August Birthstone Color and Flower & other August Birthday Symbols

The August Birthstone is Peridot

The first official birthstone for August is the lovely yellow-green gemstone Peridot and the August birthstone color is light green.

The alternative birthstone for August is Sardonyx, and the recently added second official birthstone is Spinel.

The Peridot gemstone is associated with growth, prosperity, love, loyalty and protection.

The origin of ‘peridot’ is not clear but may come from the Arabic word “faridat”, which means “gem.”

Peridot is one of the Zodiac birthstones for Virgo (Aug 23 – Sep 23) and Sardonyx is one of the Zodiac birthstones for Leo (Jul 23 – Aug 22).

The birth flowers for August are the Gladiolus and Poppy.

 

Rough Peridot Stones
Raw Peridot Crystals (Pakistan) from EKJsNaturalWonders

August Birthstone Color: Light Green

The August birthstone color of light green comes from the August gemstone Peridot , also known as Olivine, due to its primary color of olive green.

Peridot is one of the few gemstones that only occur in one color – ranging from shades of brownish to yellowish green.

Peridot is the gem quality of the mineral forsterite and the green shade is determined by its iron composition.

Some of the best specimens were found in St John's Island off Egypt where peridot was mined for over 3500 years.

Other locations include Australia, Brazil, China, Hawaai, Myanmar (Burma), Norway, Pakistan, South Africa and the USA.

Second Official August Birthstone: Spinel

The second official birthstone for August, Spinel, was added to the birthstone list in 2016.

Spinel colors are mostly in the orange to red and pink range, but it also occurs in shades of purple, blue and green.

Red spinel and ruby are both colored by chromium and are very similar in many respects, thus can be easily confused.

The Black Prince's Ruby in the British Crown Jewels is in fact made up of a very small ruby embedded in mostly red spinel.

Synthetic spinal has been manufactured since 1910 and can be used to produce imitation rubies and diamonds.

The main countries where spinel is found are India, Madagascar, Mayanmar (Burma) and Sri Lanka.

Rough Spinel Stones
Raw Spinel Crystals (Vietnam) from Holy Mountain Minerals
Tumbled Sardonyx Stones
Polished Sardonyx Crystals (Brazil) from EKJsNatural Wonders

Alternative August Birthstone: Sardonyx

The alternative birthstone for August, Sardonyx, is a variety of Agate with reddish brown bands (sard) alternating with black (onyx) or white bands.

Due to the layered structure sardonyx is suitable for carving cameos and intaglios, which were often fashioned into wax seals in Roman times.

The Sardonyx Mountains of India are one of the main sources of sardonyx. Other countries include Australia, Brazil, China, Madagascar, Sri Lanka, Ural Mountains of Russia, Uruguay and the USA.

AUGUST BIRTHDAY SYMBOLS

August Birthstone Peridot

Birthstone: Peridot

Official birthstones: Peridot and Spinel

Alternative birthstone: Sardonyx

Birthstone color: light green

Birth flowers: Gladiolus & Poppy

August Birthstone Peridot

 Zodiac birthstone Leo: Sardonyx

Zodiac birthstone Virgo: Peridot

 

16th wedding anniversary: Peridot

August Birthstone Peridot

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