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Inspiration in the color silver.

Learn the history and meaning of the color silver, the sleek gray-gone-metallic.

Design with silver

Get inspired with silver design templates.

The color silver can be futuristic and nostalgic, playful yet elegant.

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What is the meaning of the color silver?

Silver color is a gray color inspired by the polished metal of the same name. The color silver needs additional finishes to give it the namesake’s metallic sheen, but silver color has nonetheless found home in endless palettes as a celebrated neutral that represents wisdom, wealth, maturity, and grace.

The color silver is a distinguished shade of gray. It adds modernity and elegance to design, fashion, and décor.

The history of silver color.

The color silver took a long time to be used in English as anything other than the metal.

The namesake of the color silver is the precious metal. Silver mining began 3,000 years before the modern era, but the word “silver” was not used to describe the color silver until 1481. Gold was valued much more than silver, and gold pigments were more popular in art. There wasn’t as much desire for the color silver in paint until the Renaissance, and so it wasn’t used language outside of depicting the metal until then.

Poetry and other artworks helped inspire the figurative use of the color silver.

William Butler Yeats wrote in 1893 about stars “dancing silver-sandalled on the sea,” which was not a common use of the color silver at the time, but it stuck. In the early 20th century, the term “silver screen” was coined to describe the black and white movies projected through silver color coated theater screens. The color silver acquired many other lyrical associations with value and prestige after that.

The color silver in the crayon box.

Crayola introduced the color silver into its crayon box in 1903. The silver color crayon is a neutral grayscale tint given the slightest shimmer with a warm tinge of orange-red. Silver color by Crayola was first named “charcoal gray.”

The color silver across different cultures.

Sterling silver makes its way around the world. 

The luxury jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. became the first American company to institute .925 sterling silver standard in 1851, which is now used globally. The precious metal is a popular choice for small jewelry pieces like earrings, rings, and bracelets, compared to it’s counterpart, pure silver, because of its light weight and durability – making it a popular staple for jewelry connoisseurs. 

Silver color later made other appearances with new meanings.

The color silver represents wisdom in Paganism. In Korea and Japan, the Milky Way Galaxy is instead called the Silver River System. In Ancient Egypt, silver was sometimes used instead of gold in funerary masks. In fact, gold was considered to be the flesh of the gods, and silver was the bones, so both colors were important.

The color silver in language.

Silver color has made it into many popular expressions in English. Everyone knows what the “silver lining” (of a storm cloud) is when times are tough but you still find the best in something. To call someone “silver-tongued” means that person is persuasive and eloquent. Then, of course, to be “born with a silver spoon” in your mouth means being born into wealth.