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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

amber (colour)

English answer:

yellow to orangey-brown colour range & traditional in UV-protection bottles

Added to glossary by Yvonne Gallagher
Dec 31, 2018 18:16
5 yrs ago
11 viewers *
English term

amber (colour)

English Other Other
"The color amber is a pure chroma color, located on the color wheel midway between the colors of yellow and orange".

https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_(color)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_(color)

Everything is very clear and simple.

But here we see "Amber UV Protection Bags", and they are definetely brown (even deep brown), not "midway between the colors of yellow and orange":

https://www.performancepkg.biz/Amber-UV-Protection-Bags-/sku...

http://www.interplas.com/reclosable-bags/3-mil-minigrip-uv-g...

and so on.

When under UV radiation, amber has a peculiar fluorescence.

Is it possible that amber as material was used for UV protection before, so now materials for UV protection can be called "amber", even though they are not yellow? In this case by saying "Amber UV Protection Bags" one desires to say "bags made of a film which provides such a protection against UV radiation which is comparable with that provided by amber".

Or there is some other reason for using the word "amber" here?

Thank you in advance!
Responses
4 +1 amber is traditional colour and sounds much nicer than brown
3 +1 amber is orange-red but generally translucent
3 Can be used synonymous with brown colour
Change log

Jan 5, 2019 13:35: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry

Jan 5, 2019 13:36: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1300525">Yvonne Gallagher's</a> old entry - "amber (colour)"" to ""range of colours yellow to orangey-brown, traditional in UV-protection bottles""

Jan 5, 2019 13:38: Yvonne Gallagher changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1300525">Yvonne Gallagher's</a> old entry - "amber (colour)"" to ""range of colours (yellow to orangey-brown), traditional in UV-protection bottles(""

Discussion

Charles Davis Jan 1, 2019:
@Barbara Happy New Year to both of you!
B D Finch Jan 1, 2019:
@Charles I have a lovely yellow, opaque amber necklace (inherited from my grandmother), which has no hint of orange. I also have other, translucent, amber jewellery that ranges from yellowish orange to reddish brown when light isn't shining through it. However, with light shining through, the brown colour changes to orange. Colour is, of course, an illusion produced by how our brains process different wavelengths of light into visual experience. There's no way of knowing whether people with good colour vision have the same experience of colours.

So, it used to be thought that dogs, having only two colour-sensitive types of cone in their retinas, experienced the world in shades of brown. That is now superceded. However, even the more up-to-date ideas about how dogs perceive colour https://dog-vision.com/ only deal with ability to differentiate, not with the canine perceptual experience of colour, which is even more unknowable than that of other humans because dogs can't describe their experiences to us.

Happy New Year from me and my hound (who is playing with the green serpent and blue and red horse that he got for Christmas and tells me that visual experience is secondary to mouth-feel).
Tony M Jan 1, 2019:
@ Asker Although the external appearance may be 'brown', probably the light transmitted would be a deep amber colour — I see we are seeking to protect light-sensitive materials, and it is not unusual to filter out the shorter wavelength / higher energy light at the UV and blue end of the spectrum — what is left will thus be a deep orangey colour; in terms of light transmission, it is unusual to talk about 'brown', which is usually more associated with absorption materials.
Charles Davis Dec 31, 2018:
@Landsknecht In both the examples you've cited, "amber" refers explicitly to the colour:

"Amber color aids in quick identification."
"The amber color makes identification of "light-sensitive" contents easy."

I agree with you that they look brown, but I think they could be described as dark amber, perhaps stretching a point a little.

The colour of natural amber is between yellow and orange, but as a colour term amber is quite often a reddish brown. In fact colours labelled "amber" vary widely.

See here, for example: fourth chart, second item on bottom row:
http://ingridsundberg.com/2014/02/04/the-color-thesaurus/

Happy New Year!

Responses

+1
1 hr
Selected

amber is traditional colour and sounds much nicer than brown

Apothecary amber bottles have been used for a long time to protect medicines etc. safer from UV light. I believe iron ore was added to the glass. Now plastic or bags do the same thing but the colour amber has been kept because it sounds nicer and is the traditional colour used.

So, the bags might or might not look more like a true amber colour (not yellow but more a blend of orangey brown with flecks of a deeper brown, easier to see in a glass bottle) either under UV radiation light but not necessarily.
The main thing is that "brown bag" is not good marketing speak at all

http://bomar.ie/product-category/bottles-jars-closures/glass...

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-12-31 19:21:01 GMT)
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http://sevaniskin.com/blog/2011/05/03/ever-wonder-why-amber-...
https://www.mjspackaging.com/blog/3-reasons-for-amber-glass-...

and for other bags
https://www.fourstarplastics.com/plastic-bags/Reclosable-Zip...

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Note added at 1 hr (2018-12-31 19:23:39 GMT)
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http://www.gpi.org/learn-about-glass/what-glass/glass-colori...

"Amber is the most common colored glass, and is produced by adding together iron, sulfur, and carbon."

but this won't necessarily be the case for the bags!

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Note added at 4 days (2019-01-05 13:06:27 GMT) Post-grading
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Glad to have helped
Peer comment(s):
agree JohnMcDove : Strongly agree. Happy New Year! :-)
4 hrs
Many thanks John:-) And all the best for 2019!
neutral B D Finch : Yes and no. I think that those "brown" bags would probably look "amber" with a strong light shining through them. Best wishes for 2019.
15 hrs
I did say that too! "...the bags might or might not look more like a true amber colour (...easier to see in a glass bottle) under UV radiation light" Anyway, that wasn't the only question. Happy New Year!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
3 hrs

Can be used synonymous with brown colour

The Wikipedia link says: "The color name is derived from the material also known as amber, which is commonly found in a range of yellow-orange-brown-red colors;"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber_(color)

Which means, iit can also be used synonymous with Brown colour. In sales and marketing, this often happens--Surf refers to washing powder and Xerox copy refers to photocopy.

If you see the link below, a bullet point says: Amber color makes it easier to notice. So, I feel Amber is being used synonymously with brown. It started with the material Amber, and the name stuck [although, strictly speaking, Aber colour may not be brown in the eyes of an artist; but sales and marketing is a different field altogether]

https://www.fourstarplastics.com/plastic-bags/Reclosable-Zip...
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+1
2 days 15 hrs

amber is orange-red but generally translucent


I associate the colour "amber"with translucency, which is possibly the reason why the middle lamp of a British traffic light is always called "amber" and not "orange". The resin "amber" found on beaches and used in jewellry is also translucent.
Reference:

http://https://www.quora.com/Why-do-yellow-traffic-lights-appear-to-be-orange-despite-their-name

Peer comment(s):
agree Tina Vonhof (X)
6 hrs
Thanks, Tina!
neutral Yvonne Gallagher : Amber may be opaque also and comes in a range of colours. What is relevancy of traffic lights, esp. when these are yellow/orange elsewhere? https://www.gemsociety.org/article/amber-jewelry-and-gemston...
1 day 4 hrs
I agree with your source that amber can have "a wide range of transparency". My point is that the translucent "yellow" traffic light is referred to as "amber", because it reminds one of the transparent kind of amber.
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