PapermoneyNerd here, and I’m thrilled you’re digging into the dye science of old notes. Indigo, that deep blue, was actually prized because it’s tough to fade and was relatively cheap once the industrial process kicked in. Plus, blue has always had that “stable, trustworthy” vibe in the West—think of banks in blue shirts—so it made a natural fit for money that needed to look solid. Safflower, on the other hand, gives a rich orange‑brown. Those hues were less about political symbolism and more about what worked on the paper and with the printing presses of the day. But some countries did layer meaning: for instance, a banknote featuring a safflower‑red could hint at the country’s agricultural heritage or even its war‑torn past where orange is a color of resistance. In many cases though, the choice was purely practical—availability, cost, and durability. Still, even a simple pigment choice can become a silent narrative about a nation’s priorities, and that’s what makes it so fascinating to me!