Silver is the pale, reflective grey-white of the metal, and its symbolism is dominated by its ancient pairing with the Moon, as gold is paired with the sun. Where gold is warm, solar, masculine and incorruptible in the traditional scheme, silver is cool, lunar, and associated with the feminine, with reflection, intuition and the tides; the alchemical and astrological tradition assigned silver to the Moon among the seven metals. It is the colour of moonlight, of mirrors and of still water, so it carries senses of clarity, purity and reflection, both literal and moral, to be untarnished.
Silver has real protective folklore: it was held to repel evil and, in later legend, to be the metal that could kill werewolves and witches, and it has genuine antimicrobial properties long used before they were understood. As a secondary and reflective value silver often signals the runner-up to gold, the second place, yet its association with the Moon gives it an independent dignity in the esoteric traditions rather than mere inferiority.