In the late 1950s, the recently formed NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) initiated Project Mercury. Its goal: to send humans into space. Seven astronauts were selected to assist the USA in its race against the USSR to put a man on the moon. Each country was looking for an advantage during the Cold War and outer space provided new, unclaimed territory. In July, 1960 the Mercury Seven astronauts were first seen by the American public wearing their cutting-edge, silver-coloured spacesuits.

The silver exterior of their garments were manufactured from nylon with a highly-reflective, aluminized thermal coating. Although the outfits were really just modified versions of the U.S. Navy’s test pilot pressure suits, they symbolized the advent of the “Space Age.” Silver was synonymous with the technological advancements that grew out of the Streamlined Moderne era of the 1930s, a period that introduced sleek aerodynamic designs, clean flowing lines and polished metallic finishes. NASA’s Project Mercury was launching America headlong into the future, championed by the colour silver’s association with precision and speed. 

Silver, the precious metal, has captivated mankind since the 4th millennium BCE. Civilizations such as the Egyptians, Romans, Greeks and Persians mined and refined the ore, using it to create, among other things, coins and bars for their monetary systems. Silver is extremely malleable, making it easy to melt, manipulate and cast; yet once formed, it becomes very strong. It also has the added benefits of resisting corrosion and oxidation.

Silver quickly became a popular means to display one’s wealth and status. Royalty, the Church and affluent families used it to adorn their interiors and themselves. The captivating radiance of objects such as silverware settings and jewellery became associated with prosperity and prestige, giving rise to phrases like: “Drink from a silver chalice,” “born with a silver spoon” and “served on a silver platter.” The world’s oldest sporting trophy, the America’s Cup (yachting), is made of silver, as is hockey’s venerable Stanley Cup. For centuries, silver has signified excellence.

Unlike gold, silver has always been less showy, more understated. It’s not as rare as gold, nor as valuable, that’s one reason why it has come to represent second place. It also connotes honesty and integrity. To have a silver tongue means one is eloquent. Silver hair is a sign of experience and wisdom. And let’s not forget the old adage, “Every cloud has a silver lining.” Its flawless surfaces enhance the quality and precision of items like medical devices, surgical equipment, circuit boards and other high tech components. This brings us back to the Mercury Seven – bedecked in state-of-the-art flight suits, riding in a finely engineered space capsule, the astronauts ventured into space, searching for new possibilities. All the while, silver was championing the mission’s excellence, durability and speed.

Vertical farming is a relatively new approach to growing crops on a mass scale indoors. Controlled environments are being created to provide the necessary light, water and humidity levels for optimum plant growth. Vertical and horizontal layers of a particular plant species are arranged on soilless shelves to maximize the interior space and the required resources.

One aspect of vertical farming sees the replacement of natural light with LED lights – red, blue and green. Some remarkable results have occurred with the experimentation of different light situations. Various recipes of colour combinations, length of exposure and light intensities have been found to impact a plant’s yield, flavour and nutritional content. The chart below outlines some of the results.

COLOUR WAVELENGTH EFFECT ON PLANTS

BLUE 400-500 nm Promotes vegetative growth, strong roots and sturdy leaves.

GREEN 500-570 nm Penetrates lower canopy, maximizing photosynthesis and leaf health.

RED 600-700 nm Crucial for flowering, fruiting and overall biomass accumulation.

FAR-RED 700-800 nm Influences stem elongation and flowering. Also enhances colour.

Mushrooms come in a vast array of colours. The most common ones appear in earth tone shades – muted greys, ochres and browns. In this instance, colour is helping to camouflage them while they grow in nature. Conversely, some fungi are extremely colourful to help camouflage them when they thrive amongst blooming flowers and populate verdant landscapes. Vivid colours also attract insects and animals who, in turn, will eat them and spread their spores to new locations. Some are brightly coloured to warn predators to stay away. Mushrooms, like humans and animals, produce pigments (melanins and carotenoids) that act as a shield against harmful UV radiation. As seen with certain darkly pigmented bird eggs, deep coloured mushrooms absorb more heat from the sun, helping them to flourish. Scientists continue to discover new information about fungi colours, aiding them in their understanding of these complex fruiting structures.

If you were visiting Toronto’s waterfront this past September 27th (2025) you would have had the pleasure of witnessing a procession of colourful flags flutter across the lake. As part of the city’s inaugural Water/Fall Festival, artist Melissa McGill created a kinetic piece of art celebrating Lake Ontario. A flotilla of over one hundred canoes, flying a pleasing palette of flowing elongated flags meandered its way about the harbour. The colours were generated by a variety of natural pigments sourced from environs by the lake. Melissa collaborated with artist and ink-maker Jason Logan to formulate the colours. Everything from grapevine, algae, goldenrod, mulberry and copper aiding in the dyeing of the windswept banners. A sampling from the palette is shown below.

A Lake Story, in part, acknowledges Toronto Waterfront’s commitment to the re-naturalization of the city’s Don River. As Melissa McGill says, "This vibrant, waterborne canoe procession brings us together to engage with Toronto's watershed, celebrating our interconnectedness by writing the lake's own colour story across the sky and reflected in its waters."

In an effort to prevent restaurants from refilling empty Heinz bottles with competing ketchup brands, a clever solution emerged. Heinz has added a red border to the bottle’s label that matches the colour of their product. They selected the Pantone colour 7626C as the corresponding red. Now diners can compare the colour of the bottle’s contents to the red on the label to confirm that the ketchup is the real thing. Heinz refers to this feature as the “Label of Truth” and discerning ketchup lovers everywhere are now on red alert.

This is one of the most vibrant colours produced in nature. It boasts a blue-purple, metallic-like finish that glistens in the sun like a rare gem. Pollia condensata, commonly known as the marble berry, grows in forested regions of Africa: Ethiopia, Angola, Mozambique and Ghana. The colour is created by a complex structure of cells that reflect wavelengths of light through its many layers. According to the AskNature website, "What makes Pollia’s coloration even more striking is the variation in layer thickness from cell to cell. Each cell reflects light differently, resulting in a pixelated or pointillist effect where different shades of blue, green, and purple appear across the surface of the fruit. This is why the fruit’s colour appears vibrant, multi-toned, and almost alive with shifting hues depending on the angle of observation."

Like peacocks, scarab beetles, and certain butterflies, this form of "structural colour" results in iridescent surfaces. As beautiful as they are, Marble Berries are not edible. However, it seems birds are equally fascinated by the tiny, sparkling orbs and use them to decorate their nests.

In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter and his team unearthed the tomb of Tutankhamun. Upon opening his sarcophagus, they found the Boy King (reign: 1333-24 BCE) wearing a magnificent funerary mask made of gold. Ancient Egyptians were captivated by the shiny substance, burying their pharaohs in golden tombs, believing the sun’s metal would carry them into the afterlife. For 3000 years, Tutankhamun’s mummy lay undisturbed, covered with a death mask fashioned after Osiris, the god of the afterlife. Although gold represented wealth in Egypt, it also embodied spirituality; providing a bridge between the earthly and the immortal.

Gold is one of earth’s precious metals, cherished for centuries for its rarity, purity and seductive beauty. Culturally, gold symbolizes different things. In China, it is associated with luck and power. In medieval Europe, it was purity and faith—saints were painted in golden light, not to show wealth but sanctity. In the Americas, the lure of gold drove people to risk everything in a quest to unearth their own fortune. In India it symbolizes good fortune. Gold is often referred to as “the imperishable,” meaning that its resistance to decay makes it last forever.

Gold is a colour that carries weight, confirming significant moments in our lives: stars on a school report, a graduation tassel, a wedding ring, or a 50th anniversary. Winning a gold medal is the ultimate achievement. An Oscar, a Grammy, a Pulitzer, a Noble – they are all gold. What is your gold standard? Do you live by the golden rule? That was my golden opportunity.

However, gold comes with some baggage. Remember Midas? Everything he touched turned to gold. Over time, his great power became his demise. It has been the cause of envy, greed, betrayal and wars. Between the 16th and 18th centuries, English and Spanish navies managed to cover all of these. Even now, gold walks a fine line between elegance and excess. A gold watch carries a certain panache – a gold lame jumpsuit – not so much.

When used with care, gold can be quiet and profound. It may be a fine thread through embroidery, the edges of a book, or the tip of a fountain pen. Handwritten illuminated manuscripts were often embellished with gold paint, adding a certain élan to the written word. Some artists, hoping to inject structure and harmony into their work, will incorporate the golden ratio into their compositions. Photographers and cinematographers wait patiently for the golden hour (sunrise and sunset) to fill their images with an warm, inviting glow. Gold gilding, foil and inks imply sophistication, signalling to the viewer that this is “attention-worthy.” When used appropriately, gold goes beyond being a colour – it becomes a value. 

Temperatures get warmer, bushes sprout buds and lawns gradually turn green. It’s springtime. Have you also noticed how, with each passing day, some songbirds appear to become more colourful? Goldfinches, for example, transform their dull winter plumage into electric hues of yellow. Similar changes occur in other species such as the Scarlet Tanager, Cardinals, and Indigo Buntings. Why this sudden burst of colour?

Springtime is mating time, so male songbirds want to look their best. Their colourful feathers make them more attractive to females. Bright colours indicate that a male is healthy and a potentially good provider for future offspring. As hours of daylight increase during spring, photoreceptors are triggered in songbirds, causing various changes. Photoperiodism is one process that takes place. This encourages the development of the bird's sexual organs and the production of sexual hormones.

Vibrant colours also help clearly define a particular species, preventing any hybridization (inter-breeding of species). According to Birdwatching magazine, “Bright colors, especially reds, oranges, and yellows, make males more visible to rivals and this allows them to effectively show their presence and ownership of a territory.”

As you watch the world wake from its long winter’s sleep, keep an eye on those songbirds – they’re nature’s early adaptors.

The next time you are in a supermarket, you may come across bottles of Coca-Cola that have forfeited their classic red bottle caps for yellow ones, signalling that Passover is upon us. “Many Jews observing the holiday of Passover,” reports the Business Insider, “refrain from eating anything categorized as “chametz”– leavened foods or foods with leavening ingredients made from barley, rye, oats, wheat, or spelt – for the duration of the holiday.” In this instance, Coca-Cola has substituted its high-fructose corn syrup (made from barley) with sucrose or cane sugar.

Although the yellow cap makes it easy to spot the Kosher beverage, it does occur to me that this is an unusual choice of colour to employ. For centuries, certain Jews were forced to wear yellow – be it yellow hats in Medieval times or yellow star patches during the Nazi era. These “badges” were a means to humiliate and, at times, target individuals of the faith. Generally, yellow is a cheery, uplifting colour. However, for some, it is a reminder of troubling times.

In 1985, the Blue Flag initiative began in France. It was a pilot effort by Europe’s Office of the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Coastal municipalities had the quality of their sewage management and bathing water assessed. That first year, 11 municipalities were awarded the Blue Flag. Forty years later, this not-for-profit organization can be found in 81 countries. They now review and certify beaches, marinas and tourism boats. As of 2025, 5161 Blue Flags have been presented. Here is a list of the main criteria they consider when evaluating an entrant:

• environmental education & information

• water quality

• environmental management

• safety and services

• social responsibility

• responsible tourism

Spain leads the way with 747 awarded sites. In Canada, 17 beaches and 9 marinas have been recognized. You can learn more about the Canadian program here.

People like eating bananas at different stages of ripeness. Personally, I like them when they are at their yellowest, with no brown showing. My grandmother, on the other hand, preferred them covered in brown spots. Regardless of how you fancy the final product, most fruit has to be picked at a very strategic time in its growth cycle. This is determined by the length of time each species requires to come to full maturity and how long they will take to get to market. And colour plays an important part in this decision process.

Bananas are picked when they are still very green for they will continue to ripen even after harvesting. With the aid of time, temperature and ethylene they will gradually ripen. Ethylene is a gas that is sprayed on fruits like bananas, tomatoes and lemons to help fast-track aging. Some fruits, like cherries, stop ripening the moment they have been removed from their life source. A cherry’s colour signals its level of sweetness. As with bananas, we like our cherries a certain way. Pickers will often carry a colour chart when harvesting cherries to assess their Brix (sugar) level. One degree Brix is 1 gram of sucrose in 100 grams of solution (see the Cupid Cherry chart below).

The primary purpose of most fruit is to attract mammals and birds who eat the seeds contained within. Once digested, they are distributed for future propagation. Initially, colour entices the consumer, then, upon closer examination, it signals its current ripeness level.

Spray painted lines, cryptic word abbreviations, number codes and strange symbols. Initially, you think it might be graffiti – but as you get closer you realize that it has something to do with construction. Before digging at a particular job site the street surface is marked by a professional who can detect the network of utility lines, cables and pipes that exist below grade. Using the chart below, you can begin to decipher where the dig will actually occur and the different utility paths ready to be exposed.

In November 2011, Coca-Cola introduced a white can to launch a $3 billion polar bear conservation campaign in partnership with the World Wildlife Fund. Each container features a stylized image of a mother bear and two cubs. Surprisingly, the campaign ended after one month. Some customers complained that they confused the white can with the similar-looking Diet Coke grey can. Others believed that the white can was altering the taste of the Coke, and not for the better. Coca-Cola promptly removed all white cans from retail stores. The red Coke can "could well be the most recognizable food or drink packaging in the world," so a dramatic makeover is "a recipe for catastrophe," says Chris Greenhough at The Inquisitr. Coca-Cola returned to their classic red packaging and scrapped the 1.4 billion white cans produced for the Polar Bear campaign.

You may have seen images like the one shown above on airport X-ray scanner screens. The colourful, abstracted, overlapping outlines seem almost cartoon-like, but they help security agents determine a bag's contents and potential danger. The scanner's bright palette is not arbitrary; each colour identifies a different atomic weight, isolating a range of densities and materials. The brightness of the colours indicates the thickness of each item. Here’s a breakdown of the colours produced by the X-ray and what they highlight:

Orange:  Organic materials like clothing, food, paper, and explosives.

Blue:  Inorganic materials like glass, metals and ceramics.

Green:  Mixed substances, a combination of organic and inorganic materials like aluminum, silicon and glass.

Red:  Materials with little or no resistance to X-rays, such as cloth, carton, or paper.