Secondary colors are the colors formed from the combination of two primary colors.
They are called secondary precisely because they are created from this mixture, that is, they are not pure colors.
What are secondary colors?
Secondary colors are: Orange, purple and green. See the possible mixes between them:
- O green it is produced from a mixture of blue and yellow.
- O Orange It is made by combining the color yellow and red.
- O purple (or violet) is created by mixing red and blue colors.
color theory
This combination system follows the call Color Theory (also known as system RYB), developed by the iconic Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, among other famous personalities such as Isaac Newton and Goethe.
The theory gathers studies carried out on colors and considers, for example, pigments and the influence of light (additive and subtractive colors).
Find out more about the meaning of Color Theory.
Currently, however, scientifically the RYB system (red, yellow and blue) is considered incorrect. But even so, this model is still popularly considered.
CMYK
O CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, yellow and Key) became the official system, used mainly among professionals linked to the design graphic.
In this system, which is based on the mixing of light colors, the yellow, magenta and cyan are the secondary colors, which are also called subtractive. The letter K (key) represents black, which is the absence of color.
See more about the meaning of CMYK.
Primary colors
Primary colors are called pure colors because they don't arise from the joining of other colors. It is from their mixture that secondary colors emerge.
The primary colors are: Red Blue and yellow.
Read the meaning of primary colors.
tertiary colors
Tertiary colors are formed from the combination of a primary color with a secondary color. There are six possible mixes. See some examples:
- The combination of red (primary color) and orange (secondary color) creates the orange-red (tertiary color).
- The combination of blue (primary color) and green (secondary color) results in greenish blue.
- Mixing yellow (primary color) with green (secondary color) creates the greenish yellow.
Learn more about the tertiary colors.
To learn more about colors, see also: Colors, complementary colors and hot and cold colors.
See also the meaning of the color blue.
