beige

Beige is a light yellowish grey color.

The term originates from beige cloth, a woolen fabric left in its natural color. It has since come to be used for a range of light shades chosen for their neutral or cool appearance, and is often (mis)used for light brown shades.

The first recorded use of Beige as a color name in English was in 1887. ^[1]

Beige and Ecru

Originally in the 19th century and up to at least 1930, the color ecru meant exactly the same color as beige or pale cream colour ^[2] , and the word is often used to refer to such fabrics as silk and linen in their unbleached state. Ecru comes from the French word écru, which means literally 'raw' or 'unbleached'. Now in the 21st century, however, ecru is considered a different color from beige.

Beige and Zinnwaldite

It is common for those in the baby boom generation to think of beige as being the color zinnwaldite because in the 1960s, AT&T marketed a colored telephone for offices and homes in a color they called "beige" which was actually the color zinnwaldite.

French beige

At right is displayed the color French beige.

It is perhaps the existence of this color that led people to believe that beige is a light brown color instead of the pale cream shown in the color box at the beginning of this article. The first recorded use of French beige as a color name in English was in 1927. ^[3]

The source of this color is the following website: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of French beige (color sample #57)

Colors in the beige range

Related color names used for colors in the beige range include cream, buff, zinnwaldite, ecru, tan, and Khaki.

Colors in the beige range color comparison chart

• Yellow Mist (web color Light Yellow) (Hex: #FFFFE0) (RGB: 255, 255, 224)
• Old Lace (web color) (Hex: #FFA6C9) (RGB: 245, 245, 220)
• Linen (web color) (Hex: #FAF0E6) (RGB: 250, 240, 230)
• Antique White (web color) (Hex: #FAEBD7) (RGB: 250, 235, 215)
• Blanched Almond (web color) (Hex: #FFEBCD) (RGB: 255, 235, 205)
• Light Goldenrod (web color) (Hex: #FAFAD2) (RGB: 250, 250, 210)
• Lemon Chiffon (web color) (Lemon Cream) (Hex: #FFFACD) (RGB: 255, 250, 205)
• Cornsilk (web color) (Hex: #FFF8DC) (RGB: 255, 248, 220)
• Beige (web color) (Hex: #F5F5DC) (RGB: 245, 245, 220)
• Cream (Hex: #FFFDD0) (RGB: 255, 253, 208)
• Papaya Whip (web color) (Hex: #FFEFD5) (RGB: 255, 239, 213)
• Banana Mania (Crayola) (Hex: #FBE7B2) (RGB: 251, 231, 128)
• Moccasin (web color) (Hex: #FFE4B5) (RGB: 255, 228, 182)
• Peach-Yellow (Hex: #FADFAD) (RGB: 250, 223, 173)
• Wheat (web color) (Hex: #F5DEB3) (RGB: 245, 222, 179)
• Bisque (web color) (Hex: #FFE4C4) (RGB: 255, 228, 196)
• Navajo White (web color) (Hex: #FFDEAD) (RGB: 255, 222, 173)
• Light Khaki (X11 "Khaki") (Hex: #F0E68C) (RGB: 240, 230, 140)
• Pale Goldenrod (web color) (Hex: #EEE8AA) (RGB: 238, 232, 170)
• Pale Canary Yellow (Crayola Canary) (Hex: #FFFF99) (RGB: 255, 255, 153)
• Buff (HexF0DC82) (RGB: 240, 220, 130)
• Flax (Hex: #EEDC82) (RGB: 238, 220, 130)
• Zinnwaldite (Hex: #EBC2AF) (RGB: 235, 194, 175)
• Desert Sand (Crayola) (Hex: #EDC9AF) (RGB: 237, 201, 175)
• Ecru (Hex: #C3B091) (RGB: 205, 184, 145)
• Tan (Hex: #D2B48C) (RGB: 210, 180, 140)
• Khaki (HTML/CSS) (Hex: #C3B091) (RGB: 195, 176, 145)
• Dark Khaki (X11 "Dark Khaki") (Hex: #BDB76B) (RGB: 189, 183, 107)
• Tumbleweed (Crayola) (Hex: #DEA681) (RGB: 222, 166, 129)
• Pale Taupe (Hex: #BC987E) (RGB: 188, 152, 126)
• Fallow (Hex: #C19A6B) (RGB: 193, 154, 107)
• Pale Brown (Hex: #987654) (RGB: 152, 118, 54)
• French Beige (Hex: #A67B5B) (RGB: 166, 123, 91)

Beige in human culture

Computers

• Beige shades have so often been used for personal computer cases and peripherals like mice and monitors that the term beige box has come to mean an ordinary, run-of-the-mill, generic, unremarkable personal computer.

Ethnography

• The skin color of some Caucasians is described more accurately as beige or peach.
• A mixed-race, part black and part white person, usually referred to as a mulatto, is also sometimes known as a beige (Whoever thought up this terminology must have been thinking of the color beige as being the color zinnwaldite.)

Fashion

• Beige is a common color of cargo pants (the second most popular after khaki), and is the most popular shade of pantyhose (tights in the UK).

Language

• In many languages, as in English, the word for beige is an adaptation of the French word.

Sexuality

• The Beige Room was a popular San Francisco gay bar located at 831 Broadway between Powell and Mason between 1951 and 1958. ^[4] Noted gender illusionist Jose Sarria often performed there. The Beige Room was “where San Francisco’s drag culture flourished”. Large Halloween parties were held there with a costume contest. ^[5]

See also

• List of colors

References

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