Yellow: The History of a Color

Yellow is almost invisible in contemporary European life — a discreet colour, rarely carrying strong symbolism. This was not always true. In antiquity it was nearly sacred, a colour of light, warmth, and prosperity. What happened between then and now is the subject of this book.

The medieval period split yellow in two. Warm yellow meant honey, gold, and abundance. Greenish yellow meant sulfur, bile, and damnation — the colour of forgers, lawless knights, Judas, and Lucifer. The same colour, different shades, carrying opposite meanings simultaneously. That instability never fully resolved; yellow simply faded from prominence rather than settling into a stable meaning.

The global comparison is striking. In Asia the story runs differently: in ancient China, yellow was reserved for the emperor's clothing alone. In India it is associated with happiness. Most significantly, yellow is the colour of Buddhism — it marks the doors of temples across the continent. The same colour that was associated with the devil in medieval Europe is a colour of enlightenment elsewhere.

Pastoureau draws comparisons from East Asia, India, Africa, and South America alongside the European thread, making this the most globally wide-ranging volume in the series.

Part of Pastoureau's colour history series, alongside Blue, Red, Green, and Black.

Published by Princeton University Press, 2019.