Indigo – Sheffield Gears Up For A Match Made In Heaven

Something new is coming - a new name and new colour for Sheffield and South Yorkshire. Soon we will be painting Sheffield Indigo, but what does Indigo mean to you?

Indigo is the colour of deep midnight sky and is the sixth colour of the rainbow, sitting between its neighbours blue and violet.

Newton was responsible for classifying the colour tone between blue and violet as Indigo, thus determining 7 primary colours. Newton was trying to match colours to musical scales and seven has traditionally been seen as a magic number, although indigo is generally considered to be the number six.

Dye exported from India has always been expensive and thus Indigo has always been associated with status and prestige and is sometimes referred to as Royal Blue. With its obvious connotations of power, importance, quality and status, the ancient Egyptians dyed mummy cases with indigo as well as their clothes.

In England during the Elizabethan period, only Royalty and Nobility were permitted to wear indigo – thus the phrase ‘born to the purple’. Indigo has long been the colour of Kings, so much so that who could wear the colour was once dictated by English Law!

Given its long history and symbolic value, Indigo has religious and spiritual association. Indigo represents the sixth Chakra (called Ajina), which also includes the third eye and is believed to be associated with intuition and knowledge.

On canvas, the Virgin Mary is usually depicted with the colour, which is said to signify heavenly grace.

The intuitive reader will have already noted there are six facts above and six letters in the word Indigo. Soon we will be painting Sheffield in Indigo, so be prepared for a match made in heaven!

Colours are also rooted in symbolism and this is a tradition that continues in fashion and culture today. Reports are always coming out describing the personality you have by the colour of car that you drive. With indigo representing power and status, wouldn’t it be nice to have an indigo car and an indigo car super dealer!