Literary writers have sometimes invoked the “lion” not just to refer to a fierce beast but also to evoke a distinctive, tawny hue reminiscent of its skin. In these texts the lion’s skin is more than mere disguise—it suggests a warm, natural radiance and a subtle emblem of nobility. For example, in the fable “The Ass in the Lion’s Skin” [1] and the mythic episode of Herakles being clothed in a lion’s skin [2], the animal’s characteristic coloring imbues the narrative with an earthy, sunlit quality that mirrors courage and transformation. In this way the color “lion” becomes a rich, multi-layered symbol, bridging the literal animal representation with metaphorical traits of strength, regality, and the natural beauty of the wilderness.
- THE ASS IN THE LION'S SKIN An Ass put on a lion's skin, and all thought it was a lion.
— from Fables for Children, Stories for Children, Natural Science Stories, Popular Education, Decembrists, Moral Tales by Tolstoy, Leo, graf
- It was Peisander who, in the second half of the seventh century, clothed Herakles in a lion's skin.
— from Homer and His Age by Andrew Lang
This tab, the new OneLook "color thesaurus", is a work in progress.
It draws from a data set of more than 2000 color names gathered from sources around the Web,
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