Rubricate (pronounced roo-bri-keyt)
(1) To mark or color with red; to adorn with red; to
redden.
(2) To furnish with or regulate by rubrics.
(3) To write in the form of a rubric.
(4) In publishing, to print (a book or manuscript) with
red titles, headings etc; to illuminate a manuscript with red letters.
1560–1570: Either from the perfect passive participle of
the Latin verb rūbrīcō (to paint red)
or from the Late Latin rūbrīcātus, past
participle of rūbrīcāre (to color
red), the construct being rūbrīc(a) (red ocher; red earth) + -ātus.
The Latin suffix -ātus was
from the Proto-Italic -ātos, from the
primitive Indo-European -ehtos. It’s regarded as a
"pseudo-participle" and perhaps related to –tus although though similar formations in other Indo-European
languages indicate it was distinct from it already in early Indo-European
times. It was cognate with the
Proto-Slavic –atъ and the
Proto-Germanic -ōdaz (the English
form being -ed (having). The feminine
form was –āta, the neuter –ātum and it was used to form adjectives
from nouns indicating the possession of a thing or a quality. Rubricate & rubricating
are verbs, rubricated is a verb & adjective and rubrication & rubricator
are nouns.
Rubic (rubrick
the obsolete spelling) was from the Middle English rubriche & rubrike,
from the Old French rubrique, from
Latin rūbrīca (red ochre; red earth),
the substance used to make red letters, from ruber (red), from the primitive Indo-European hrewdh. Rubic came widely to
be used, derived mostly from the sense of “giving emphasis or illumination to
the text”. In ecclesiastical printing, a
“church text with rubrics” was one with the directions for a religious service
printed in red. This extended to secular
publishing when used of a heading in a book or something highlighted in red which
led to the general use as (1) a title of a category or a class, (2) an
established rule or custom; a guideline. By extension it came to describe (3) in
education, a set of scoring criteria for evaluating a pupil’s work and the
associated comments and (4) the flourish appearing after a signature.
The comparative is more rubricate and the superlative most rubricate. Lindsay Lohan illustrates the nuances:
(1) Naturally rubricated.
(2) De-rubricated.
(3) Re-rubricated.
(4) Highly rubricated.
The popularity of red among Ferrari buyers has declined from the highs of the 1990s (and it was in this decade the phrase “resale red” was popularized) when fewer than two in ten were ordered in any other color but even today some 40% of Ferraris leave the factor finished in some shade of red. Sliver, black, bright yellow and darker blues now attract buyers and noting this, the factory has in recent years launched new models in a variety of colors, the debut of the 488 Pista Spider at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance using a white car trimmed in black in Alcantara and leather, an unfortunately neglected combination.
Ferrari 488 Pista Spider, 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.
Recent trends notwithstanding, red probably still is lodged in the public imagination as the color of a Ferrari and the origins of that long pre-date the brand, the motor-car and perhaps even the Italian state. Quite how red became the Italian national color is contested among historians but the tale most Italians prefer is that of Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), an Italian nationalist general and politician. Already famous for his exploits in Brazil, Uruguay and elsewhere in Europe, the legend of Garibaldi was created by his personal command of many of the military campaigns which led eventually to Italian unification in 1871 and his reputation as a romantic revolutionary has flourished because historians have seemed always anxious to present his military adventures as noble causes; unlike many pragmatic politicians of his time, Garibaldi longed for a united country and believed in miracles.
Garibaldi’s part in the movement for Italian unification (known as il Risorgimento (Rising Again)) also added to the lexicon of paramilitary fashion. His followers were known as the Garibaldini and in lieu of a uniform, they wore the red shirts he favored, the popular legend being it was to ensure they weren’t distracted from fighting were their blood to be spilled although it’s said that during his time in Uruguay, he wore the red shirts used by the butchers from a nearby slaughterhouse. It was also an indication the campaign was a popular insurrection, not one fought by conventional military maneuvers or with traditional formations because, as the red-coated British soldiers had discovered, red wasn’t a good color to wear on a battlefield. The word Garibaldino (plural Garibaldini) is used to refer to any volunteer soldier who served in the cause and the red shirts (which were never standardized in shade, style or cut) are often called garibaldino shirts or just garibaldinos. From that point onwards, red began to be adopted as a symbol of many things Italian.
Le Mans 24-hour winning 1956 Jaguar D-Type in Ecurie Ecosse livery (known informally as Scottish Racing Blue) In 2016 it sold at auction for US$22 million.
Il Risorgimento however can’t much in 1900 have occupied the minds of the members of the AIACR (the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (International Association of Recognized Automobile Clubs), predecessor of the FIA (the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (International Automobile Federation)) because, displaying an ineptitude the FIA has of late turned into a mission statement, the color red was allocated to the United States as the official shade to be used on their racing cars. The Belgiums were granted yellow, the French blue, the Germans white and the British Green and it wasn’t until 1907 the Italians were able to claim the right to red and these colors would sometimes be an issue in the years to come. In 1934, Mercedes-Benz cars appeared in raw aluminum and the myth developed that the mechanics had to work overnight scraping off the thick layers of white paint so the machines would comply with the formula’s weight limit but the truth is less romantic. The factory simply didn’t wish to apply paint and the cars appeared at the track unpainted well before the weight limit was imposed, the company successfully arguing that in heraldry, silver and white are the same tincture (color), known as Argent. The Nazis having taken power, the attitude “don’t argue with the Germans” was settling over Europe and the authorities relented. Thus was born the era of the “silver arrows”, the all-conquering, aluminum-skinned grand-prix cars which would dominate the circuits in the 1930s and return for two winning seasons two decades later and the idea that white could be silver may have inspired the Nazis who for years argued (with gradually diminishing returns) that black was white. The FIA also didn’t push the point in the 1950s when the Edinburgh-based Ecurie Ecosse (Scotland Stable) requested to race in the blue and white livery of the flag of Scotland, noting the pre World War I precedent of a Scottish outfit which had competed under a blue tartan. Notably darker than French Racing Blue, Ecurie Ecosse argued the color really was a variation of green (although the real reason was they thought British Racing Green (BRG) was too identifiably “English”) and the request was approved, proving that if white can be silver, blue can be green. In 1968, the system began to be abandoned under pressure from teams which wanted to use the corporate colors of their sponsors and that proved the thin end of the wedge, almost unrestricted advertising appearing within years.
But even when adorned with the logos of sponsors, Ferrari
stuck to red. Ferrari has sold road-cars
(initially without great enthusiasm) to customers since 1947 and it’s
impossible to compile a definitive list of all of the shades of red used over
the decades given (1) the changes in the composition of paint which subtlety have
altered the exact tincture, even of colors which retained the same designation
(2) the sketchiness of the factory’s early records of such things and (3) the
number of vehicles painted to special order, some of which used one-off
shades. However, Rossoautomobili compiled
an illustrated guide to a dozen-odd which are said to be representative of the
variations in rosso (red), all being rubricated although some are more rubricated than others; their indicative list including:
Rosso Barchetta (Little Boat Red): A darker shade of red. Barchetta is Italian for “little boat”, an
allusion to the shape Ferrari’s early (late 1940s) race cars.
Rosso Berlinetta (Coupé Red): A recent addition which takes advantage of
newer techniques, permitting a triple-layer finish which sparkles in direct
sunlight. On the options sheet it lists
at €20.000 (US$21,200). In translation, berlinetta is literally “a small saloon”
but in the Italian way of things is to applied to coupés.
1965 Ferrari 275 GTB (short-nose) in Rosso Cina.
Rosso Cina (China Red): Another of the darker hues which many would
think of as a burgundy or maroon. Non-metallic,
it was introduced during the 1960s, the era of the 275 and 330 series cars and
was reputedly a tribute to the red used on some fine Chinese porcelain held in
Italian museums.
Rosso Dino: Another artifact from the 1960s, this one was discontinued
in the 1970s before being re-introduced early in the twenty-first century and
it remains part of Ferrari’s historical colour palette. It straddles that area between red and orange,
the name a tribute to Alfredo Ferrari (nicknamed Alfredino or Dino) 1932-1956;
son of il Commendatore, Enzo Ferrari
(1898-1987).
Rosso Fiorano (Fiorano Red): A darker shade named after Ferrari’s test
track Pista di Fiorano.
Rosso Magma (Lava Red): A very
metallic shade which was originally a Maserati part-number, added through the factory’s "Tailor Made" programme for selected
models. The name summons the image of the
red-hot lava which flows from the earth’s magma chambers during volcanic
eruptions.
2014 Ferrari LaFerrari in Rossa Vinaccia.
Rosso Vinaccia (Red Wine): The factory insists this must be thought a red although most might at first sight think it a purple. The link lies in the literal translation as “red wine” but rather than the drops, the inspiration came from the detritus, the remains of the grapes after the juice is extracted.
Rosso Maranello Opaco (Matte Maranello Red): Reflecting the fad in recent
decades for matte-finish paints (which seems to date from the idea that the
military’s stealth technology could be used to absorb rather than reflect the
radar waves police use in speed-limit enforcement), this is based on the
metallic triple-layer Rosso Maranello.
Rosso Metallizzato (Metallic Red): Dark almost to the point of suggesting a
hint of purple, it’s one of the darkest shades of red on the option sheet.
Rosso Mugello (Mugello Red): Named after the Autodromo Internazionale
del Mugello, this is both darker and a little more subdued than most reds.
Rosso Portofino (Portofino Red): Introduced as the signature shade of
the Ferrari Portofino in 2017, it’s in the traditional vein and probably only experts
can pick the difference.
1972 Dino 246 GT by Ferrari in Rosso Corsa.
Rosso Corsa (Racing Red): The classic Italian Racing Red, the
original, and to many the definitive Ferrari color.
Rosso Scuderia (Factory Team Red): The especially bright Rosso Scuderia
will be familiar to many as the exact color used by the Scuderia Ferrari (the
factory racing team) for the Formula 1 cars.
In certain light conditions, it tend to orange.
Rosso Singapore (Singapore Red): Reflecting the increasing importance of the markets in the Far East, Rosso Singapore first appeared on a "Tailor Made" Ferrari commissioned by a dealer to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Singapore.
Rubino Micalizzato (Micalised Ruby): A dark and most subdued red (which is described as a “ruby”), it’s available only on request and doesn’t appear on the factory’s color charts.
Italian Racing Red: 1950 Ferrari 375 FI (left) & 1960 Ferrari 246 F1 (right).
The 375 was built to contest Formula One during the immediate post-war era when the rules permitted engines to be either 4.5 liters (275 cubic inch, naturally aspirated) or 1.5 litres (92 cubic inch, supercharged). Although down on power compared with the supercharged BRM V16, the 4.5 litre V12 Ferrari proved more reliable and was the first in a series of classic front-engined roadsters which endured until 1960. In 1960, a 246 F1 using a 2.4 litre (147 cubic inch) V6 was the last front-engined machine to win a Formula 1 grand prix, taking the checkered flag at the Italian Grand Prix (most of the mid-engined competition having withdrawn over safety concerns about the fast Monza circuit).
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