Scarlet (color)

Scarlet is a bright red color, sometimes with a slightly orange tinge. In the spectrum of visible light, and on the traditional color wheel, it is one-quarter of the way between red and orange, slightly less orange than vermilion. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, scarlet and other bright shades of red are the colors most associated with courage, force, passion, heat, and joy. In the Roman Catholic Church, scarlet is the color worn by a cardinal, and is associated with the blood of Christ and the Christian martyrs, and with sacrifice. Scarlet is also associated with immorality and sin, particularly prostitution or adultery, largely because of a passage referring to "The Great Harlot", "dressed in purple and scarlet", in the Bible (Revelation 17:1–6). File:Household Cavalry.jpg|The traditional scarlet uniforms of the [[Household Cavalry]], London File:Garde nationale bulgare.jpg|The scarlet uniform of the [[National Guards Unit of Bulgaria]] in Paris, France File:RCMP-female-officer.jpg|A Constable of the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police]] File:Scarlet ibis arp.jpg|A [[scarlet ibis]] in Cotswolds Wildlife Park, Oxfordshire, England File:Anagallis arvensis 2.jpg|''[[Anagallis arvensis]]'', the [[Anagallis arvensis|scarlet pimpernel]] flower, gave its name to a popular [[The Scarlet Pimpernel|1905 adventure novel]] and series of films. Scarlet (cloth) The word comes from the Middle English "scarlat", from the Old French escarlate, from the Latin "scarlatum", from the Persian سقرلات saqerlât. The term scarlet was also used in the Middle Ages for a type of cloth that was often bright red. An early recorded use of scarlet as a color name in the English language dates to 1250. Scarlet has been a color of power, wealth and luxury since ancient times. Scarlet dyes were first mentioned in 8th century BC, under the name Armenian Red, and they were described in Persian and Assyrian writings. The color was exported from Persia to Rome. During the Roman Empire, it was second in prestige only to the purple worn by the Emperors.