Like so many people, I am imprinted on the imagery of the symbolic dove, the white one carrying an olive branch, which has been depicted in classical art over the centuries. This bird, Which I saw in Jaffa, Israel, visibly, is not one of those.
The biblical story says that a dove carried a branch to Noah in his ark to signify that land was not far off. I have never questioned, till now, what might have been the true colour of the bird. The connection between the colour of truce and peace, the colour white, is not difficult to make when thinking about the symbol of peace. Might Noah's bird have been an albino, or, could it be one of the many different colourways and varieties of dove we see around the globe today?
The Royal Air Force have a rock dove in their insignia, which looks to me, much like any of the many common grey-ish pigeons seen. Pigeons and the doves are the same family of bird, it should therefore, be no surprise that a dove can have many varied coloured presentations. Irrespective of that, it is a surprise to me, because deep in my psyche, planted subliminally there by all the references, I expect a dove to be white.
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