Inspiration in the color white.

The history of white color.

White is the oldest recorded color.

White was first documented in Paleolithic art when calcite and chalk were used to draw crisp, clean lines. By the time of ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman cultures, white was seen as a symbol of purity. Priestesses wore white. Most togas were white. Temples were faced in white marble. Today, this significance is still seen in religious and government buildings around the world.

Over the centuries, white color took on more political meanings.

White was adopted in politics because of its association with purity. It also became the color of specific political movements. For over a century, American and British suffragists used white as a color of their cause. In the early 20th century, the monarchist movement that opposed the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War took white as their official color.

White has always been present in fashion and fabrics.

After the white color togas of the ancient Greek and Roman empires, white tunics were worn by knights in the Middle Ages to complement their crimson red cloaks. After the French Revolution, white became more prominent in women’s clothing. White has also been the color for bed sheets and underwear for centuries because it can easily be bleached.

The color white across different cultures.

White is often associated with purity, perfection, honesty, cleanliness, and beginnings.

Surveys in Europe and the United States repeatedly link the color white to forms of purity. The beauty of a clean slate, the perfection of a spotless surface, and even the idealized virginity of a bride in a wedding gown are all represented with the color white.

Language offers some clues of a more nuanced view of white.

Some languages have multiple words for white. The Inuit language has seven words for white, and Sanskrit has words for the white of teeth, of cow’s milk, and of stars. Japanese has six words for white. The Ancient Romans had two words for white, one of which morphed into the words candidate, candle, and candid. These languages provide clues to many meanings of the color white.

The color white around the world.

In Islam, white is worn during the pilgrimage to Mecca. In China, white is associated with bereavement and with the masculine half of the yin and yang. In parts of Asia and some Slavic cultures, white — not black — represents death. White was also used to represent death in ancient Egypt. It’s said that the color white reflected the nothingness in the white sand desserts.