Indigo has been with us for thousands of years but it was Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century who used the term ‘indigo’ to describe a colour when he demonstrated that the white light was composed of 7 visible colours, indigo being one of them. Until then, the word ‘indigo’ was used for the dye, desired by many. The dye was made from a plant called Indigofera Tinctoria, which had been cultivated predominantly in Asia and parts of Africa; some sources mention Peru as well.

The last colour of the rainbow - violet - can be obtained by mixing the colours red and blue. It got its name from the violet flower. Violet, as well as indigo, are a slightly controversial colours. You may have read the article ‘Indigo’ from our ‘Rainbow Of Your Life Series’ where we spoke about it. People see colours differently and what one person sees as violet, another calls pink, yet another blue or indigo. In the case of the colour violet, even the language plays an important role.

When we look at the colour orange from the perspective of our emotions, studies show that it stimulates our appetite, gets our attention and enhances our energy. It is also a great colour for socialising and learning new things.

Green is everywhere, it is no longer just a colour. It seems that the colour green has transcended the realm of plants, animals or objects. We are all greener now (thank God). Universally, green is associated with nature and our planet is dependent on our green thinking.

“Blue is the favourite colour of all people”, was the first sentence I came across when researching for this article. “Hold on”, I was thinking, “My favourite colour is green”. Then I opened my Address Book where I keep notes about my friends’ favourite things (as an inspiration for birthdays or Christmas or “whatever-else" gifts) and started laughing. Blue is the favourite colour of all friends I had this info available for!

Yellow is the brightest colour. It is the colour that we humans can see most clearly. For painters it is one of the primary colours (red, yellow and blue), for scientists it is a secondary colour – primary being red, blue and green.

Red is one of the most represented colours in nature. It is a primary colour and in the history of humankind, it is one of the first colours that were used in art.

“Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain”, I was in awe when I was learning English and came across this wonderful mnemotechnic verse to remember the colours of the rainbow. We did not have anything like that! I never thought it was important either, although, as is the case with most people, I love rainbows. Aren’t they magical? They make us feel good. But what are they other than optical illusions?