What does padparadscha mean?

The word padparadscha holds its roots in the Sinhalese language, language of the island of gems, Sri Lanka. It is said that the word padparadscha comes from the combination of the Sinhalese words "padma", meaning lotus and "raga" meaning colour. So literally we are talking here about the colour of a lotus flower.
For a lot of people, the colour of a lotus flower is known to be white, however in Sri Lanka, a lotus is known to display a beautiful highly saturated pink colour on the tip of the petals, gradually shifting into a strong yellow colour towards the center of the flower. So how come, today, we associate that term to a pink to orange colour?

In 1904, it is actually that combination of colours (yellow-pink, even more red than pink) that was given by Coomaraswamy as a description of the trade name padparadscha. Across the years, people diverted from a red to an orange, a yellow, a yellow-pink to finally an orange-pink. One of the earliest description of the term padmaraga, however, goes back to 1898 and describes a ruby of the finest red.

What a fascinating story - lying behind such a unique and equally fascinating gemstone!

If you are as excited as me by this mesmerising gem and its history, I strongly recommend you to read the article "padparadscha: what’s in a name?" by Robert Crowningshield. Even if written a couple of years ago now (spring 1983), this article bears deep and captivating research about the so highly coveted padparadscha trade name.