Mandarin yellow

Mandarin yellow is a shade .

In the Chinese Empire, the color yellow was reserved for the emperor only. The imperial officials, the mandarins , wore red tunics and violet-blue overskirts.

The color has nothing to do with the tangerine fruit ; rather, the name of the fruit indicates its originally Chinese origin.

Mandarin yellow was originally obtained from crocetin or from Chinese yellow berries ( waifa , Natalkörner ). In the past, nitric acid in aqueous solution was used for textile dyeing . The dyeing was not done with dye on the fabric, but rather through the reaction of nitric acid with the fabric fiber ( silk or wool ).

Today mandarin yellow is a tar dye that can be toxic.