Cochineal dye was used by the Aztec and Maya peoples of North and Central America. Eleven cities conquered by Montezuma in the 15th century paid a yearly tribute of 2000 decorated cotton blankets and 40 bags of cochineal dye each. Carminic acid is extracted from the female cochineal insects and is treated to produce carmine, which can yield shades of red such as crimson and scarlet.*
The main host for the cochineal insect is the nopal cactus, also known as the prickly pear. As early as the 12th century, the Aztecs domesticated the insect and, through selective breeding, increased the strength of the dye they produced.
When the Spanish conquered modern-day Mexico in 1519 they realized that cochineal’s concentrated color was far superior to the European red dyes of kermes and grain.**
Cochineal dye provided the red in the “Redcoats” of the British soldiers in the Revolutionary War in America and can still be seen in the scarlet red robes of Cardinals in the Catholic Church.
Sources:
*Wikipedia
** Chromatopia, An Illustrated History of Color by David Coles
Mexican Indian Collecting Cochineal with a Deer Tail by José Antonio de Alzate y Ramírez (1777)
Europium
The modern dependency of the world on a single region for the color red used in television screens and computer monitors is seen in the reliance on China for the rare earth mineral Europium. Europium is one of the rarest of rare earth elements on Earth and among the least abundant elements in the universe.
Text and Image from Wikipedia
