# Colors - primary vs. secondary and the rainbow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627 "2015-03-21T19:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/41 "2015-03-24T23:21:01Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Personally, I consider there to be six colors in the rainbow: red, yellow, green, cyan, blue, violet. “Orange” is too narrow to be useful, and “indigo” is too archaic. > > Do other languages have a well-defined set of “rainbow colors”, traditional or not? Has anyone cited [Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/449/could-early-man-only-see-three-colors)yet? ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2015, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/42 "2015-03-24T23:55:52Z")
Nm ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/43 "2015-03-25T00:22:33Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Right, which is why it’s a shame it’s still taught to students when we know better, and such pigments are not only readily available, but a standard in color reproduction. > > CMY is a huge improvement over RYB. > …[snip] And yet CMY is still hugely lacking, and insufficient when dealing with artist-quality pigments and when opacity gets involved. I got into an argument with the teacher of my college color mixing class over how to darken colors. Adding black is a horrible, horrible idea. I don’t even have black paint in my box. The best way is to add the color’s compliment (use green to darken a red), and if possible add a darker pigment of a similar hue (add Prussian blue to cerulean). Anyway, I’m a proponent of including [opponent process](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opponent_process) when teaching color. ---
**Author:** ![crypto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b3f665/32.png) [@crypto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crypto)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/44 "2015-03-25T00:23:27Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Well, yes, it’s still the case that Newton said that there were seven. That’s never going to change, unless we find some lost manuscript of his. But I’m saying that most people nowadays don’t actually consider what Newton said to be official. Kindergarteners don’t know indigo. Small boxes of crayons don’t include indigo. Rainbow flags usually don’t include indigo. It looks to me like the question “When will the identification of the colors of the rainbow change” is answered perfectly well by “it already has”. Ah. I understand your point now. I actually don’t know if this is true though… Newton went with 7, and most people still use 7. Is it official? Hell, I don’t know. But I think a majority of people (from english speaking countries, anyway) recognize the name ROY G BIV. As far as “official”, there doesn’t seem to be a specific scientific body responsible for defining this. So, people use what works for them. My daughter sings a song from school that lists the colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and PINK… (WTH?). I have no idea why, but I suspect that it is a children’s song, a one-syllable word fit better than a 3 syllable word, and kids know what pink is, but indigo? Probably not so much. ISTM that Newton gets credit for being the first person to write down the 5 colors he saw in the spectrum. Fiddled with it and added 2 more to get 7, and that has worked, more or less, for everyone ever since. I wonder if Newton even knew what cyan was? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/45 "2015-03-25T00:48:32Z")
Pink may be included because it is popular, and pretty much the only tint of a color to get its own name. But then again, some people have varying definitions of pink. I have an awesome, fully-saturated magenta dress shirt\* that people always call pink. \*: I also have one in bright cyan. I’m keeping an eye out for yellow. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627/46 "2015-03-25T00:53:30Z")
> [@Stink Fish Pot](#): > > My daughter sings a song from school that lists the colors of the rainbow as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and PINK… (WTH?). I have no idea why, but I suspect that it is a children’s song, a one-syllable word fit better than a 3 syllable word, and kids know what pink is […] Yikes. That’s just so wrong on so many levels. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-primary-vs-secondary-and-the-rainbow/715627.md?page=2)