Pink facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids Pink (color)


Heraldic tincture	Rose
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#FFC0CB
sRGB^B (r, g, b)	(255, 192, 203)
CMYK^H (c, m, y, k)	(0, 25, 20, 0)
HSV (h, s, v)	(350°, 25%, 100%)
Source	HTML/CSS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Pink is a light red color. It gets its name from a pretty flower called a pink. People started using "pink" as a color name in the late 1600s. In many parts of the world, like Europe and the United States, pink often makes people think of things like charm, kindness, sweetness, and childhood. It's also linked to feelings of love and being gentle.

Pink tulips

The History of Pink

How Pink Got Its Name

The word "pink" for a color first appeared in the late 17th century. Before that, people often described this color as a light red. The name comes from the pink flower, which is part of the Dianthus family.

Pink in Art and Fashion

Early Uses of Pink

In the early days of art, especially during the Renaissance (a period of great art and learning in Europe), the color pink was sometimes used in paintings of the infant Jesus. This was because pink was seen as a color connected to the human body. For example, artists like Cimabue and Duccio used pink in their paintings of the Christ child.

Later, in the 16th century, the famous artist Raphael painted Madonna of the Pinks. In this painting, the Christ Child gives a pink flower to the Virgin Mary. This symbolized the special bond between a mother and her child.

Pink in the 18th Century

In the 1700s, pink became very popular in fashion, especially in France. Madame de Pompadour, who was a close friend of King Louis XV of France, loved pink and blue. She even had a special shade of pink made just for her at the famous Sevres porcelain factory. Artists like François Boucher painted her wearing beautiful pink outfits.

Pink in the 19th Century

During the 1800s, pink was worn by both boys and girls. It was often seen as a strong, masculine color, while blue was sometimes considered more delicate for girls. For example, Queen Victoria dressed her son, Prince Arthur, in pink. The famous painting "Pinkie" by Sir Thomas Lawrence shows a young girl in pink, representing youth and innocence.

Pink in the 20th Century and Beyond

In the 20th century, pink became strongly linked with femininity, especially for girls. This change happened gradually. For example, the Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli created a bright shade called "shocking pink" which became her signature color. Later, Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, made pink a popular high-fashion color. Today, pink is still widely associated with girls and women in many Western cultures.

Pink in Nature

Pink is a color you can find all around us in nature.

Pink Animals

Many animals show off shades of pink. For example, flamingos are famous for their bright pink feathers. This color comes from the food they eat, like tiny shrimp and algae.

Pink Plants and Flowers

Lots of beautiful flowers come in pink! The color "pink" itself is named after the pink flower (Dianthus). Other pink flowers include roses, cherry blossoms, tulips, dahlias, peonys, and magnolias. These flowers add a lovely splash of color to gardens and nature.

Pink Minerals and Landscapes

You can also find pink in rocks and minerals. Some gemstones like Rhodochrosite and pink topaz are naturally pink. There are even places on Earth with pink landscapes, like the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah, where the sand gets its color from reddish minerals. Some beaches, like on Tikehau in French Polynesia, have pink sand!

Pink in Food

Pink is a common color in many foods, and it often makes us think of sweet tastes.

Naturally Pink Foods

Some foods are naturally pink. For example, Roast beef gets its pink color from a protein called myoglobin. Prosciutto hams also get their pink color from a combination of salt and myoglobin. Cooked shrimp and salmon turn pink because of a natural pigment called astaxanthin.

Pink Sweets and Treats

Many sweet treats are colored pink. Think of strawberry ice cream, cotton candy, and some types of macarons. In Malaysia, there's a traditional dessert called Bunga kuda that's pink, and in Hawaii, a sweet rice flour dessert called Chi chi dango is also pink.

Pink Drinks

Some drinks are also pink. Traditional rosé wines get their color from the skins of dark grapes during a short fermentation. Pink champagne can get its color the same way, or by adding a little red wine.

Pink in Buildings and Architecture

Pink is used in buildings around the world, giving them a unique look.

Famous Pink Buildings

The Casa Rosada, or "Pink House," in Buenos Aires, Argentina, is the official office of the President. It was built between 1713 and 1855.
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1927, is famous for its pink color. It was designed to match the beautiful, exotic setting of Waikiki Beach.
The Bahamian Parliament Building in the Bahamas, built in 1815, is also pink.
The Georgia-Pacific Tower in Atlanta, Georgia, built in 1981, is a modern pink skyscraper.
The US Bancorp Tower in Portland, Oregon, often called "Big Pink," is made of pink granite and glass.

Pink in Culture and Symbols

Pink has many different meanings and uses in cultures around the world.

Gender Associations

In many Western countries, pink is often linked with girls and women. For example, baby girls are frequently dressed in pink. However, this hasn't always been the case, and in some cultures, pink has different meanings.

Awareness and Support

Pink is also a symbol for important causes. For instance, the color pink is widely used to represent Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Buildings like the White House are sometimes lit up in pink to show support for this cause.

Images for kids

This restroom sign on an All Nippon Airways Boeing 767-300 uses pink for the female gender
A Bengali Muslim woman wearing a pink niqab.
The leader in the Giro d'Italia cycle race wears a pink jersey (maglia rosa)
The color pink takes its name from the flowers called pinks, members of the genus Dianthus.
In most European languages, pink is called rose or rosa, after the rose flower.
Cherry blossoms in Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. In Japanese the word for cherry blossom pink is (sakura-iro), and peach blossoms (momo-iro).
Greater pink flamingoes in flight over Pocharam Lake in Andhra Pradesh, India.
Rhodochrosite is one of the many pink gemstones.
The Greek poet Homer wrote of "the child of morning, rose-fingered dawn" in the Odyssey. Sunrise at Serifos, Greece.
In the early Renaissance, the infant Jesus was sometimes shown dressed in pink, the color associated with the body of Christ. This is The Virgin and Child Enthroned with Two Angels, by Cimabue. (1265–1280)
In the 1280s, Duccio also painted the Christ child dressed in pink
A knight in red receiving a helmet from a damsel in pink, from an English manuscript of The Romance of Alexander (1338-1344).
In the painting Madonna of the Pinks by Raphael, c. 1506-07, the Christ Child gives a pink flower to the Virgin Mary, symbolizing the union between the mother and child.
Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV of France, made pink and blue the leading fashion colors in the Court of Versailles. She had a special pink tint created for her by the Sevres porcelain factory. This portrait by Francois Boucher was painted in 1758.
Emma, Lady Hamilton, later the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, had herself painted by English painter George Romney posing as a Bacchante, dressed in pink. (1782–1784)
The portrait of Sarah Moulton, popularly known as "Pinkie", by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1794). Here pink represented youth, innocence and tenderness.
Paul-Henri Thiry, Baron d'Holbach by Louis Carmontelle. Pink was worn regardless of gender.
Queen Victoria in 1850 or 1851 with her third son and seventh child, Prince Arthur. In the 19th century, baby boys often wore white and pink. Pink was seen as a masculine color, while girls often wore white and blue.
Young boy in pink, American school of painting (about 1840). Both girls and boys wore pink in the 19th century.
Dancers in pink, between scenes. Edgar Degas
The Impressionist painter Claude Monet used pink, blue and green to capture the effects of light and shadows on a white dress in Springtime (1872).
Mary Cassatt, Girl in a Bonnet Tied with a Large Pink Bow, 1909. Oil on canvas (68 x 57.2 cm). Private Collection.
Mamie Eisenhower in her pink inaugural gown, painted in 1953 by Thomas Stevens
Shocking pink, a mix of magenta with a little white, was the signature color of Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
Jacqueline Kennedy, the wife of President John F. Kennedy, made pink a popular high-fashion color.
Pink lipstick is thought to attract attention and harmonize with flesh colors, clothes, and fashion accessories.
Sunrise in southeast Alaska. Sunsets and sunrises are sometimes pink because of an optical effect called Rayleigh scattering.
Sunset in Santa Monica, California.
Pink topaz from Ouro Preto, Brazil.
Corundum, or pink sapphire, from the Dodoma Region of Tanzania
Calcite from Bou Azzer, Morocco
Barite-Rhodochrosite from the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.
Clinochlore from Erzerum Province, Turkey
Rough rose quartz
Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Utah. The colour is from Navajo Sandstone, reddish hematite mixed with white quartz grains
Angel's Landing in Zion National Park in Utah is made of pink sandstone.
A pink sand beach on Tikehau in French Polynesia
Roast beef gets its distinctive pink color from myoglobin, which gradually turns from red to pink to brown (rare to medium to well-done) when heated.
Prosciutto hams also get their pink color from salt combined with the natural protein called myoglobin.
The shells and flesh of steamed shrimp contain a natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin, which turns pink when heated. The same process turns cooked lobster and crab from blue-green to red when they are boiled.
The meat of the salmon is also colored pink by the natural carotenoid pigment called astaxanthin.
A pink rose in the rain.
A clematis Chantilly.
A pink hibiscus from Australia.
Pink tulips in the botanical gardens of Moscow State University.
A pink dahlia
A pink peony.
A flower of a magnolia tree
A pink rhododendron
Spiraea japonica flowers.
A Japanese cherry tree (Prunus serrulata) in bloom.
Pink hyacinth flowers
Phlox paniculata
Casa Rosada, or the "Pink House", in Buenos Aires, built between 1713 and 1855 as a fort and then customs house, is the official residence and office of the President of Argentina.
A pink building in Vääksy, Asikkala, Finland.
The City Center in Kannur, India.
Ostankino Palace, outside of Moscow, is an 18th-century country house built by Pyotr Sheremetev, then the richest man in Russia.
Macau Government Headquarters (1849), an example of Portuguese colonial architecture and the Pombaline style in Macau.
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, built in 1927, was the first hotel on Waikiki Beach. Its pink color was designed to match an exotic setting, and to contrast with the blue of the sea and green of the landscape.
The Georgia-Pacific Tower in Atlanta, Georgia (1981), a modernist pink skyscraper.
Canada Place Building, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (1988) a post-modernist style government office building.
"big Pink" The US Bancorp Tower in Portland, Oregon pink granite and windows(ground breaking 1981 dedicated 1983)
The Norfolk Royale Hotel in Bournemouth, England was built between 1840 and 1850.
The Bahamian Parliament Building was built in 1815.
The Sampoong Department Store collapse in Seoul, South Korea (1987 to 1995)
Pink is the color most commonly associated with sweet tastes
A strawberry ice cream cone
Cotton candy
A macaron with raspberries
Bunga kuda (also known as bunga pundak) is a traditional dessert in Malaysia, containing a coconut filling
Chi chi dango is a sweet dessert made of rice flour. It is of Japanese origin, and very popular in Hawaii
Traditional rosé wines get their color when temporarily fermented with dark purple grapeskins
Pink champagne takes its color either when temporarily fermented with the skins of dark purple grapes, or by adding a small amount of red wine
In the United States and Europe, baby girls are often dressed in pink and white.
Boy in a sailor suit (1883). The blue sailor suit helped make blue instead of pink the color for boys in the 20th century.
Indian actress Shriya Saran. In many cultures, pink is associated with femininity.
Three nuns in pink in Yangon, Burma.
The White House illuminated in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month.