An exploration into colour symbolism as used by - National Centre ...

(Walker 2004). Yellow is also known for its connotations with sickness and illness. For
example the medical condition of jaundice
causes the skin to turn a distinctly yellow
colour, due to liver malfunction; and a
yellow flag has often been raised during
epidemics and is used to indicate areas of
quarantine (see Figure 22).
Figure 22: A quarantine flag, in this case displayed
on a ship to indicate there is sickness onboard
Goethe wrote that yellow was the colour “nearest the light” and that the pure hue had a
serene, uplifting quality On the other hand he also noted that it was also easily susceptible to
becoming tainted, upon which occurrence its qualities become reversed to those of “ignominy
and aversion” (Goethe 1840 cited Eisenstein 1986).. This negative connotation was also noted
by Frédéric Portal, who later described how the colour yellow came to be affiliated with
treason and sin, whilst at the same time being associated with more positive emotions such as
happiness and well-being.
“Divine and sacred languages designated with the colours of gold and yellow the
union of the soul with God and, by opposition, adultery in a spiritual sense.”
“The golden apple was, for the Greeks, the symbol of love and concord and, by
opposition, it represented discord and all the evils in its train; the judgement of Paris
proves this. Likewise Atalanta, while gathering golden apples picked in the Garden of
the Hesperides, is beaten in the race and becomes the victor’s prize.”
(Portal 1857 cited Eisenstein 1986)
The works of the writer T.S. Eliot (1888 – 1965), particularly his earlier poetry, make
frequent references to the colour yellow:
©Laura Dilloway, NCCA 2006 23