So, William of Orange...

[johnr]

...has led to the Dutch playing in 'orange' (which is a decent legacy, given the nice kit), but did William's 'orange' originally(!) have any relation to the colour?

[Discordant Resonance]

The name originated because the family originated as the rulers of Orange, a small principality in the South of France, before ultimately ending up as the hereditary Stadtholders of the Netherlands. However, they are responsible for all carrots being orange, as the root vegetable was originally purple, before the royals cultivated a variety in the colour as a tribute to their dynasty.

[Sits]

When we parked in Orange once it was nice and warm.

[tee rex]

Orange, NSW?

[Sits]

Orange, NSW?

No it was absolutely freezing there (sleet). I meant Orange (Vaucluse).

[Sits]

Vaucluse (Provence-Alpes Cotes d'Azur) not Vaucluse (NSW)

Just to be clear.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Wasn't Orange an FN stronghold, or am I getting it mixed up with somewhere else?

[ursus arctos]

Yes, it had a FN mayor for over a decade and was long a favoured location for rallies, though the mayor split from the party a few years ago.

[Sits]

Back in the 80s and early 90s when we visited the south we'd see a fair amount of FN and LE PEN graffiti.

[Sam]

The name originated because the family originated as the rulers of Orange, a small principality in the South of France, before ultimately ending up as the hereditary Stadtholders of the Netherlands. However, they are responsible for all carrots being orange, as the root vegetable was originally purple, before the royals cultivated a variety in the colour as a tribute to their dynasty.

Sorry to be That Guy, but this is an urban myth. It's true that carrots were originally purple and it's true that it was mostly Dutch farmers who made them orange, but there's no actual evidence for the 'tribute to the monarchy' thing. Orange carrots were probably around (as one of a variety of colours) during Roman times, and the bit about them being dedicated to the royals seems to have been done after they became the dominant variety rather than them becoming the dominant variety as a tribute (you can just see the king visiting a carrot field and asking 'Oh, that's a nice colour. Did you do that for me?' 'Errr ... yes, your Majesty! That's exactly what we did!')

[ursus arctos]

I didn't have the heart to tell him

[Sam]

I hesitated, but I only read about it myself a couple of months ago (annoyingly but inevitably I can't find the link now), and found it really interesting.

Also I liked the mental image of the conversation I've described.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

"How are my oranges coming along?"

"Well, er, your Majesty, it does appear that, perhaps the fog and drizzle of the Frisian coastline isn't best suited for cultivating citrus fruits. But we have grown you THESE!"

[Duncan Gardner]

[ursus arctos]

The crest of the city of Orange (in the Vacluse) is indicative of some unfamiliarity with the fruit



The name of the city itself appears to have nothing to do with the fruit, but is rather derived from the Latin Arausio via Aurengie and Aurenga. The modern Occitan is Aurenja.

[S. aureus]

Wikipedia-ing suggests the city was called Orange before the fruit was introduced to Europe.

[S. aureus]

(and thus presumably before the colour had a name also).

[Tactical Genius]

Ripe Oranges in most part of the world are naturally green.

[jwdd27]

Ripe Oranges in most part of the world are naturally green.

Indeed. Occasionally growers get a poor harvest and have to send us shipments of citrus with various hues of green, which would usually presumably be consumed domestically or go for juicing. We have to put educational barkers on the shelf, or they put stickers on each fruit, explaining that the fruit is perfectly ripe and will still taste good. The British public remain sceptical.
The US allows orange skin to be dyed to maintain cosmetic appeal, but I think bungling Brussels bureaucrats put a stop to that in these parts.

[Various Artist]

"How are my oranges coming along?"

"Well, er, your Majesty, it does appear that, perhaps the fog and drizzle of the Frisian coastline isn't best suited for cultivating citrus fruits. But we have grown you THESE!"

I read that in the voice of Edmund Blackadder producing a potato for Queen Elizabeth as the sole 'exotic' gift of his lengthy voyaging.

[Sporting]

Ripe Oranges in most part of the world are naturally green.

Mangoes are often multicoloured, though rarely seen in Western markets.

[Balderdasha]

When I was at university and my best friend had a Colombian boyfriend, he had accompanied us on shopping trips to Sainsbury's several times before he realised that the uniform shaped and single-coloured red or orange or yellow or green peppers were actually real. They were so different from the multi-coloured, higgledy-piggledy-shaped peppers he was used to at home and looked so weird and unnatural to him that he had assumed they were some sort of plastic ornament that for some reason British people liked to buy often. Having later visited him in Bogota, I can confirm that the less "perfect" ones taste far superior.

[DCI Harry Batt]

(and thus presumably before the colour had a name also).

I reckon "yellow-red" is plenty good enough as a name.

[Balderdasha]

People used to just use the word "red" for a much wider range of hues didn't they? That's why you have everything from red squirrels (which are orange as far as I'm concerned) to red cabbage (which is clearly purple).

[DCI Harry Batt]

It was better in the olden days, when there weren't so many colours.