There's evidence that before the arrival of Germanic speakers in Western Europe, a colour system prevailed which put other aspects of colour (such as brightness and gloss) on a par with hue. Latin, for instance, has two words for "white" and two for "black" based on whether the effect is muted (albus, ater) or shining (candidus, niger). Welsh and Irish historically had one word for "[artificially] bright green" (gwyrdd--from Latin viridis and uaine, respectively) and another glas) which covered darker shades of green along with certain blues and grays. (Somewhat similar to Himba burou.)

Nowadays, only traces of the earlier system survive. Welsh colour terms have been completely restructured under English influence, and the Irish terms are practically there as well. (Uaine still exists, but I'm told it's rarely used any more.) Only Scottish Gaelic (if my informants are to be trusted) still preserves the earlier system more-or-less intact.