A Dictionary of Colour RSS

A color used for furnishings and wall decorations during the period of the English Regency 1810-20. The name was introduced into seasonal ranges in 1942.

A descriptive colour name introduce into seasonal ranges in 1945. A very old colour name derived from Buffalo, through the Italian Buffalo. From Greek, boubalos (the old world ox). Many varieties of Buffs are used in different industries, very often with adjectives as dark, light, deep, rich, tan etc. Originally referring to the colour of the leather used in soldiers’ uniforms. There are references to Buff as forming part of the facings on uniforms of the Trained Bands of London as long ago as 1572, and it has been stated that the East Kent Regiment derives its name “the Buffs” from the fact that they were the first regiment to use accoutrements of buffalo leather. The facings used on the uniform...

A colour standardised in 1934 from samples of the shell of the nut.