International Orange

      Since its opening on May 27, 1937 the Golden Gate Bridge has become the symbol of the San Francisco Bay. As the San Francisco Chronicle referred to it, “the thirty-five million dollar steal harp” took eleven lives, ten different contractors, and four years to complete. Stretching 4,200 feet across the Bay the Golden Gate Bridge stood as the longest suspension bridge from the time of it’s opening in 1937 to 1964. The bridge tends to be identified easily by its bright color, “International Orange”, which was chosen by the contractors for multiple reasons: first it allows for a warm color contrast between the blue of the bay, and green of the land masses on either end, and second it was necessary to have a color that could be spotted through the infamous thick San Francisco fog. The Golden Gate Bridge has served as a main thoroughfare for commuters between Marin County and San Francisco; as of May 30, 2012 1,970,331,117 vehicles have crossed the bridge since its opening. On May 24th, 1987 for the bridge’s 50th anniversary people came from all over the world to pay homage to the bridge on its monumental day. The Golden Gate Bridge is also easily recognized for the role it has played in over 40 major motion pictures as well as in several documentaries focused on its superior status as a suspension bridge.

Joseph P. Strauss, the Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge, wrote the following poem after its construction in 1937: 

The Golden Gate Bridge

I am the thing that men denied, 

The right to be, the urge to live; 

And I am that which men defied, 

Yet I ask naught for what I give. 

My arms are flung across the deep, 

Into the clouds my towers soar, 

And where the waters never sleep, 

I guard the California shore. 

Above the fogs of scorn and doubt, 

Triumphant gleams my web of steel; 

Still shall I ride the wild storms out, 

And still the thrill of the conquest feel. 

The passing world may never know

The epic of my grim travail; 

It matters not nor friend or foe -

My place to serve and none to fail. 

My being cradled in despair, 

Now grown so wondrous fair and strong, 

And glorified beyond compare,

Rebukes the error and the wrong. 

Vast shafts of steel, wave-battered pier, 

And all the splendor meant to be;

Wind-swept and free, these, year on year, 

Shall chant my hymm of Victory!

      Strauss’ personifies the bridge by referring to in the first person granting the bridge a role in San Francisco society. The Golden Gate Bridge provides the people of San Francisco a sense of security when it mentions “I guard the California shore.” Its bright orange arch provides a gateway to the city. “Triumphant gleams my web of steel” symbolizes the golden persona the Golden Gate Bridge has over San Francisco and represents the opportunity that awaits as you cross over from Marin to San Francisco or by boat from the Pacific Ocean to the inlet of the Bay. Strauss writes from the Golden Gate Bridge’s perspective “my place to serve and none to fail,” symbolizing the responsibility for crossing people safely into the city as well as protecting them from intruders trying to enter from sea. “Now grown so wondrous fair and strong, and glorified beyond compare” represents the Golden Gate Bridge as a symbol for victory and prosperity that comes from living in San Francisco. 

The Golden Gate Bridge has been romanticized and seen as a golden asset to San Francisco, but with every “white knight” comes a “black knight.” The Golden Gate Bridge’s “dark knight” has become the patrons who have jumped to their death from the Golden Gate Bridge throughout the years. The Golden Gate Bridge is reported to have the most suicides, with a 98% fatality rate, committed, by 2005 on average one suicide was reported every two weeks. The image of despair represents the people who failed to find success in San Francisco by crossing the golden bridge. However, it is believed that the Golden Gate Bridge is also chosen because of the dramatic purpose it serves upon taking the 245 foot plunge into the icy Bay waters. Although the bridge is more popularly known for the many people who come to marvel at the bridge each year, the bridge contains a dark side full of victims of despair and failure.