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Symmetry: Culture and Science
Volume 35, Number 3, pages 393-397 (2024)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2024_3_393

A BRIEF HISTORY OF COLOUR SYMMETRY

Stephen Weil

19 The Lodges, Killowen, Kenmare, Co. Kerry, V93 R227, Ireland;
Email: stephenweil@yahoo.com

Abstract: This work explores the concept of colour symmetry, also known as antisymmetry or dichromatic symmetry, which involves operations that interchange two colours or values within a pattern. The historical development of colour symmetry is traced from early research on two-colour patterns by Weber and Heesch in the 1930s to the field’s expansion through Shubnikov’s research in the 1950s. The concept is extended to include patterns with three or more colours, known as polychromatic symmetry. Significant contributions from mathematicians and physicists are highlighted, including the application of colour symmetry to cultural patterns, magnetic structures, and quasiperiodic crystals.

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