Green has had rich symbolic meaning through the ages. Often, green has been used to represent nature and the attributes it embodies including life, fertility, and rebirth. One example of this is that green has been used as a symbol of the environmental movement. In more recent times, green has also been used as a symbol of wealth and capitalism since this is associated with the green color of the American Dollar. In the religious sphere, green is the traditional color of Islam and can be found in the flag of many countries with large numbers of Muslim people. Finally, green is one of three colors along with black and red that has been incorporated into the Pan-African flag where it is used to represent the abundant natural wealth of Africa. As evident, green and by extension Green Beads can be used to express a wide range of meanings, values, and even emotions.
The sources of green pigmentation in Green Beads are varied. Some stones such as emeralds and malachite occur naturally in nature. Both of these mineral ores can be found in Africa. Malachite in particular is found in large quantities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, and Namibia. Alternatively, Green may be incorporated into Glass Beads. A common source of green glass used for making beads in Africa is recycled glass. Many old bottles and glass containers are made in this color. It turns out that even small iron oxide impurities can give glass a green tint. Further addition of such oxides and also chromium oxides is used to add greater intensity to green glass. Interestingly, historic green pigment in paints was made using mixtures of oxidized cobalt and zinc.
The color green is present in a number of varieties of African Trade Beads. This includes Sliced Green Prosser Beads and Kakamba Beads made by the Prosser process, Green Rondelle Beads, Padre Beads, Snake Beads, Vaseline Beads, Green Hearts, Annular Wound Dogan Beads, Krobo Beads, Hebron Kano Beads, and of course recycled glass beads. Clearly African artisans have determined that green is a versatile and exciting color to incorporate into their beaded creations.
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