🦷

Ivory

✨ The color of ancient wisdom

Ivory is a pale, warm color that is close to white but usually has a slight yellow or creamy tint. The name comes from ivory, the hard material found in the teeth and tusks of certain animals, especially elephants. Natural ivory is not perfectly white: its appearance can range from creamy white to pale yellow or light beige, depending on the material, its age, and the lighting. In everyday use, however, “ivory” describes a color family rather than one precisely defined shade.

Like all perceived colors, ivory results from the interaction between light, a surface, our eyes, and our brain. A surface appears ivory when it reflects a broad mixture of visible wavelengths while absorbing some of the light, with a slightly greater reflection of longer wavelengths contributing to its warm appearance. The exact color can change depending on the illumination and the colors nearby.

Ivory-like colors occur naturally in materials such as bone, shells, teeth, and some stones, although these materials are not necessarily made of ivory. Many plants, fabrics, paints, papers, and ceramics can also have an ivory appearance. Modern products can reproduce the color without using animal ivory, which is important because the trade in elephant ivory has contributed to the decline of elephant populations and is restricted or prohibited in many places.

Designers often choose ivory when they want a softer alternative to pure white. On digital screens, there is no separate “ivory” light. Instead, red, green, and blue light are combined at carefully selected intensities to create a pale, warm shade that our visual system perceives as ivory. The appearance can vary from one screen to another because brightness, display technology, and surrounding colors influence perception. Ivory therefore illustrates how a familiar color name can come from a natural material while also describing a broader visual range.

💡 Did you know?

Do you know that piano keys weren't always made of plastic? Long ago, they were made of real elephant ivory. Fortunately, today that's forbidden because we want to protect wild elephants! We now use synthetic materials that perfectly imitate this beautiful cream-white color while leaving elephants alone.

Why does ivory seem 'warmer' than white? It is because it contains a small amount of yellow pigments. Under dim light, ivory remains visible and welcoming whereas pure white can sometimes appear a bit blue or cold like ice. This is why ivory is often chosen for beautiful festive clothing!

Pearls are the ivory jewels of the ocean. They form when a small grain of sand enters an oyster. To protect itself, the oyster covers the sand with very thin layers of mother-of-pearl. After several years, we obtain a magnificent pearl whose color is often that famous pearly ivory-white.