The word saffron ultimately derives (via Arabic) from the Middle Iranianja'far-. The name was used for the saffron spice in Middle English from c. 1200. As a colour name, it dates to the late 14th century.[3]
Deep saffron approximates the colour of India saffron (also known as bhagwa or kesari).[4][5]
In Rajasthani, this colour is called kesariya. The word derives its name from kesar, the Hindustani name for saffron, an important crop in Kashmir.
Buddhist monks in the Theravada tradition typically wear saffron robes (although occasionally maroon — the color normally worn by Vajrayana Buddhist monks — is worn). The tone of saffron typically worn by Theravada Buddhist monks is the lighter tone of saffron shown above.
Saffron holds symbolic meaning in Sikhism, representing spirit and sacrifice.[11] Originally a shade of yellow called basanti, the field of the modern Nishan Sahib is saffron.[11][12]Turbans worn by Sikhs most often are blue or white,[13] but basanti colour is common.[11][14]
The colour of the top panel shall be India saffron (Kesari) and that of the bottom panel shall be India green. The middle panel shall be white, bearing at its centre the design of Ashoka Chakra in navy blue colour with 24 equally spaced spokes.[18]
Bhagwa or the saffron colour denotes renunciation or disinterestedness. Our leaders must be indifferent to material gains and dedicate themselves to their work. The white in the centre is light, the path of truth to guide our conduct. The green shows our relation to (the) soil, our relation to the plant life here, on which all other life depends. The "Ashoka Chakra" in the centre of the white is the wheel of the law of dharma. Truth or satya, dharma or virtue ought to be the controlling principle of those who work under this flag. Again, the wheel denotes motion. There is death in stagnation. There is life in movement. India should no more resist change, it must move and go forward. The wheel represents the dynamism of a peaceful change.[19]
The use of saffron in the national flag and as political symbolism has been opposed.[8] One line of opposition asserts that the color is sacred and should not be politicized.[8] Another source of opposition comes from Islamists who claim the color is forbidden in Islam and strongly prohibited to be worn by the males.[8][20]
Basanti turbans are associated with the Khalistan movement in the Punjab region of Pakistan and India.[11] Even otherwise Basanti turbans are commonly used by Sikhs and not all wearing Basanti turban should be associated with separatist movement.
The saffron flag (bhagwa dhwaj) of the medieval Hindu warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was held in high esteem by the Hindu Mahasabha and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the 1920s as a representative of Hindu resurgence and militaristic tradition. The saffron flag was the "true guru" to which Hedgewar demanded obeisance from the RSS members. "The Gerva [saffron] Flag shall be the flag of the Hindu nation. With its Om, the Swastik and the Sword, it appeals to the sentiments cherished by our race since the Vaidik [Vedic] days," he said.[23]
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh and its successor Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) both used saffron as their colour. The BJP used a saffron lotus on its flag, along with a green side band that possibly reflected accommodation with Islam.[24] The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), a Hindu religious body affiliated to the RSS, also used saffron as its predominant colour, with its ascetic leaders clad in saffron robes and the lay leaders wearing saffron scarves.[25] During the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in the 1990s, the VHP and its affiliate Bajrang Dal distributed saffron flags and saffron headbands to their followers by the millions.[26][27][28]
The predominance of the saffron symbolism in the BJP and its allies led to the BJP being referred to as the 'saffron party' in the 1990s, and the term 'saffronisation' came to be used describe the increasing influence of Hindu nationalism in party politics. This period saw phrases such as the "saffronisation of the coastal belt",[29] "saffronisation of Karnataka"[30] and "saffronisation of the Congress(I)".[31] Academic and non-academic scholars wrote books with titles involving 'saffron' to refer to Hindu nationalism: Brotherhood in Saffron,[32]Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags,[33]The Saffron Wave,[34] and The Saffron Swastika.[35]
Clothing
Saffron-coloured cloth had a history of use among the Gaelic-Irish. A saffron kilt is worn by the pipers of certain Irish regiments in the British Army, and the saffron léine in the defence forces of the Republic of Ireland. The latter garment is also worn by some Irish and Irish-American men as an item of national costume (though most wear kilts, believing them to be Irish). Its colour varies from a true saffron orange to a range of dull mustard and yellowish-brown hues.
The Antrim GAA teams are nicknamed "The Saffrons" because of the saffron-coloured kit which they play in. The Old Irish word for saffron, cróc,[36] derives directly from the Latin Crocus sativus. In Ireland between the 14th and 17th centuries, men wore léinte (singular léine),[37] loose saffron-coloured shirts that reached down to mid-thigh or the knee.[38] (see Irish clothing).
Literature
The colour saffron is associated with the goddess of dawn (Eos in Greek mythology and Aurora in Roman mythology) in classical literature:
Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening from the streams of Okeanos, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her. (19.1)
The saffron finch (Sicalis flaveola) is a tanager from South America, and is common in both open and semi-open areas in lowlands outside the Amazon basin.
^
The colour displayed in the colour box above matches the colour called saffron in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Colour New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the colour saffron is displayed on page 43 Plate 10, Colour Sample K8.
^Oxford Living Dictionaries On-Line. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (1962)
^Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Colour New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203; Colour Sample of Saffron: Page 43 Plate 10 Colour Sample K8
^Lloyd Parry, Richard (24 September 2007). "Nuns join monks in Burma's Saffron Revolution". The Times. London. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2009. Which meant that to the public the Monks and their religion played an important role throughout the protests. Along with the monks were nuns, students and activists who were protesting during the revolution.
^Bapu, Prabhu (2013), Hindu Mahasabha in Colonial North India, 1915-1930: Constructing Nation and History, Routledge, p. 99, ISBN978-0415671651
^Assadi, Muzaffar (March 1998). "Karnataka: Saffronisation with Upper Castes Support". Economic and Political Weekly. 33 (12): 626–628. JSTOR4406542.
^Venkitesh Ramakrishnan (1 November 1997). "A Pyrrhic victory?". Frontline. Vol. 14, no. 22. Retrieved 2014-11-08.
^Andersen, Walter K.; Damle, Shridhar D. (1987) [Originally published by Westview Press], The Brotherhood in Saffron: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Revivalism, Delhi: Vistaar Publications
^Basu, Tapan; Sarkar, Tanika (1993), Khaki Shorts and Saffron Flags: A Critique of the Hindu Right, Orient Longman, ISBN0863113834
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