Just like the balance between bland and spicy, bright and dark, hot and cold, young and old; the color silver lies flawlessly between the two parallels, White and Black.
From the sleek Kitchenware to the skyscrapers shadowing the world, Silver dominates it all. It is the most preferred color in Jewelry, utensils, coins, furniture and most importantly the theme color of late-night parties.
The first colors that newborn babies see is also between white, black and silver, so it is safe to say that we are born silver and die with silver.
“To ancient Chinese fancy, the Milky Way was a luminous river, – the River of Heaven, – the Silver Stream”- Lafcadio Hearn
The shades of silver vary from the shiny, metallic luster to the matte tones and between them lies all sort of shades of this unique color, with which the creators love to play with.
From the famous fashionistas to the expensive brands to the renowned makeup gurus, the color is treasured by them all.
It is never too dull to explore more about the meaning and the myths associated with the color, so if you are interested in finding out some facts and ideas clinging with the color silver, I suggest you keep scrolling down.
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Silver – What Does It Mean?
It is the color of the moonlight, the most serene and calmest of them all. It shadows the world when there is no sun to regulate our daily activities thus it is safe to say that it is the color of the night.
A color that calms the nerves and drives us towards rest. It is the color of calmness, quietness, and sophistication.
Silver – A Precious Metal
Like gold and silver, the color is a precious metal used widely in making Jewelry, placeholders, coins and medals.
It usually is placed second in metals after gold in its importance since the gold shines and silver reflects but none the less, its significance can never be ignored.
Silver – A Color Of Vagueness
Since it lies between white and black, this color is often associated with vagueness. It rejects the binaries and provides a third dimension to the meanings.
Usually related to the concept of good and evil, which is reflected by white and black respectively, the color silver blends the two boundaries literally greying the area lying in the middle as neither good nor bad. It alters the meanings of the accepted ideas providing a third perspective.
Silver – A Color Modernism
Everything in this post-modern world is tinted with silver. It is not humanly possible to not come across the color in a day. As soon as we open our eyes, our sleek metallic silver handphones cross our vision. If by chance you don’t have a silver cell phone than surely you are going to come across silver as a tap, while you are taking a shower to get ready for the day. As soon as you step outside, the busy bus-stands, the subways, the metal railings, the vast buildings standing proud and tall… everything is tinted with silver in one form or another.
Silver – A Color Of Wealth
Being a precious metal, it does reflect the wealth and high–class status. Platinum which is the most expensive metals used in Jewelry items is also silver in color. A sleek and silver varnished kitchen with all the modern equipment is a dream of any person. A silver cutlery set is kept as a family heirloom in a lot of wealthy families primarily in South Asia. Using silverware was common in the middle ages as well as it was a symbol of higher status or wealth.
Psychological Meanings Associated With Silver
Silver – A Color Of Silence
Silver is mostly associated with calmness, serenity for its affiliation with the moonlight. Associated with night, it is a color of silence. It envelops the dark when everything is quiet and pure. Therefore, it of often seen as a stress reducer and calmer of agitated nerves. Sitting under the starry sky in the moonlight is a more effective stress reducer than using medication or drinking away your worries on the weekend.
Silver – A Color Of Fluidity
For its association with the moon, it is often related to the creator of tides in the sea thus disturbing its calmness. It is seen as a color of flexibility and creativity that help produce new ideas. A sense of mysteriousness is often related to silver as it is unique in its abilities and diverse in its meanings and forms.
Silver – A Reflector
Like its appearance that is highly lustrous in nature, silver is the reflector of our feelings, emotions, and ideas. It is the reflector of our inner soul, our moods and feelings. It is an illuminator that helps one find their direction by cleansing any emotional or spiritual blockages. It inspires intuition, the divinity within oneself.
Silver – A Color Of Intelligence
It is often associated with the grey matter of the brain that promotes mental and creative abilities thus it is a color of intelligence. It is also a symbol of being wise as well. Grey hair is often associated with more experience, knowledge, and understanding of life.
Silver As A Balancer
Balancing the darkness of black and the brightness of white this color is the perfect balance of life. It balances out good and evil, light and dark, bright or dull, etc. It introduces a sense of practicality, maturity, and intuition inside a person.
Silver – A Color Of Depression
Too much indulgence in silver may often lead to gloominess and depression. It may lead one towards numbness and indecisiveness. Since the color isn’t associated with any of the emotions like many colors are, it may point towards feeling empty inside if surrounded too much with this color.
Cultural Symbolism And Meanings Associated With Silver
- China and Japan
In Chinese culture, the color holds important significance in Chinese Five element philosophy according to which every element is represented by a specific color and is by Ying-Yang theory. Silver, then in Chinese traditions is a color of trustworthiness, romance, loyalty and wealth. In Japan, it reflects technology, high-tech, masculinity, preciseness, and strength.
- Southeast Asia
In most of the Asian Muslim countries, it is seen as a color of expressiveness, fluency, and softness. The amulets worn by some Muslims are often encased in silver metal for its effectiveness. In India, the color carries some negative connotation especially when it comes to wearing silver tones by women. It is often said that a woman must avoid wearing silver, as it is closely associated with white which is worn at a funeral unless she wants to be a widower. In Hinduism, the color is believed to purify a soul from negative energy and bring moon magic.
- America and Canada
The color is often seen as a futuristic color often associated with technological innovations. It is color heavily used by industries as their color especially as mobile phones, cars, and watches. It is mostly seen as a masculine color. Thus some male products are produced in silver packaging. One of the states of America, Nevada has official state color as silver. In Christianity, it is symbolic to prayers.
Silver Personalities
Silver – A Color Of Ordinary
While some people wear flashy diamonds or glittering Gold to outstand from the crowd, people wearing silver mostly tend to avoid the spotlight. They are not an attention seeker and tend to be more reserved and indifferent of social opinion. They are not in need to seek any social approval or to gain social status. They are happier being invisible.
Silver As Ambitious
The people with silver dominating in their personalities tend to be more future–oriented. They are not worried about the past and are not nostalgic at all. What has happened, has happened. They don’t appear to be stressing about the past instead focus on what is about to come, thus making them as better planners.
Silver As Logical
Since they are not profoundly attached to their emotions, they are more analytical and logical in nature. They listen to their mind, and not their hearts when deciding or a plan. They are more open to new ideas while being resourceful thus making them successful people.
Silver As Adaptive
They are easy to welcome and adapt to changes mostly because of their lack of emotional attachment to people. They don’t prefer to linger on to one emotion for too long. Thus they move on quickly. Whether it is a breakup or a death of a family member or a significant loss in business, they get over it relatively fast thus might be taken as insensitive people.
Silver As Indifferent
They might appear emotionless and distant sometimes as they don’t prefer to indulge in their emotions. Since they prefer to be more practical than emotional, they might look as arrogant, not taking other people opinions. It may lead others to think that they are selfish with no regard for other’s sentiments.
To conclude, they are sophisticated, calm and collected people who think before act but too much association with the color often makes them distant, numb and detached from the world as a result of which they might appear as cold and egoistic.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article !