Olive
- HEX
- #808000
- RGB
- 128 128 0
- HSL
- 60° 100% 25%
- CMYK
- 0 0 100 50
Olive or Forest green?
A yellowish dark green. Forest green is greener.
The color of green olives.
Symbolism
In Genesis, Noah's dove comes back with an olive leaf, the sign the flood is over, and the olive branch became a sign of peace. In Greek myth, Athena won Athens from Poseidon by giving it the first olive tree.
History
Olive drab, a brownish olive, is recorded from 1892 and became the US Army's field color in the Second World War.
Design
In 2012 Australia first described the ugliest color it could find for cigarette packs, Pantone 448 C, as olive green. Olive growers objected, and the official name became drab dark brown.
Kin
- Khaki: The two great military colors: khaki drill and olive drab
- Brown: Australia's cigarette-pack brown was briefly called olive
- Cornflower: Tutankhamun's wreath wove olive leaves with cornflowers
In paintings
- Sunflowers, Vincent van Gogh
Sources
- Genesis 8:11
- Wikipedia, 'Olive (color)' (olive drab 1892; OD7 1943; OG-107 1952)
- Wikipedia, 'Pantone 448 C'
Hex values are screen approximations. Every page lists its sources.