People love the Statue of Liberty for its amazing architecture and iconic olive-green colour. The colour specifically signifies American freedom. But you will be surprised to know that it wasn’t the same colour always. Let us remind you that France gifted the Lady Liberty to US in 1885. And at that time, the gorgeous statue was reddish-brown in colour.
statue of liberty was originally reddish brown in colour
The colour changed happened later as a result of a 30 years’ chemical reaction with the air of New York City! Can you imagine that just an air can bring about such a striking change in the colour of a statue?
Watch the video here:
"In her first few decades in the 'Big Apple', the statue slowly turned from that shiny copper colour to a dull brown and then finally to the blue-green we see today," according to a video produced by the American Chemical Society and PBS Digital Studios.
The copper of the statue continuously reacted with the oxygen in the air to form a black-coloured ‘teronite’ which imparted dark brown hue to it. The sulphuric acid in the air and the salty air around the statue reacted with the teronite to form atacamite which is responsible for the olive-green colour of the statue.
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Researchers say that the olive green coating on the statue helps protecting it from further corrosion in the hands of components of air. And hence, the statue remains this colour for over a hundred years.
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