The COLOR CODEX series — to which SEMIOVOX has invited 50 of our commercial / applied semiotician colleagues from around the world to contribute — explores the unexpected associations evoked for each of us by specific colors found in the material world. Vol. 1: 2023–24. Vol. 2: 2026–27.

I took this photo at a resort in Chang Mai, Thailand in 2024. It is now my calming screensaver. At the time, I would have described the colour of the pool as ‘turquoise’ but I am not sure how well the colour comes through in the photo.

But then, what is turquoise?

Venetian merchants brought the gemstones now known as turquoise to Europe from what was then Persia during the Middle Ages, via the bazaars of the Ottoman Empire. The French used their word for Turkish to describe these stones. This then became ‘turquoise’ in English.

Turquoise the colour has a Hex code: #40E0D0. However, turquoise the mineral, and the gemstones made from it, vary in colour. For example, the Sleeping Beauty stone from Arizona is apparently a bright sky-blue colour. Some turquoise stones from Iran are said to be a robin’s-egg blue, while one from Kazakhstan is more of a periwinkle blue.

Perhaps the colour in the photo is more aquamarine than turquoise? Aquamarine, like turquoise, is a semi-precious stone of the Cyan group. Its hex code is #66CDAA. Maybe. What’s in a name? A lot, actually: Aquamarine gemstones are much more expensive!

Turquoise is unusual. It is both bright and restful. Gaze into that turquoise pool. You will feel both tranquil and uplifted.

I was given a turquoise ring by my grandmother when I was little. It was my mum’s favourite colour; and it is also part of my brand’s colour palette. And now, for me, it is forever associated with the beauty of that Chang Mai resort.

I love colours that are both natural and complex. Turquoise occurs naturally in the world and as such is essentially fascinatingly variable yet true to itself.

COLOR CODEX: Martha Arango (Sweden) on FALUKORV RED | Rachel Lawes (England) on DEVIL GREEN | Audrey Bartis (France) on KYOTO MOSS | Maciej Biedziński (Poland) on SKIN-DEEP ORANGE | Natasha Delliston (England) on MARRAKECH MINT | Whitney Dunlap-Fowler (USA) on RESURRECTION CANARY BLUE | Ximena Tobi (Argentina) on VILLA MISERIA BRICK | Aiyana Gunjan (India) on LETTERBOX RED | Lucia Laurent-Neva (England) on TEAL BLUE VOYAGER | Charles Leech (Canada) on STORMTROOPER WHITE | William Liu (China) on PINING GREEN | Ramona Lyons (USA) on GOTH PURPLE | Greg Rowland (England) on LAUNDROMAT FUTURA | Sónia Marques (Portugal) on RUNAWAY BURRO | Max Matus (Mexico) on CALIFORNIAN BLUE | Chirag Mediratta (Canada / India) on AUROVILLE ORANGE | Alfredo Troncoso (Mexico) on BORGES GLAUQUE | Josh Glenn (USA) on TOLKIEN GREEN | Clio Meurer (Brazil) on PARIS LUMINOUS GREY | Serdar Paktin (Turkey / England) on AMBIENT AMBER | Maria Papanthymou (Russia / Greece) on AGALMATOLITE WHITE | Sarah Johnson (Canada) on ARMY GREEN | Vijay Parthasarathy (USA) on ALPHONSO YELLOW | Tim Spencer (England) on ELECTRO-EROTIC COBALT | Adelina Vaca (Mexico) on MEXICAN PINK | Brian Khumalo (South Africa / USA) on STATUE OF LIBERTY TEAL | Madoka Suganuma (Japan) on BLOSSOM PINK | Susan Bell (Australia) on THAILAND TURQUOISE | Rajan Luthra (India) on AMALTAS YELLOW | Carla Moss (Austria) on EASTERN BLOC GREY | Dora Jurd de Girancourt (France) on JACARANDA PURPLE | Alexandra Ncube (England) on PMDD RED | Katrin Horn (Austria) on PIER BLUE | Ľudmila Lackova Bennett (Czech Republic) on BARBIE PINK | Onaiza Drabu (India) on TBD | Jiakun Wang (China) on GEN Z PURPLE | Manar R. El Wahsh (Canada) on FATIMID GOLD | Gianlluca Simi (Brazil) on TECH BLUE | Gemma Jones (Netherlands) on TBD | Mariane Cara (Brazil) on IPANEMA GOLDGLOW | Su Luo (China) on TBD | Jamin Pelkey (Canada) on TBD | Cathy Maisano (Australia) on TBD | Hyaesook Yang (South Korea) on TBD | Hibato Ben Ahmed (France) on TBD | Eugene Gorny (Thailand) on BUDDHIST RED | Elinor Lifshitz (Switzerland) on TBD | Jessica Hamel Akré (France) on TBD | Iván Islas (Mexico) on MITLA YELLOW | Victoria Gerstman (Scotland) on TBD.

Also see these global semio series: MAKING SENSE (Q&As) | SEMIOFEST SESSIONS (monthly mini-conferences) | COVID CODES | SEMIO OBJECTS | COLOR CODEX | DECODER (fictional semioticians) | CASE FILE | PHOTO OP | MEDIA DIET | TATTOO YOU (semioticians’ tattoos).