Amber

Amber is an orange-yellow color that got its name from the material known as amber. Due to this, amber can refer not to one but to a series of shades of orange, since the natural material varies from nearly yellow when newer to orange or reddish-orange when older.

Amber

Amber
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#FFBF00
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(255, 191, 0)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(45°, 100%, 100%)
Source		[Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Amber as shown in the color box at right is a pure chroma color on the color wheel halfway between orange and yellow. It is a color that is 75% yellow and 25% red.

The first recorded use of amber as a color name in English was in 1500. ^[1]

Amber pendants

SAE/ECE amber

SAE/ECE Amber
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#FF7E00
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(255, 126, 0)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(30°, 100%, 100%)
Source		CIECD
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Amber is one of several technically-defined colors used in automotive signal lamps. In North America, SAE International standard J578 governs the colorimetry of vehicle lights,^[2] while outside North America the internationalized European ECE regulations hold force.^[3] Both standards designate a range of orange and yellow hues in the CIE colorspace as "amber". In the past, the ECE amber definition was more restrictive than the SAE definition, but the current ECE definition is identical to the more permissive SAE standard. The SAE formally uses the term "yellow amber", though the color is most often referred to as "yellow". This is not the same as selective yellow, a color used in some fog lamps and headlamps.

Formal definitions

A turn signal emitting amber light

Previously, ECE amber was defined according to the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic^[4], as follows:

Limit towards green
Limit towards red
Limit towards white

Recent revisions to the ECE regulations have aligned ECE Amber with SAE Yellow, defined as follows:

Limit towards green
Limit towards red
Limit towards white

The entirety of these definitions lie outside the gamut of the sRGB color space — such a pure color cannot be represented using RGB primaries. The color box shown above is a desaturated approximation, created by taking the centroid of the standard definition and moving it towards the D65 white point, until it meets the sRGB gamut triangle.

Amber in culture

Computers

• VT220 computer terminals were available with amber colored characters on their CRTs.

Criminal Behavior

• An AMBER Alert is a child abduction alert bulletin in the United States and Canada, as well as other countries, issued upon the suspected abduction of a child.

Interior design

• The original Amber Room in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg was a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. Due to its singular beauty, it was sometimes dubbed the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Religion

• The color amber is associated with Zoroastrianism because of its practice of fire worship in fire temples. Fire is considered a representation of the spiritual energy of God (Ahura Mazda).

Sports

• Amber is a color worn by Hull City AFC, and Cambridge United FC, two English football teams. It is a color rarely seen in the sporting world, and CUFC & HCAFC are the only professional clubs in England to use it.

Symbolism

• Amber is a symbolic color representing energy.

Transportation planning

• Amber is used in traffic lights and turn signals.

Music

• "Amber" is a 2001 single from the reggae/funk band 311 off their album From Chaos.

References

1. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930--McGraw Hill Page 189; Color Sample of Amber: Page 43 Plate 10 Color Sample J3
2. ^ SAE J578: Color Specification
3. ^ ECE R6
4. ^ ECE Convention on Road Traffic, 1968, p. 60PDF (163 KiB)

External links

• UNECE Regulation No. 6: Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Direction Indicators for Motor Vehicles and their Trailers (E/ECE/324-E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.1/Add.5/Rev.4)[1][2]
• UNECE Regulation No. 48: Uniform Provisions Concerning the Approval of Vehicles with Regard to the Installation of Lighting and Light-Signalling Devices (E/ECE/324-E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.1/Add.47/Rev.3/Amend.2)