Carmine
- HEX
- #960018
- RGB
- 150 0 24
- HSL
- 350° 100% 29%
- CMYK
- 0 100 84 41
Carmine or Crimson?
A deep red, darker than crimson.
History
Carmine comes from cochineal insects on prickly-pear cacti in Mexico and Peru. From the 1520s Spain shipped it to Europe, where it became New Spain's most valuable export after silver, and guarded it like treasure: Europeans argued for generations whether the grains were berries, seeds or insects. In 1777 the botanist Thiéry de Menonville smuggled live insects out of Oaxaca, but the monopoly held.
Culture
You have probably eaten some. Carmine, labeled E120 or cochineal extract, colors yogurts, sweets and drinks. In 2012 Starbucks dropped it from its strawberry drinks after vegetarians objected.
Language
Carmine comes from Medieval Latin carminium, probably a blend of Arabic qirmiz, the kermes insect, and Latin minium, red lead. It is a close cousin of crimson.
Science
The red is a defense. Female cochineal insects make carminic acid, which drives off ants and other predators. Ounce for ounce it gives about ten times the color of the old kermes dye. Even so, it takes tens of thousands of insects to make a pound of dye; the books disagree on the exact count.
Kin
- Crimson: Same Arabic root; cochineal replaced the old kermes
- Scarlet: Cochineal dyed British officers' scarlet coats
- Salmon: Another animal-made color that ends up in food
Sources
- Wikipedia, 'Cochineal' (70,000 insects per pound; second to silver)
- Etymonline, 'carmine'
- BBC News, 'Starbucks to stop using cochineal insect dye' (2012)
- St Clair, The Secret Lives of Colour (2016)
- Greenfield, A Perfect Red (2005)
- Finlay, Color: A Natural History of the Palette (2002)
- Pastoureau, Red: The History of a Color (2017)
Hex values are screen approximations. Every page lists its sources.