Bea-ing Yellow

It’s such a beautiful colour, isn’t it? It’s reminiscent of spring: daffodils, crocus, primroses.

I find it strange therefore that the colour has negative connotations. A yellow-belly is a cowardly person. A hospital in quarantine would fly a yellow flag. For many years there was a xenophobic fear of eastern races labelled the yellow peril. Someone with a yellow streak has a tendency to dastardly behaviour.

An older meaning, and not one I recognised, was that yellow can mean sensational. A yellow-back was a cheap, sensational novel common in the 19^th century.

Yellow press meant newspapers abounding in exaggerated and sensational articles. I can think of many magazines today which fit that description, albeit not many of them use the colour yellow as part of their branding. I’ve recently taken out a subscription with Readly which provides access online to hundreds of different publications. Some are highly sensationalised, others not so.


They may not all be magazines I would choose to read but a little research reveals many will pay for readers’ letters, photographs and helpful hints. So on the days when I find it difficult to focus on longer pieces of writing, I intend to send in my contributions. I may even win some prizes for doing so. Now wouldn’t that be sensational!