Chuck Yeager's X-1 Test Plane
It has been a while since Ferrebeekeeper has presented a post about color. Therefore, to liven up the gray monotony of midwinter, today’s post features one of the most vivid colors out there. International orange is a brilliant deep orange which is in widespread use throughout the world. Strangely enough, this eye-popping color was created and adopted for practical reasons. International orange (a dark orange with hints of red) is the contrasting color with sky blue (pale blue with tinges of green). The military and aerospace industry use international orange to make planes and personnel distinct from their surroundings. Many famous test planes have been painted international orange including Chuck Yeager’s X-1 (above). The color is also commonly used for flight suits, rescue equipment, and high-visibility maritime equipment.
Thanks to the high contrast of the color against the background, crews were more able to track the progress of test craft against the sky. Additionally, if something went wrong, rescue and recovery became easier if the craft stood out against the sky, ocean, and land.
The Golden Gate Bridge
Aside from its use in spacecraft and supersonic test planes, international orange also makes tall structures stand out against the skyline (and therefore protects against accidental collision). A darker “architectural” version of the color is instantly recognizable as the orange of the golden gate bridge. The Tokyo Tower was painted in international orange and white in order to comply with safety regulations of the time. The bright orange of both structures has become an integral part of their recognizability and appeal.
The Tokyo Tower
Although it is not branded as such, the natural world also has a use for international orange and a surprising number of poisonous creatures can be found in similar shades. Bright orange makes the creatures visible and advertises their toxicity to potential predators. It is funny to think that tiny frogs and huge towers share the same color.
Oophaga pumilio (Strawberry Poison-dart Frog)
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3 comments
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January 26, 2012 at 1:19 PM
Zeke
The orange on the shuttle’s external fuel tank is actually the natural color of the insulating foam. They used to paint the thing white, but later dropped the paint to save weight.
January 26, 2012 at 2:14 PM
Wayne
You’re right. Those tanks were always causing trouble to NASA and now they’re making me look bad. I have found pictures of all sorts of life-vests, flare-guns, space-suits, helicopters, and tug boats which are international orange (to say nothing of the Speaker of the House of Representatives), but, so far, I can’t find any indication whether the orange used for Russian and American missiles and rockets was/is international orange or something else. The space shuttle’s external tank seems to be some other color. Sigh…time to do some rewriting. For posterity’s sake, here is the original picture which I have now replaced. I also took out space shuttle and rocket references.
China seems especially fond of orange for their military/aerospace equipment but, for some reason, the Red Army is not returning my calls for clarification of the exact shade of orange they use to paint their missiles. Speaking of which, if anybody from NASA or any of the world’s other space programs would like to clarify what orange is being used for your rockets, I eagerly await your help. International orange right?
Guys?
January 26, 2012 at 3:15 PM
Zeke
It was a nice picture. I am sorry to have called it into question, though cheered at your journalistic integrity!