White facts Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This box shows the color white.

White is the color of pure sunlight. White light can be made by putting all the other colors of light on the spectrum together. These other colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Meaning of white

White is linked with light, goodness, innocence, purity, cleanliness and virginity. It is sometimes thought to be the color of perfection. The opposite of black, white usually has a positive connotation. White can stand for a successful beginning. In heraldry, white depicts faith and purity.

In advertising, white is linked with coolness and cleanliness because it is the color of snow. You can use white to show simplicity in high-tech products. White is an appropriate color for charitable organizations; angels are usually imagined wearing white clothes. White is associated with hospitals, doctors, and cleanliness, so you can use white to show safety when promoting medical products. White is often linked with low weight, low-fat food, and dairy products.

Related pages

• List of colors

Images

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  Prehistoric paintings in Chauvet Cave, France (30,000 to 32,000 BC)

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  Painting of the goddess Isis (1380–1385 BC). The priests of her cult wore white linen.

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  Paintings of women in white from a tomb (1448–1422 BC).

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  Statue of the chief Vestal Virgin, wearing a white palla and a white veil.

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  The monks of the order of Saint Benedict (circa 480-542) first dressed in undyed white or gray wool robes, here shown in painting by Sodoma on the life of Saint Benedict (1504). They later changed to black robes, the color of humility and penitence.

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  The white unicorn frequently appeared in Medieval art, often as a symbol of virginity and purity. This the unicorn hunt from the Rochester Bestiary, from about 1230, in the British Library.

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  Under Pope Pius V (1504–1572), a former monk of the Dominican Order, white became the official color worn by the Pope.

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  The white lamb in the Ghent Altarpiece by Jan van Eyck. (1432)

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  The Transfiguration by Fra Angelico (1440–1442)

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  Lady with an ermine, by Leonardo da Vinci (1490). The ermine symbolized nobility and purity. It was believed that an ermine would rather die than allow its white fur to become dirty.

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  Mary Stuart wore white in mourning for her husband, King Francis II of France, who died in 1560.

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

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  White gown of Marie Antoinette, painted by Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun in 1783.

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  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.

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  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).

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  Symphony in White No. 1 - The White Girl, by James McNeill Whistler (1862).

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  Poster for the White Army during the Russian Civil War (1917–22). The poster says: "for a United Russia."

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  White on White (1917) by Kazimir Malevich, Museum of Modern Art, New York

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  The Villa Savoye (1928–31) by Le Corbusier. Le Corbusier called for a "calm and powerful" architecture built of steel and reinforced concrete.

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  White light refracted in a prism revealing the color components.

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  Snow is composed of ice and air; it scatters or reflects sunlight without absorbing other colors of the spectrum.

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  Mont Blanc in the Alps. It takes its name from the white snow on its summit.

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  Cumulus clouds look white because the water droplets reflect and scatter the sunlight without absorbing other colors.

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  Pensacola Beach, Florida. White sand beaches look white because the quartz or eroded limestone in the sand reflects or scatters sunlight without absorbing other colors.

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  Titanium white, made with titanium dioxide, is the brightest white paint available. It also colors most toothpaste and sunscreen.

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  Zinc white, made from zinc oxide.

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  Image of Sirius A and Sirius B taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. Sirius B, a white dwarf, is the faint pinprick of light to the lower left of the much brighter Sirius A.

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  The dove is an international symbol of peace.

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  The ivory gull.

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  Mute swans. Swans of the Northern Hemisphere are white, while those of the Southern Hemisphere are black and white.

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  The Arctic fox

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  The ermine, or stoat. Once considered the most noble of animals because it would rather die than dirty its fur, it is now considered an invasive species.

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  A snow leopard.

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  White pearls are hard objects produced within the soft tissue of a living shelled mollusk, like an oyster or clam. They are made of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form.

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  The silver birch's bark is silvery-white.

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  Olms in Postojna Cave, Slovenia. Their skin color is pale or whitish.

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  A cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae).

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  Ice and snow. The Weisshorn ("white mountain"), in the high Alps.

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  A glass of milk

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  Cumulus clouds

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  White marble - the Taj Mahal.

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  Ivory cover of the Lorsch Gospels, circa 810 AD, (Victoria and Albert Museum, London.)

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  Alabaster statue of the three Maries, (circa 1450), Warsaw Museum.

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  A white Andalusian horse. White is commonly associated with innocence, perfection and purity.

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  Polar bear with young, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Alaska.

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  The White Cliffs of Dover are composed of chalk, or calcium carbonate.

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  A pilgrim in Japan.

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  The Buddhist deity Tara is often depicted with white skin.

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  A Brahmin boy in India wears white for a religious ritual.

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  A Bedouin in the United Arab Emirates. White is the traditional costume for men, and the color of esteem and good fortune.

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  A recruiting poster for the White Volunteer Army during the Russian Civil War (1919). The text says, "Son, go save the motherland!"

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  Thousands of pilgrims in white gather in Mecca for the beginning of their pilgrimage, or Haj.

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  The zen garden of Tōfuku-ji temple in Japan. The Shinto religion uses white sand or gravel to symbolize a sacred place, while Zen Buddhism uses it to stimulate calm and meditation.

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

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  The wedding of Czar Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse), the granddaughter of Queen Victoria, in 1894.

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  Brides in China and other parts of Asia traditionally wear red, the color of happiness and good fortune, but in the Shinto religion of Japan brides traditionally wear a white wedding kimono.

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  The Barong Tagalog is a traditional Folk costume of the Philippines; this attire is worn on formal gatherings and weddings.

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

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  The Cathedral of Milan (1386–1965)

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  Dutch Reformed Church interior in Delft, the Netherlands (16th century)

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  Interior of Old North Church, Boston (1723)

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  The White House (1801), Washington D.C.

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  The United States Capitol dome (1855–66)

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  Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, Paris (1919)

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  The Palácio do Planalto in Brasília, official workplace of the President of Brazil (1960)

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  Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco (1971)

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  The City Hall in The Hague, Netherlands, by architect Richard Meier (2004).