Where did the term yellowbelly come from?

Question

From the western days right? Is it suppose to describe Chinese people? I think they associate yellow with being cowardly because I guess they thought the Chinese in the western times to be cowardly.

Answer 1

. The color yellow has traditionally been associated with cowardice, treachery, inconstancy and jealousy. Brewsters says that in France, the doors of traitors' houses were daubed with yellow. The medieval yellow star (continued by the Nazis) branded Jews as having "betrayed Jesus." In medieval paintings, Judas Iscariot (ultimate symbol of treason) is portrayed wearing yellow garments. In Spain, victims of the Inquisition wore yellow, to imply they were guilty of heresy and treason. On the American frontier in the early 1800s, a "yellow-dog" was anything worthless.

The combination of yellow (cowardly, treacherous) with the belly or guts (stamina, grit, heroism) seems pretty obvious. A person with guts is a person with courage. The combination yellow-bellied was thus a double way of saying the person had no courage. That usage first appeared around 1925 in the U.S.
A more plausible source is the medieval theory of medicine that assumed there were four humors (fluids) in the body. These determined the physical and mental condition of the person. If they got out of balance, you got sick or went crackers. The four humors were blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. Yellow bile (choler from the Greek kholos for gall) made you peevish, choleric, irascible. The disease cholera got its name from the symptom of, ah, yellowish diarrhea. From there to yellow as symbol of jealousy and inconstancy was a pretty easy step.

Answer 2

Actually it came from the Confederate States of America.
It was employed by the Federals who wore the pre-war blues
and denoted the rebel infantry yellow-faced jacket with this term. It was commonly employed as the rifle aiming point.
When the Confederates turned to run the standard insult was
'Yellowbelly" with hope it would turn more targets around for
slaughter. Gunners wore red, of course, but these were not
usually seen except over open sights prior to shot of grape;
infantry yellow was a much more suitable slang to slur.

Answer 3

I don't think either answer is corrrect. French and Indian war maby the color of the shash worn across the middle of the uniform I thought I will do some more research?

Answer 4

it refers to the bottom side of most snakes. Snakes tend to scurry of and hide upon human contact and their belly is yellow. That is what I have been told anyway.

Answer 5

The Simpsons (i'm only joking guys, don't be offended)