What Does Gold Symbolize on a Buddha Statue?

Gold on a Buddha image points to the Buddha's own body. Buddhist tradition lists thirty-two physical marks of a Buddha, and one of them is skin that shines like gold. The Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art explains that this is why Buddha images are usually gilded. Chinese Buddhists read the golden colour as an expression of the Buddha's spiritual radiance, inner purity and the immeasurable worth of his teaching. Read more at:
https://www.originalbuddhas.com/blog/why-are-buddha-statues-gilded