Brilliant Green is one of the triarylmethane dye

Triarylmethane dye

Triarylmethane dyes are synthetic organic compounds containing triphenylmethane backbones. As dyes, these compounds are intensely colored. Many of these dyes undergo reactions in response to acid and base, and thus serve as pH indicators....

s. It is closely related to malachite green

Malachite green

Malachite green is an organic compound that is used as a dyestuff and has emerged as a controversial agent in aquaculture. Malachite green is traditionally used as a dye for materials such as silk, leather, and paper...

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Brilliant Green has been used to color silk and wool.

In Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

 and Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

 (and formerly the USSR) the dilute alcoholic solution of Brilliant Green is sold as a topical antiseptic

Antiseptic

Antiseptics are antimicrobial substances that are applied to living tissue/skin to reduce the possibility of infection, sepsis, or putrefaction...

, also known under a Latin name Viridis nitentis spirituosa and a Russian name зелёнка [zelyonka].

Brilliant Green is effective against gram-positive bacteria.