Is Black actually a color?

India
November 14, 2012 12:25am CST
Hello :) I was surfing today about the color black. What i came to know was, it is not a color. In fact,black is darkness which means we can say the color is black because there is no color. This information startled me because black was one of my favorite colors :)
1 person likes this
10 responses
@Arieles (2473)
• United States
6 Jan 13
Black is a color. It's the combination of all colors combined. They have said that black is "the absence" of color, but how can that be when it takes all the colors to create the color black? Black is a color and black is beautiful.
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
6 Jan 13
Hello Arieles, I suspect that you are confusing this with white, which is created by the full spectrum of light being reflected. In the case of black none of the composite parts of the spectrum are reflected, so we actually detect the absence of any colour. I still agree that it qualifies as a colour in the general usage of the term, otherwise it would be difficult to refer to.
@Arieles (2473)
• United States
6 Jan 13
Yes, I am. You are write.
• India
7 Jan 13
Thanks guys. How weird it is that we, i mean most of them like black, the absence of colors.. :)
• Philippines
16 Nov 12
It varies to which historical point you would like to define black, but in a literary stand point, black is not a color since it can't be associated or mixed with other hues. Black is defined as lacking of hue and brightness wherein it can't absorb or reflect light or any rays composing it. However, in a fashion and art context, Black was one of the first colors used in art. In the early Middle Ages, princes , nobles and the wealthy usually wore bright colors; particularly scarlet cloaks from Italy. Black was rarely part of the wardrobe of a noble family. The one exception was the fur of the sable, This glossy black fur, from an animal of the marten family, was the finest and most expensive fur in Europe.It was imported from Russia and Poland and used to trim the robes and gowns of royalty.
• Philippines
16 Nov 12
You are very much welcome, It was during those days when color denotes ranking, and modesty etc. but this generation, where freedom is more important than tradition, we are allowed to wear whatever color that we suits ourselves.
• India
16 Nov 12
Yes i agree with you but in a country like mine, people still follow those old customs and traditions and hence we are not allowed to wear black. But i do it. :D
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
6 Jan 13
Technically speaking black would be the lack of colour, which is a result of the whole spectrum of light being absorbed and none reflected. Despite this technicality, black is accepted in general terms to qualify as a colour since we can observe it. For all practical purposes we would only something that is transparent as having no colour, since we are not actually seeing anything of it.
• India
7 Jan 13
Yeah. I wonder who found out the concept of light spectrum. I wish there was some way to define black as color and not absence.
@surekharathi (14146)
• India
18 Nov 12
I also feel this black color means darkness so I not like this color and in our family no black color allowed for ladies.
• India
19 Nov 12
yes in India it's not allowed..as i said earlier.
@squallming (1775)
• Malaysia
28 Mar 13
In my opinion, it actually makes sense to say that black is actually not a color. Because when we are in dark places without light, what we could see is actually a total black. In places where there is no light, we wouldn't be able to see anything too except black. However, there are things which is naturally black in color too, can we be really certain that black is not a color then?
• India
29 Mar 13
Like you i am still not sure. I wonder how people make black color paints in their factories. We can't say that black is not a color then.
• Indonesia
5 Apr 13
In light spectrum, black is the absent of light, yes black is not a color, and white light is a mix of all light spectrum colors. But its the opposite in pigment color, white is the absent of color, so white is not a color, but black is the mixture of all pigment colors. Thats why canvas, paper, and anything else to draw, are white in color, not black.
• India
5 Apr 13
Cool! So which side will you support exactly? This is going to be interesting now. :)
@silentwill (1685)
• Philippines
14 Nov 12
I have read about that too but I don't agree. Black is a color, if it's not what else could it be. Colorless is transparent, so for me it's ridiculous to say it is not a color. If you mix black and white, you get gray. So is white and gray not colors too?
• India
14 Nov 12
I agree with you. But if you see, during night, when we see dark we see black. I think this is still a mystery
@sajujohn (1005)
• India
14 Nov 12
In my opinion also black is not a colour. I am having this opinion that in the electromagnetic spectrum, the human-eye can only see the visible light part of the spectrum, that is white light consisting of the all the seven basic light components. Since black is not one of thses colours, black itself is not a clour. On the contrary, it can be argued that the random combination of certain, if not all, colours can produce black. Therefore in my opinion, if black is a colour,it should be within the visible light spectrum but apparently it is not.
• India
14 Nov 12
Now this is what i call a scientific approach to my topic. I agree totally with you.
@prashu228 (37524)
• India
14 Nov 12
Is it, i never know nor did i get this idea. Good point actually.so we cannot see the color ,so its called as black, is it like that.Then what about white color. I thought the other way , as we cannot see any color in white ,it is named as white and colorless.
• India
14 Nov 12
Hi. White is the base of all colors. You can see it during reflection that all colors emerge from white color
@Mavic123456 (21898)
• Thailand
14 Nov 12
Hmm.. you confused me too. Now I know that black is the color. If I am asked what is the color of your hair, I will answer, at the top of my lungs ... blaaaaaaack. Now you are confusing me. But nevertheless, I will give you something to think about to. Check this site and let us see if Black is a color and white is not. Or Black is not a color and white is. http://colormatters.com
• India
14 Nov 12
Hi. Yeah i am as confused as you. Actually white color is formed due to the mixture of all colors. We had an experiment in science subject where we had to pass a light through a prism to note down the color formations