By S. S. Suarez
"How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun." - Vincent Van Gogh
What’s with the color yellow? Why is it the dominant color when you talk about safety? Under the US OSHA Rule 1910.144(a)(3)”Yellow shall be the basic color for designating caution and for marking physical hazards such as: Striking against, stumbling, falling, tripping, and "caught in between."
The popularity of yellow is not even lost to the PAGASA Public Information Unit. ““Yellow means awareness, Orange must mean preparedness, and Red means [emergency],” Venus Valdemoro, OIC of the PAGASA said.
PAGASA created a three-level Rainfall Warning System to warn the people of the intensity of the rainfall. According to the warning system, “Yellow indicates 7.5 to 15 mm (heavy) rain in the last hour and likely in the next two hours, and possible flooding. The public is asked to monitor weather conditions.” Indeed, yellow is the most widely used and popular color to promote a safety culture in the organization.
My favorite color is blue but I begin to like yellow for several reasons. Yellow became a symbol of People Power and freedom. Who can erase the memory of the sea of yellow when throngs of Filipinos mobilized to pay their last respect to national heroes Ninoy Aquino in 1983 and her beloved Cory in 2009? In color psychology, yellow can release feelings of frustration and anger. Some hate it, others love it. Yellow increases metabolism, but it also often described as cheery and warm which probably explains why that even my best of friends likes it.
“Yellow” by the British band Coldplay is one of my favorite songs. It's a crazy song, a song celebrating the craziness of love telling everyone to "run across" and "jump across" for love. "For you I'd bleed myself dry…" - as the lyrics of the song go. Aren't there crazy moments when we feel like doing something like that, out of joy, not sadness?
Since childhood, our first writing instrument is colored yellow. History tells us that pencils have been painted yellow ever since the 1890s. It was colored as such to associate it with China where the best graphite can be found. Moreso, the color yellow is associated with royalty and respect in that country.
In sports, a yellow flag is used in car racing to signal caution. Cars must remain in their current position when a yellow flag is shown. In football, a yellow card is given to a player for incurring a penalty.
Be it in sports or in any other aspects of our lives, the color yellow symbolizes many things. But one thing is for sure though. Yellow represents safety.
The "Warning / Safety Yellow" is used for anything which poses a potential danger in passage way, work area, access restrictions and many other places highlighted for potential harm. For trained eyes, the "Safety Yellow" is highly noticeable.
And thank God. The sun is yellow bringing sunshine and hope to a sometimes dreary world. Not red or blue.
Would you have it in any other color?
I don’t think so.
