Abstracts: Gray

"Two colors are called complementary colors if grey is produced when two colors are combined. Grey is its own complement. Consequently, grey remains grey when its color spectrum is inverted, and therefore has no opposite, or alternately is its own opposite."

  • Grey symbolizes mediocrity, the background noise.
  • A "grey person" is someone who goes unnoticed, a wallflower.
  • In a moral sense grey is either used
    • pejoratively to describe situations that have no clear moral value, or
    • positively to balance an all-black or all-white view (for example, shades of grey = magnitudes of good/bad)
  • Grey is associated with autumn, bad weather and sadness.
  • Grey has been used to describe the industrialism as it is the color of granite, concrete and other city materials, as opposed to green to describe environmentalism, chlorophyll and plants.
  • Urban camouflage is composed of patches of shades of grey, while woodland camouflage uses ranges of brown and green.
  • Whilst the hair actually becomes white as one ages, it is often misinterpreted as grey (white next to others colors looking comparatively darker), and hence grey is associated with the elderly, and has inspired the name of the Gray Panthers and expressions such as Grey pound.
  • The substance that composes the brain is referred to as "grey matter", and for that reason the color is associated with things intellectual.
  • In religion, grey is the color of ashes, and therefore a biblical symbol of mourning and repentance. It can be used during Lent or on special days of fasting and prayer.
  • Grey was the color of the Confederate Army uniforms in the American Civil War.
  • The "Grey Lady" is the nickname of the New York Times.
  • Feldgrau (field grey) was a common color of Wehrmacht uniforms.
  • Tiny grey aliens, with large, tear-shaped black eyes are referred to as "little greys" in popular UFO conspiracy theories and in science-fiction.
  • The color grey represents pessimism whereas its opposite, optimism, is represented by the color rose.

—Wikipedia, "Grey"

Click a thumbnail to see the big picture, or watch the slideshow below.