Saffron is a colour resembling the colour of the tip of the saffron crocus thread, from which the spice saffron is derived. The first recorded use of saffron as a colour name in English was in 1200. It is considered as one of the important colours in Buddhism; it is worn by the monks of the Theravada tradition. It is also an important symbolic colour in India, where it was chosen as one of the three colours of the Indian national flag after independence in 1947.
In nature and culture
Saffron in nature
Plants
Saffron spice is derived from the flowers of the plant named Crocus sativus.
Birds
The saffron finch is a tanager from South America, and is common in both open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon basin.
History and politics
The National Flag of India is officially described in the Flag Code of India as follows: "The colour of the top panel shall be India saffron and that of the bottom panel shall be India green. The middle panel shall be white, bearing at its centre the design of Ashoka Chakra in navy blue colour with 24 equally spaced spokes." Deep saffron approximates the colour of India saffron. India saffron, white and what is now called India green were chosen for the three bands, representing courage and sacrifice, peace and truth, and faith and chivalry respectively. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, who later became India's first Vice President and second President, described the significance of the Indian National Flag as follows:
Religion
In Sanatan Dharma, the deep saffron colour is associated with sacrifice, religious abstinence, quest for light and salvation. Saffron or bhagwa is the most sacred colour for the Hindus and is often worn by sanyasis who have left their home in search of the ultimate truth and serving the society before self.
Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition typically wear saffron robes.
The Maratha Confederacy used "Jari Patka" as their flag. It is a saffron swallow tail flag, with sometimes added red/golden frilled border.
Saffron-coloured cloth had a history of use among the Gaelic-Irish. A saffron kilt is worn by the pipers of certain Irish regiments in the British Army, and the saffron léine in the defence forces of the Republic of Ireland. The latter garment is also worn by some Irish and Irish-American men as an item of national costume. Its colour varies from a true saffron orange to a range of dull mustard and yellowish-brown hues. The Antrim GAA teams are nicknamed "The Saffrons" because of the saffron-coloured kit which they play in. The Old Irish word for saffron, cróc, derives directly from the Latin Crocus sativus. In Ireland between the 14th and 17th centuries, men wore léine, a saffron-coloured loose shirt that reached down to mid-thigh or the knee ..
c. 1884 by Frederic Leighton - saffron suffuses the canvas at sunrise Homer's Iliad: Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening from the streams of Okeanos, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her. Virgil's Aeneid:
Music
The lyrics of Donovan's 1966 song, "Mellow Yellow" repeat the line, "I'm just mad about Saffron".
The colour at the top of the Indian National Flag is a colour officially called India saffron that is an orangish shade of saffron. On the Indian National Flag the colour saffron is supposed to represent sacrifice and renunciation of materialism.
In Rajasthani this colour is called kay-ser-ia. The word derives its name from kesar, a spice crop from Kashmir.
Video games
In the Pokémon games, there is a city named Saffron City.
Variations of saffron
Rajah
Displayed at right is the colour rajah. Rajah is a bright deep tone of saffron.
India saffron or deep saffron
Deep saffron or Kesari is the saffron color used in Flag of India.
