongly associated with femininity.
Cherry blossoms only have a pink color when they bloom in the springtime.
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese (桜 or 櫻; さくら). Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit. Edible cherries generally come from cultivars of the related species Prunus avium and Prunus cerasus.
The pink iguana is an iguana that was first identified in 1986 and first recognized as a distinct species in 2009.
Most flamingo species are pink in color due to pink pigments in their diet.
Many pigs are also colored pink.
In terms of human health, "In the pink" is an English idiomatic expression for in good condition or in good health.
Pink is also found in Popular Culture...
In The Fairly OddParents, the protagonist Timmy Turner wears a pink shirt and hat.
The Pink Panther is a popular cartoon character. He is slightly talkative in two episodes.
In Power Rangers the Pink Rangers are always female and there was never a male Pink Ranger on the show. In one season, the Pink Ranger was the leader. The first Pink Ranger, Kimberly Hart, became an icon during the first season of the show.
In the animated TV series The Powerpuff Girls, the leader Blossom wears a pink dress that matches her pink eyes.
Musical artist "Pink"
In Movies...
Pink Cadillac was a 1989 movie starring Clint Eastwood.
Pink Ladies was the name of Betty Rizzo's (Stockard Channing) gang in the film, Grease.
Restaurants...
There is a hot dog stand in Hollywood, California that is sometimes patronized by Hollywood celebrities and has a Geocache nearby.
There's a Cache here too (Pinky : GC3C57M N 34° 05.040 W 118° 20.675)
Toys...
Toys aimed at girls often display pink prominently on packaging and the toy themselves.
In its 1957 catalog, Lionel Trains offered for sale a pink model freight train for girls. The steam locomotive and coal car were pink and the freight cars of the freight train were various pastel colors.
1957 Lionel Train Set --in Pink!
The caboose was baby blue. It was a marketing failure because any girl who was enough a tomboy to want a model train would want a real train and not a pink train, and boys in the 1950s did not want to be seen playing with a pink train. However, today it is a valuable collector’s item.