Russet (color)

Russet
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#80461B
sRGB B (r, g, b)	(128, 70, 27)
HSV (h, s, v)	(26°, 79%, 50%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(36, 54, 33°)
Source	ColorHexa [1]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Strong brown
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Russet is a dark brown color with a reddish-orange tinge. As a tertiary color, russet is an equal mix of orange and purple pigments. The first recorded use of russet as a color name in English was in 1562. ^[2]

The source of this color is The ISCC-NBS Method of Designating Colors and a Dictionary of Color Names (1955) used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps. ^[3] However, it is widely considered hard to standardize, and the same vary name could be applied to various tones; russet often has no more specific meaning than ruddy or reddish. ^[2]

The name of this color derives from russet, a coarse cloth made of wool and dyed with woad and madder to give it a subdued grey or reddish-brown shade. By the statute of 1363, poor English people were required to wear russet. ^{[4] [5]}

Russet, a color of autumn, is often associated with sorrow or grave seriousness. Anticipating a lifetime of regret, Shakespeare's character Biron says in Love's Labour's Lost , Act V, Scene 1: "Henceforth my wooing mind shall be express'd / In russet yeas and honest kersey noes."

Russet is mentioned in a famous quote taken from a letter Oliver Cromwell wrote to Sir William Spring in September 1643: "I had rather have a plain, russet-coated captain that knows what he fights for, and loves what he knows, [than that which you call a gentleman and is nothing else]". ^{[6] [5]}

See also

• List of colors
• Russeting
• Russet apple
• Russet potato

References

1. "Russet / #80461b hex color". ColorHexa. Retrieved 2025-03-12.
2. Maerz, Aloys J.; Paul, Morris Rea (1930). A Dictionary of Color. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 177. ASIN   B0014LYBSG.
3. See sample of the color Russet (Color Sample #55) displayed on indicated page: ISCC Color List Page R ^[usurped] .
4. Britnell, Richard H. (1986). Growth and decline in Colchester, 1300–1525 . Cambridge University Press. pp. 55–77. ISBN   0-521-30572-1.
5. St Clair, Kassia (2016). The Secret Lives of Colour. London: John Murray. pp. 246–247. ISBN   978-1-4736-3081-9. OCLC   936144129.
6. Partington, Angela (1970). Oxford Dictionary of Quotations (2 ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 167. ISBN   0-19-211523-5. OCLC   239676679. Cites Carlyle, Letters and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell.