Desert sand is a very light and very weakly saturated reddish yellow colour which corresponds specifically to the coloration of

sand Sand is a granular material composed of finely divided mineral particles. Sand has various compositions but is defined by its grain size. Sand grains are smaller than gravel and coarser than silt. Sand can also refer to a textural class ...

. It may also be regarded as a deep tone of beige. Desert sand was used by General Motors, along with "

rosewood Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. True rosewoods All genuine rosewoods belong to the genus ''Dalbergia''. The pre-eminent rosewood appreciated ...

", as a paint color for their early Cadillacs. In 1998, ''desert sand'' was made into a

Crayola Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylva ...

crayon colour. Sossusvlei Dune Namib Desert Namibia Luca Galuzzi 2004

The color shown at right matches the palest of the three colors in the 3-color

Desert Camouflage Uniform The Desert Combat Uniform (DCU) is an arid-environment camouflage uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. In terms of pattern and textile cut, it is identical to the U.S. military's Battle Dr ...

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

, which in 1990 began to replace the 6-color Desert Battle Dress Uniform.

Six Color Variations of Desert Sand

Sandy brown

The web color sandy brown is displayed at right. As its name suggests, ''sandy brown'' is a shade of

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model ...

which is similar to the color of some sands.

Earth yellow

The color earth yellow is displayed at right. ''Earth yellow'' is one of the twelve official camouflage colors of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

.The 12 official MERDC camouflage colors (color samples shown):
/ref>

Sand

Sand is a

color Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

that resembles the color of

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc s ...

. In fact, another name for this color is beach, an alternate color name in use for this color since 1923. The first recorded use of ''sand'' as a color name in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

was in 1627. The

normalized color coordinates Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Most commonly it refers to: * Normalization (sociology) or social normalization, the process through which ideas and behaviors that may fall outside o ...

for sand are identical to ecru, which was first recorded as a color name in English in 1836. The

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

currently use Sand as one of their team colors.

Desert

Desert is a

that resembles the color of the flat areas of a

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

. The first recorded use of ''desert'' as a color name in

was in 1920. The

for desert are identical to fallow, wood brown and

camel A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. ...

, which were first recorded as color names in English in 1000, 1886,Ridgway (1886), pp. 36, 54, 117; Color Sample of Wood Brown: Plate III fig. 19 and 1916, respectively.

Sand dune (Drab)

Sand dune is a

that resembles the color of a

sand dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

composed of dark colored sand. The first recorded use of ''sand dune'' as a color name in

was in 1925. The

for sand dune are identical to the color names drab, mode beige and bistre brown, which were first recorded as color names in English, respectively, in 1686, 1928, and 1930.

Field drab

The color field drab is displayed at right. ''Field drab'' is one of the twelve official camouflage colors of the

Desert sand in human culture

Fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fash ...

* ''Earth yellow'' is a popular color for

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

’s

handbag A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items. Purse, handbag or pouch The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In man ...

Interior design Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordin ...

* The tones of ''desert sand'' are called ''desert colors'' because they suggest the colors of the landscape of and of the design of the Native American cultures of the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

. The ''desert colors'' are widely used (with both tones of

sky blue Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of year ...

and tones of

maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are vari ...

to complement them) in ''Southwest Design''.Google Images for "Southwest Design":

Military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

* The colors ''desert sand'', ''earth yellow'', ''sand'', and ''field drab'' are all on the list of the twelve standard camouflage colors used by the

United States Department of the Army The United States Department of the Army (DA) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the U.S. The Department of the Army is the federal government agency within which the United States Army (U.S.) is or ...

Six Color Variations of Desert Sand

Sandy brown

Earth yellow

Sand

Desert

Sand dune (Drab)

Field drab

Desert sand in human culture

Notes

References

Bibliography

Citations

See also