Editing Pencil (section)

==External colour and shape of pencils==
<!-- removed as this section is about the color of pencils and not colouring pencils [[File:Colouring pencils.jpg|right|thumb|Coloring pencils.]]-->
[[File:Number-2-pencil.jpg|thumb|left|A typical yellow no. 2 pencil]]

The majority of pencils made in the US are painted yellow.<ref>75% of the 2.8&nbsp;billion pencils made in the US are painted yellow (Steve Ritter "Pencils & Pencil Lead", ''Chemical & Engineering News'', Volume 79, Number 42 page 35, 15 October 2001). [http://pubs.acs.org/cen/whatstuff/stuff/7942sci4.html Pubs.acs.org]</ref> According to [[Henry Petroski]],<ref>[[#Petroski, 1990|Petroski, 1990]], pp.&nbsp;162–163</ref> this tradition began in 1890 when the L. & C. Hardtmuth Company of [[Austria-Hungary]] introduced their [[Koh-I-Noor (company)|Koh-I-Noor]] brand, named after the [[Koh-i-Noor|famous diamond]]. It was intended to be the world's best and most expensive pencil, and at a time when most pencils were either painted in dark colours or not at all, the Koh-I-Noor was yellow.
As well as simply being distinctive, the colour may have been inspired by the [[Austria-Hungary#Flags and heraldry|Austro-Hungarian flag]]; it was also suggestive of [[the Orient]] at a time when the best-quality graphite came from [[Siberia]]. Other companies then copied the yellow colour so that their pencils would be associated with this high-quality brand, and chose brand names with explicit Oriental references, such as Mikado (renamed Mirado)<ref>Eagle Pencil Company applied for the trademark [[Mirado]] in 1947 (US Trademark 71515261). It is common belief that this was an attempt to disassociate the pencil brand from Japan, as one of the meanings of [[Emperor of Japan|Mikado]] is emperor of Japan.
[[#Petroski, 1990|Petroski]] states that Eagle Pencil Company changed the name after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]].</ref><ref>Mikado/Mirado pencils were originally made by Eagle Pencil Company—today [[Berol]]--but can also be found today under the trademark [[Papermate]] and [[Sanford (writing products)|Sanford]] as Sanford owns Berol and the trademark Papermate [http://www.brandnamepencils.com/brands/eagle/mikado174.shtml Brandnamepencils.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929081527/http://www.brandnamepencils.com/brands/eagle/mikado174.shtml |date=29 September 2007 }} Mirado Pencil</ref> and Mongol.<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.pencilpages.com/gallery/eberhard-faber/mongol.htm
 |title       = Eberhard Faber Pencil Gallery
 |publisher   = Pencilpages.com
 |accessdate  = 23 July 2009
 |deadurl     = no
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090408015423/http://www.pencilpages.com/gallery/eberhard-faber/mongol.htm
 |archivedate = 8 April 2009
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref><ref>Originally made by [[Eberhard Faber]] the Mongol trademark is now owned by Sanford [http://timberlines.blogspot.com/2005/08/mongolized.html Timberlines.blogspot.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030943/http://timberlines.blogspot.com/2005/08/mongolized.html |date=4 March 2016 }} Timberlines Blog "Mongolized" 31 August 2005. Retrieved 23 August 2007.</ref>

Not all countries use yellow pencils. German and Brazilian pencils, for example, are often green, blue or black, based on the trademark colours of [[Faber-Castell]], a major German stationery company which has plants in those countries. In southern European countries, pencils tend to be dark red or black with yellow lines, while in Australia, they are red with black bands at one end. In India, the most common pencil colour scheme was dark red with black lines, and pencils with a large number of colour schemes are produced by various companies.

Pencils are commonly round, [[hexagonal]], or sometimes triangular in section. [[Carpenter pencil|Carpenters' pencils]] are typically oval or rectangular, so they cannot easily roll away during work.