Quick answer
The Golden Gate Bridge color is called International Orange, and the span has never been red. The shade arrived as the primer coat on steel shipped from the East Coast, and consulting architect Irving Morrow argued to keep it because it stands out against fog and water. The 4,200-foot main span opened on May 28, 1937 and held the world record for 27 years.
Full transcript
The Bridge That Couldn't Be Built
Engineers said it couldn't be done: a 4,200-foot suspension span across a mile-wide strait with riptides, deep water, and fog that would stop any construction. But in 1933, chief engineer Joseph Strauss broke ground anyway. The Golden Gate Bridge was built in just four years, and when it opened in 1937 it was the longest suspension bridge in the world — a title it held for 27 years. The name was never the bridge's own: the Golden Gate is the strait underneath it, the entrance to San Francisco Bay, and it was called that long before anyone thought a span could cross it.
International Orange
The bridge's famous color isn't red — it's called International Orange, a shade chosen for two reasons: it stands out beautifully against fog and water, and it was already used in the steel primer, saving money. You will be told the bridge is repainted end to end every year, or every seven. It is not, and the District says so plainly: painters work continuously but by priority, on whatever the inspectors rank as worst. The colour was an accident kept on purpose — the steel arrived in a reddish primer, and consulting architect Irving Morrow argued for leaving it that way instead of the grey, or the black and yellow stripes, that were on the table. There are about 600,000 rivets in each tower and 80,000 miles of wire in the two main cables. On foggy days, the towers seem to float above the clouds; locals say you haven't seen the bridge until you've seen it disappear.
How to Walk It
Pedestrians use the east sidewalk, and it runs on gates rather than on daylight — it opens early and shuts well before midnight, earlier in winter. Enter from the southeast parking lot near the visitor center, or from the bridge pavilion, and check the posted hours before you set off. The full crossing is 1.7 miles each way. Go to Battery Spencer on the Marin side for the postcard shot, or walk down to Fort Point underneath for the better one.