All Things Orange Trivia Quiz

Answer: Orange the fruit

The word orange, meaning a fruit, appeared in English as far back as the 14th century. Orange as a color is first recorded in 1512. The word orange came into English as a borrowing from the Old French "orenge" via the Arabic "naranj," which, in turn, came from the Persian "narang," which was derived from the Sanskrit "naranga," meaning "orange tree." In case anyone is interested, the process by which a word adds or loses an initial letter (in this case the "n") is called metanalysis.

Answer: Secondary

Orange is a secondary color because it is made by mixing red and yellow, which are two of the primary colors (the other is blue). The other secondary colors are green and purple. Yellow, red, and orange are called warm colors, because they are associated with heat.

A 2003 study involving people from all over the world showed that orange was the favorite color of only 5% of both men and women; 22% of men and 33% of women listed it as their least favorite color.

Answer: Tenne

Tenne (also known as tenné or tawny) is an orange or orange-brown color sometimes found in European heraldry, but it is very rare in Britain. It is sometimes called a "stain" rather than a "tincture," as the main colors are. The few times it appears in British heraldry are almost always as a livery color, and sometimes as the color of supporters.

This may be because tenne was a color used in the "abatement" of arms, a series of charges used to denote cowardice or other transgressions. It is more common in continental European heraldry, and is popular in South African heraldry and in the United States.

Answer: The Netherlands

The rulers of the Netherlands are descendants of William I, Prince of Orange (1533 -1584), who was the eldest son of William, Count of Nassau. Nassau was a German duchy in what is now Hesse, Germany. When his cousin, René of Châlon, died childless in 1544, William inherited his titles, which included Prince of Orange. Orange was a principality in southwestern France. So the Dutch royal family are actually Germans who take their name from a place in France.

England was briefly ruled by the House of Orange when Mary, the daughter of James II, married yet another William of Orange. After deposing James in what was called "the Glorious Revolution," the couple ruled jointly as Mary II and William III. They had no children, so upon William's death in 1702, the throne passed to his sister-in-law, Queen Anne.

Answer: Ireland

The Flag of the Republic of Ireland is a tricolor with vertical stripes of green, white, and orange. The orange color is supposed to represent the country's Protestant minority. The flag's design is based on the French tricolor, and dates back to 1848.

It did not become the country's official flag until 1937. The Ivory Coast's flag is a mirror image of Ireland's, the same colors with the order reversed: orange, white and green.

Answer: 8

The states are: California, Florida, Indiana, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Vermont and Virginia. The largest, in terms of population, is Orange County, California which is home to over three million people.

Answer: Sapphire

While most people think of sapphires as blue, they can actually come in almost any color except red - a red sapphire is a ruby. Orange sapphires are among the rarest of all sapphires; padparadscha comes from a Sinhalese word meaning "lotus blossom." Sinhalese is a language spoken in Sri Lanka, where the finest padparadscha sapphires are found.

Their color ranges from a brilliant orange to orange-pink.

Answer: Halloween

There doesn't seem to be a lot of consensus about how orange and black became the colors most associated with Halloween. The holiday itself seems to have strong connections with a Celtic pagan celebration called "Samhain," which marked the end of summer.

The black may be connected with the idea that the dead were supposed to walk abroad on the night of Halloween, but the orange is more difficult to explain. Some say it is derived from the color of leaves turning in the fall, others that it is associated with candle flames lit to keep away evil spirits, and still others that orange did not become associated with the holiday until Americans began making Jack O'Lanterns out of pumpkins instead of the traditional turnip. Whatever the reason, Halloween is the only major holiday that seems to be associated with the color orange.

Answer: Fish

Orange roughy is a deep-sea fish that was originally called the slimehead. The name was changed to make it more marketable. Commercial fishing for this species did not really take off until the 1970s, when fishermen in Australia and New Zealand began exploiting it. Orange roughy live at depths of about 2500 feet (800 meters), and tend to live in large groups, making them easy to catch by trawling. One problem with orange roughy as a food fish is that they are very long-lived (it is estimated they can live to be 150 years old!) and reproduce very slowly. For this reason, many countries have added the fish to their endangered species lists, and some supermarket chains in the United States refuse to carry it, despite its popularity with consumers.

In most areas, fishing for orange roughy is closely regulated. Despite conservation efforts, it is estimated that orange roughy populations have been reduced by about 90% due to over-fishing.

Answer: True

We think of oranges as being - well, orange. But oranges, even perfectly ripe oranges, are often bright green in color. They only turn orange if the weather gets cold enough to cause the chlorophyll in their skins to break down. This doesn't happen in tropical countries, so their oranges stay green. Sometimes it doesn't happen in Florida or California, either. So the ripe, but still green, oranges are exposed to a gas called ethylene, which breaks down chlorophyll and unmasks the orange or yellow carotenoid pigments that give the fruit the color we expect.

In the 1980s, growers in Florida embarked on a campaign to try to convince consumers that green oranges were just as sweet and tasty as orange oranges; their slogan was "Green Is Beautiful." It failed miserably.