Green is the color between blue and yellow on the visible spectrum.

It is evoked by light which has

a dominant wavelength of roughly 495–570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and
color printing, it is created by a combination of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; in the RGB color
model, used on television and computer screens, it is one of the additive primary colors, along
with red and blue, which are mixed in different combinations to create all other colors. By far the
largest contributor to green in nature is chlorophyll, the chemical by which
plants photosynthesize and convert sunlight into chemical energy. Many creatures have adapted to
their green environments by taking on a green hue themselves as camouflage.
Several minerals have a green color, including the emerald, which is colored green by
its chromium content.
During post-classical and early modern Europe, green was the color commonly associated with
wealth, merchants, bankers and the gentry, while red was reserved for the nobility. For this reason,
the costume of the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci and the benches in the British House of
Commons are green while those in the House of Lords are red.[1] It also has a long historical tradition
as the color of Ireland and of Gaelic culture. It is the historic color of Islam, representing the lush
vegetation of Paradise. It was the color of the banner of Muhammad, and is found in the flags of
nearly all Islamic countries.[2]
In surveys made in American, European, and Islamic countries, green is the color most commonly
associated with nature, life, health, youth, spring, hope, and envy.[3] In the European Union and
the United States, green is also sometimes associated with toxicity and poor health,[4] but in China
and most of Asia, its associations are very positive, as the symbol of fertility and happiness.
[3]
 Because of its association with nature, it is the color of the environmental movement. Political
groups advocating environmental protection and social justice describe themselves as part of
the Green movement, some naming themselves Green parties. This has led to similar campaigns in
advertising, as companies have sold green, or environmentally friendly, products. Green is also the
traditional color of safety and permission; a green light means go ahead, a green card permits
permanent residence in the United States.

Contents

 1Etymology and linguistic definitions

o 1.1Languages where green and blue are one color

 2In science

o 2.1Color vision and colorimetry

o 2.2Lasers

o 2.3Pigments, food coloring and fireworks

o 2.4Biology

o 2.5Green eyes

 3In history and art

 o 3.1Prehistoric history

o 3.2Ancient history

o 3.3Postclassical history

o 3.4Modern history

 3.4.1In the 18th and 19th century

 3.4.2In the 20th and 21st century

 4Symbolism and associations

o 4.1Safety and permission

o 4.2Nature, vivacity, and life

o 4.3Springtime, freshness, and hope

o 4.4Youth and inexperience

o 4.5Calm, tolerance, and the agreeable

o 4.6Jealousy and envy

o 4.7Love and sexuality

o 4.8Dragons, fairies, monsters, and devils

o 4.9Poison and sickness

o 4.10Social status, prosperity and the dollar

 5On flags

 6In politics

 7In religion

 8In gambling and sports

 9Idioms and expressions

 10Notes

 11See also

 12References
 o 12.1Cited texts

 13External links

Etymology and linguistic definitions

The word green has the same Germanic root as the words for grass and grow

The word green comes from the Middle English and Old English word grene, which, like the German
word grün, has the same root as the words grass and grow.[5] It is from a Common
Germanic *gronja-, which is also reflected in Old Norse grænn, Old High German gruoni (but
unattested in East Germanic), ultimately from a PIE root *ghre- "to grow", and root-cognate
with grass and to grow.[6] The first recorded use of the word as a color term in Old English dates to
ca. AD 700.[7]