2 April: Green Day

An old list of holidays and observances I have on my computer says that today is Green Day - with no explanation as to why this might be or who says so. Any efforts to track it down result in countless references to the rock band and little else. Somebody, somewhere, decided that today is Green Day. Here are 10 facts about the colour green.

1. The wavelength of green light is around 495–570 nm. It is in the centre of the visible spectrum which has led to green being the colour representing balance, the hub and heart of things, the Heart chakra and harmony.
2. Its complimentary colour, or its opposite on a traditional colour wheel, is red. Red, because of its high visibility, has become a universal signal for danger, or "stop", such as in traffic lights. Green, as its opposite, is the least likely colour to be confused with red, so it was adopted as the colour to represent safety, permission to proceed, or "go". Hence a green light means go, and a green card represents permission to live in the USA.
3. The word green, and its equivalent in Germanic languages, comes from the same root as words for "grass" and "grow". Romance languages such as French (vert) and Italian (verde) derive from the Latin word viridis which derives from the word virere "to grow" and ver "spring". This is also where we get the English word verdure from. In some languages, such as old Chinese, Thai, old Japanese, and Vietnamese, they use the same word for green as for Blue. The same was true in ancient Greece. Aristotle defined green as being midway between Black and White. Green was rarely used in ancient Greek art.
4. Plants are usually green because of chlorophyll, the chemical used in photosynthesis. You'd think, then, that it would be a simple matter to create green dyes for fabric and food colouring. It actually isn't. Chlorophyll, E numbers E140 and E141, is only allowed in medicines and cosmetics. Green paints and dyes through the ages came from minerals rather than plants. Ancient Egyptian painters used ground up malachite or Yellow ochre mixed with blue azurite. To dye fabric green they'd first dye it in a yellow dye made from Saffron and then soak it in blue dye from the roots of the woad plant. The Romans made green paint by mixing clay with iron oxide, magnesium, aluminum silicate, or Potassium. In ancient Greece, they used verdigris, which was made by placing warm Copper, brass or bronze into a vat of fermenting wine for a few weeks, then scraping off and drying the green powder which formed on the metal. However, verdigris was unstable and toxic, so Leonardo da Vinci warned artists not to use it. Green Fireworks, incidentally, use barium salts to produce green Fire.
5. The colour green has long been associated with Money and wealth. Historically, green was a colour worn by merchants, bankers and the gentry, while red was only worn by nobility. This is why the seats in the UK House of Commons are green and the seats in the House of Lords are red. In the US, early dollar bills were made using green ink because it was harder to fake, but green has become associated with US currency with "greenbacks" being a slang term for banknotes.
6. Green as a representation of jealousy - the "green-eyed monster" was first used by Shakespeare in Merchant of Venice and Othello: "it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on."
7. Talking of green eyes, there is no green pigment in the human eye, so if a person has green eyes, it's an optical illusion caused by the combination of the colour caused by low levels of melanin and reflected light. Green eyes are most common in Northern Europe, and studies have shown that women are more likely to have green eyes than men.
8. Green has come to be associated with health and vitality, but at the same time, with sickness and poisons. This may be down to the toxicity of green pigments in the olden days, such as verdigris and others which commonly contained arsenic. People who are feeling unwell are sometimes described as looking "green about the gills".
9. Youth and inexperience (eg. "Greenhorn") is another cultural association of green. This might be because fruit which is not yet ripe tends to be green in colour.
10. Between 1977 and 2011, the only national Flag to be just one colour with no design was Libya's, and it was green. Green is associated with Islam, so Islamic nations often have green in their flags. It is also a common colour on the flags of African nations. Some countries have green on their flag to symbolise natural abundance or hope. In Brazil, it was the colour of the royal family. It is also often used to represent Ireland and Irish culture. Hence on St Patrick's day, bars might serve green Beer, and in Chicago, they even dye the river green on 17 March.

New!

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two