# What orange means in branding

> What orange means in branding, a short history of the colour and brands known for it, with sources. Open it in a free palette tool.

Web page: https://davidewins.com/colours/orange

Swatch: #f2771a

Surveys in Europe and the United States link orange with amusement, the unconventional, extroversion, warmth, fire, energy, activity, danger, taste and aroma, and autumn. It has long been the national colour of the Netherlands.

Survey words: amusement, warmth, energy, activity, extroversion.

[Build a palette from orange](https://davidewins.com/colours?base=f2771a)

## History

- The colour is named after the fruit.
- The earliest known use of orange as a colour name in English is from 1502, describing clothing bought for Margaret Tudor.
- The family of the Prince of Orange adopted the name and the colour in the 1570s.

## Brands known for orange

- **easyJet**: Painted its booking phone number in bright orange on the side of its aircraft. ([Wikipedia: easyJet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyJet))
- **Orange**: The telecoms company's orange is close to easyJet's. ([Wikipedia: easyJet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyJet))
- **Hermès**: Orange became the house colour during the Second World War, because of shortages under the German occupation of France. ([Wikipedia: Hermès](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herm%C3%A8s))

## Sources

- [Wikipedia: Orange (colour)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(colour))
- [Wikipedia: easyJet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EasyJet)
- [Wikipedia: Hermès](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herm%C3%A8s)

The swatch is my own pick of orange, not an official value.