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The primary color BLUE

Blue:

Blue is calming and is associated with dreams, serenity, spirituality and water. But blue also means sadness and loneliness.

Surveys showed the blue is the most people‘s favortie colour, especially for men.

The darkes shades of blue (navy blue) are considered very masculine and suggest success and authority.

The first picture we get thinking about the colour blue is water. Cool crisp blues are related to water, ocean and sports such as sailing.

When placed next to other colours, blue seems subtle and unobtrusive.

Blue is a primary colour so it can only be made from pure pigments, but adding green makes the blue lighter and warmer (turquoise), violet makes the blue darker and cooler.

If white, black or grey are added we got the soft pastel tones mentioned before.

These tones again have different meanings.

General meanings of blue:

Positive:

• spirituality, faith
• calmness, serenity
• vastness
• cleanliness, fresh air
• unconscious, subconscious
• calming, contemplative
• contentment, fidelity
• trust, security
• intelligence, confidence
• technology, futurism
• success, power

Negative:

• sadness, depression
• cold, aloof
• austere, formal
• immoral, chilling
• staid, old-fashioned
• conservatism

Meanings of blue in other culture:

• Christianity: The Madonna is usually dressed in blue to symbolize virtue.
• Jewish faith: Colour of holiness.
• Hinduism: Blue is the colour of the god Krishna.
• China: Blue represents immortality.
• Japan: Indigo Blue symbolizes the vast ocean surrounding the islands and is often used in art and clothing.
• Ancient Rome: Colour of the clothes of philosophers.
• Ancient Egypt: The skin of the god Amun was painted blue to signify the divine.
• Iran: Blue is the colour of mourning, heaven and spirituality.
• Native Americans: They believe that blue means using intuition to serve and teach. Cherokees believe blue means defeat and trouble.
• France: Blue is associated with royalty and aristocracy.
• Gemany: Employees being dismissed are given blue letters (Blaue Briefe).

Blue in nature:

• sky, night
• fruits as blueberries and blue plums
• jewels like lapis lazuli, blue sapphire, blue topaz
• flowers like cornflowers and forget-me-nots
• ocean, water

The primary color RED

Red:

Biologically red has a strong impact. It stimulates (in both negative and positive colour meanings) and appetizes, as we said earlier.

Psychological it stirs up passion (negative and positive as well).

The first associations with red are Hell, the Devil and Cupid. But we also think about Love and War in combination with the colour red.

An interesting fact besides the meanings of colours: people that suffer from temporary blindness after a brain injury will begin to see again by seeing red long before they see any of the other colours.

Back to the psychological affects of the colour red. Women seem to be much more attracted to the cool reds, with a tone of violet (from cherry red over magenta to fuchsia).

If there are lots of white added to this colours, we get the cool pastel pinks that are so typical for women. The meanings of red are very different for this colours, they are soft and feminine the softer the red becomes.

Men generally prefer warm tones of red which lean toward orange (from tomato red to brick). If black or grey is added, we achieve soft earth colours like reddish browns which are very earthy and feel masculine.

General meanings of red:

Positive:

• energy, speed
• action, dynamism
• fun, excitement
• courage, strength
• heat, passion, love
• boldness, independence

Negative:

• danger, evil
• agression, anger
• violence, death
• blood
• war, revolution

Meanings of red in other cultures:

• Russia: Red symbolizes the Communism and revolution.
• China: In China the brides wear red and red is the colour of good luck.
• Japan: Red is considered a life-giving colour associated with female reproduction.
• To most Asians red means happiness and prosperity.
• India: Red is the symbol of life-giving purity.
• Middle-East: Danger and evil are symbolized by red.
• Greece: The dominant male colour.
• Christianity: Red in combination with green is associated with christmas.
• Native Americans: To the Cherokees, red symbolizes the East and the sacred fire.
• South Africa: Red is the colour of mourning.

Red in nature:

• blood, raw meat
• autumn, red leaves
• fire, flame, heat
• sunset, sunrise
• ripe fruits like apples, cherries, strawberries, raspberries, cranberries
• ripe vegetables like red peppers and cabage, tomatoes
• flowers like roses
• jewels like rubies, carnelians, garnets

World without colors. Could you imagine?

Imagine the world without colours. Everything is black and white. Would the world be as beautiful as with colours? Would it be as enjoyable as before?

Everything will loose its uniqueness that comes with the colour. We would react differently. The psychologial effect of colours which impacts us unconsciously would disappear.

Colours in clothes, gardens and everywhere else show our personality, feelings and emotions. It shows the culture we live in.

Even the food we eat everyday is influenced by colours.

Colours are a silent language that accomapanies us where ever we are. It is an old language, influenced by the past, by our basic instincts. We highly respond to some colours. Red and green for example have a more immediate physiological impact than blue.

The biological impact is huge. We could place three dishes on a table. One is red, the other orange and the last is blue. The food on them is totally the same.

Intuitively we would chose the red or orange dish. Red and orange appetize us, while blue does the opposite. Red and orange convey ripe fruits in nature.

Blue is the best colour for bottled waters because it highlights pureness and natural origin of the water we buy.

We would hesitate to drink a green drink, because in our basic instincts green might be poisoned.

Meanings of colours. In different cultures. Different countries.

As the distances between diffenrent countries are getting a little smaller form day to day, because of the world wide web, social networks and online communities, the cultural differences are still there.

One aspect in everyday life in some countries is still totally different to the association in others.

The colours. They work intuitive, carrying their messages to a potential customer, user or so and change their meaning on the way.

Some colours even vary their meaning within North American culture, and the differences to Eastern cultures is worlds apart.

So it is wise to know the general meanings of colours on the different continents.

Some associations with colours have long and firmly fixed meanings and are part of old traditions.

They have been part of societies over many centuries and even today we have to be aware of both, negative and positiv possible meanings of specific colours we use. 

If we want to sell a product, colours that seem fitting for us might not get the high sales we want it to in the Middle East.

So to avoid any possible negative cultural associations I am going to show you some of the main colours and their cultural meanings in different parts of the world.