Colour symbolism: How the top 8 hues got their meaning

 

Colours can convey various emotions and ideas, from rage to virtue, death to majesty.

 

Numerous cultural traditions have attached profound symbolic importance to particular colour combinations. Even though many people in the English-speaking world have given up their superstitions in favour of scientific facts, many colours still have the same meanings they have always had.

 

It's common knowledge that brides wear white, red represents that anger, and that envy is symbolized by the colour green. But to understand these associations, one must look to ancient thought and behaviour.

 

Red

 

Red is a universally significant colour with multiple connotations across cultures, including life, health, vitality, war, courage, fury, love, and religious passion. All of these things share a common denominator: they demand enthusiasm.

 

Bright red oxygenated blood rises to the skin's surface during anger, lust, or shame due to the "fight or flight" sympathetic nervous system. According to Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, there are a number of hypotheses as to why this physiological trait has evolved in humans and other species. Many of these theories talk about how important it is to show dominance or make yourself more appealing to a potential mate.

 

The sports world isn't immune to the effects of the colour red when it comes to asserting power. According to research published in the journal Nature, several soccer teams performed better in games when they wore mostly red shirts.

 

In traditional societies, red artefacts were thought to represent health simply because of their colour. Most red stones, including garnets and rubies, are thought to provide curative and preventative health benefits. Roman and Chinese children have a tradition of wearing red clothing or accessories as a talisman against illness. In Rome, this was red coral.

 

White

 

White's long-held association with purity and innocence has made it a natural choice for use in religious rituals. Ohio State University says that the tradition of brides wearing white goes back more than 2,000 years when Roman brides wore white tunics to show that they were still virgins.

 

After Queen Victoria wore one to her wedding to Prince Albert in 1840, white wedding gowns became standard. According to Yerevan State University, white is worn instead of black at funerals. It is a sign of sadness in many Asian countries, including China, where red or gold may be more commonly seen as wedding colours.

 

People usually think of white as a colour, but Encyclopedia Britannica says it is the sum of all the colours reflected from a surface.

 

Black

 

According to the Journal of the International Colour Association, black (or the lack of colour it represents) has a number of negative connotations.

 

Historian Ellen Conroy noted in her book "The Symbolism of Colors" that many ancient cultures viewed black as "the hue of mystery and of the secret ways and wisdom of God" (1921). People used to think that God knew things that couldn't be understood, like how there's no light at night.

 

Death may have been the greatest mystery of all. Because of this cultural and historical association, the colour black is often used to symbolize death and the unknown afterlife. There was also a coincidental similarity between death and sleep, occurring in the dark of night with the eyes closed. Black has a long history of being associated with ominous and enigmatic concepts like black holes, black magic, the black plague, and so on.

 

Of course, black isn't always associated with gloom and doom in the fashion industry. In a study published in the journal Color Research and Application, black was revealed to be the most popular hue worn by women in a study.

 

Purple

 

The colour purple has long been associated with majesty and grandeur. Harvard Law School says that the meaning of the colour was so strong in many European countries that "sumptuary laws" made it illegal for anyone but the royal family to wear it.

 

The high cost and limited availability of the original purple dye contributed to the colour's high social standing. According to Molecules, "Tyrian purple," as the dye was called, was collected by fabric merchants from a tiny mollusc native to the Mediterranean Sea near Tyre, a Phoenician trading centre in modern-day Lebanon. Since it takes more than 9,000 molluscs to make just one gramme of Tyrian purple, only the ruling classes of Rome, Egypt, and Persia could afford to buy and wear clothes dyed with it.

 

Because ancient emperors, kings, and queens who wore purple were often seen as gods or descendants of the gods, the colour also came to reflect spirituality and holiness.

 

Blue

 

Conroy claims that for much of history, the colour blue has been most closely associated with truth, a connection that survives in the form of the phrase "true blue." The colour blue is associated with tranquilly and reflection, both of which are necessary for discovering the truth.

 

Even so, in modern times, blue symbolizes gloom and despair. If you're feeling down and out, if you've "had the blues," Since most people picture water as being blue, the association with tears and rain may stem from that.

 

However, studies have shown that people respond positively to the colour blue. For example, according to Psychology Today, blue lighting has reduced crime in both Scottish and Japanese cities.

 

Green

 

It should come as no surprise that the colour green is associated with Nature and the environment, but it also has a more ethereal meaning, suggesting knowledge. The latter is based on long-standing traditions.

 

Conroy writes that Egyptians believed the afterlife was a journey to "a green hill of endless life and eternal enlightenment" led by the God Thoth. The Romans modelled their God Mercury (who would become the planet Mercury) after Thoth. This is why "green is sometimes considered to be the colour of the planet Mercury," which "rules the mind and confers knowledge" (Conroy's emphasis), both "material success knowledge" and "inspirational knowledge and celestial wisdom."

 

Despite the positive connotations associated with the colour green, it also has a darker side. For Conroy, "green in its degraded meaning gives us 'the green-eyed monster' jealousy, which is the exact opposite of celestial knowledge because jealousy is always caused by the entrance of the ego's desires and celestial wisdom wants to give rather than receive.

 

Green has also become synonymous with Nature, primarily when it promotes environmental initiatives. The BBC reports that the word "green" originates from the Proto-Indo-European word "ghre," which means "grow" (in the context of ancient humans who lived around the fourth millennium BC). It's reasonable to infer that green's affinity for the natural world stems from the colour's profusion. Chlorophyll is a green pigment that is found naturally in most plants. It is responsible for the chemical process called photosynthesis, which turns carbon dioxide from the air into oxygen.

 

Yellow

 

Since the sun is, well, yellow, it's hardly surprising that the colour yellow is associated with joy, warmth, and sunshine in most civilizations.

 

Ancient Egyptians and Chinese believed the sun to be the embodiment of a god, making yellow the colour of the highest and most noble colours, fitting for gods and royalty (who were thought to be descendants of the gods).

 

According to Conroy, every hue has a negative connotation that has traditionally been paired with its positive counterpart. Yellow has multiple meanings, including warmth, happiness, cowardice, and dishonesty. According to her, "the dishonest Judas is usually depicted in ancient art wearing drab yellow robes, making him easy to spot."

 

Orange

 

Orange, like red, has many symbolic meanings and implications. For instance, the Huffington Post reports that orange symbolizes joy, power, bravery, and originality in many Western cultures.

 

Orange, however, has recently come to signify caution and is utilized for high visibility apparel (such as spacesuits) and safety equipment (such as traffic cones). This connection is logical: Because of its striking contrast with blue, orange stands out clearly against a cloudless sky.

 

Additional resources

Read Clive Glifford's "The Colors of History: How Colors Shaped the World" and Victoria Finlay's "Color: A Natural History of the Palette" to learn more about the historical significance of colour.

Reference : https://www.livescience.com/33523-color-symbolism-meanings.html

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# Color meaning: How eight hues got to be symbolic

# Color symbolism: How eight hues became symbolic

 # The significance of eight colours and how they became symbolic