During the four-year-long construction of the Golden Gate Bridge (1933-37), many design elements were being considered. Among them was the final colour of the structure. Irving F. Morrow, the consulting architect on the project, worked with fellow architects, engineers and painters to explore colour options. Should the bridge “pop out” of the landscape or blend in? They eliminated classic bridge colours like black, grey and aluminum due, in large part, to aesthetics. The US Navy suggested the bridge should be adorned in yellow and black stripes, making it highly visible to watercraft. The experts ignored this idea. Ultimately, Morrow let the raw steel’s rust-red primer paint be his inspiration. The steel arrived at the site painted with this colour, and Morrow couldn’t get it out of his head.
“International Orange” became the official colour of the Golden Gate Bridge. Sherwin-Williams is the current supplier of paint to the famous bridge. Fireweed (SW 6328), a similar hue, is available for purchase in their stores. Contrary to popular belief, the bridge does not get painted from end to end each year. This would require 47,000 gallons of paint and would add 500,000 pounds to the structure – the same weight as two fully-grown blue whales. However, the world’s most photographed bridge does keep plenty of orange paint on hand to deal with the constant demand for touch-ups.