Color Meanings & Symbolism

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This is part two of a three-part series on color. Part one was Color Therapy &
Healing. You can read part three: The Psychological Effects of Color, where we
will delve into the psychology of some specific colors and how they might affect
your everyday life.

Here are the topics covered in this article:

 1. The Meaning of Colors You Choose
2. How Do We See Color?
3. The Traditional Color Wheel
4. What is Color Symbolism?
5. Examples of Cultural & Religious Symbolism of Color
6. Color Meanings & Symbolism of Primary and Secondary Colors
7. Color Meanings/Symbolism Charts
8. Books About Color Symbolism & Meaning

The Meaning of Colors You Choose

Carl Jung, a renowned psychiatrist and proponent of art therapy, encouraged
his patients to use color because he felt this would help them express some of
the deeper parts of their psyche. It is believed that the color choices you make
reflect a deeper meaning about your personality traits. For example, introverts
and extroverts are likely to choose different colors – blue and red respectively.

The colors you choose to wear might also say something about how you are
feeling that day. Some days you may fee like wearing something lighter,
something red, or something blue. These choices are often a reflection of how
you are feeling at the moment. Additionally, wearing certain colors may cause
you to react differently to certain situations.

How Do We See Color?

There are 2 main sources of light that create the colors we see: the sun and
lightbulbs. As you know, the light from the sun allows us to see things during
the day as well as during the night when the sun’s light reflects off the moon.
There is a visible spectrum of colors that we can see in addition to the
combination of all colors (white) and the absence of color (black).

Surfaces reflect and absorb light differently, which results in the colors we see
through our eyes. For example, a tomato absorbs all light on the spectrum
except the red rays of light. The red rays of light are reflected off the surface of
the tomato which then reach our eyes for processing.

The colored light enters the eye through the pupil, goes through the lens, then
reaches the back of the eye called the retina. On the retina there are a bunch of
light sensors called rods and cones. These rods and cones send a signal to the
brain about what the eye is seeing. The cones are capable of seeing three
colors: red, green, and blue. These are known as primary colors (RGB Model) –
more about this below.
The Traditional Color Wheel – primary, secondary, and
tertiary colors
Here you can see a basic color wheel. It is based on 3 different types of colors:
primary, secondary, and tertiary.

Primary Colors (Traditional RYB Model)

Primary colors consist of red, yellow, and blue. These 3 hues can not be mixed
or formed by any combination of other colors. Additionally, all other colors are
created by mixing these three colors.

Secondary Colors

Secondsary colors consist of green, orange and purple (violet). Secondary

colors are formed by mixing 2 primary colors.

Tertiary Colors

Tertairy colors consiste of red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green,

blue-violet, and red-violet. Tertiary colors are formed by mixing primary and
secondary colors, resulting in the two-word names.
If you’d like to know more about RGB and RYB models, CMYK, reflective and
transmitted light, then there are lots of additional sources out there that cover
more in-depth color theory. These are just some basic concepts for our series
on color therapy, meanings, symbolism, et cetera.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of traditional color theory, let’s review color
symbolism.

What is Color Symbolism?

Color symbolism is the use of color as a representation or meaning of
something that is usually specific to a particular culture or society. Context,
culture and time are certainly important factors to consider when thinking about
color symbolism.

Examples of Cultural & Religious Symbolism of Color

Depending on the culture or society, colors may symbolize diffferent things for
different people. Consider the United States as an example. What colors come
to mind when you think about traffic lights and signs? What about the flag? How
about Christmas or Halloween?

Even within the United States, there are cultures that hold certain colors sacred.
For example, at least 3 Native American nations hold the same three colors
sacred: black, white and yellow. Although, they each have 4 different colors
they hold sacred in addition to black, white and yellow.
Navajo Nation –> turquoise
Apache Nation –> green
Iowa Nation –> red

Color Meanings of Primary and Secondary Colors

The following is a list of primary and secondary colors and possible meanings of
each color. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments. You can
also view these charts as well as the main Color Symbolism Chart:

Next, you’ll find some common color meanings and symbolism of the 6 main
colors…

Meaing of the Color Red:

From: Color Symbolism Chart – RED

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Red

China & India: good luck, used in dresses, chair, parasol, cup lace, firecrackers
in a wedding
Russia & China: revolution, communism
Mayas: south
England: buses, phone booths
Spain: bull fighting, flamenco dresses
Typical Meanings & Symbolisms of the Color Red:

 alertness  lust

 ambition  madness

 aggression  martyrdom

 battle  motion

 beauty  movement

 brilliance  murder

 charity  pain

 charm  passion

 circulation  patriotism

 communism  power

 compassion  prohibition

 courage  prostitution

 danger  rage

 desire  rebellion

 determination  rescue

 devotion  revolution

 domination  romanticism

 eccentricity  sacrifice

 emotion  sensuality

 energy  sexuality

 eroticism  sin
  excitement  speed

 extroversion  strength

 fashion  suffering

 fervor  success

 fire  tension (political, social)

 friendship  thrill

 hate  triumph

 heat  urgency

 high voltage  victory

 intensity  violence

 life  vitality

 love  war

 luck  warmth

Meaning of the Color Orange

From: Color Symbolism Chart – ORANGE

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Orange

Buddhism: humility, renunciation, desirelessness
China & Japan: love, happiness, plenitude
Other: treason, Halloween

Typical Meanings & Symbolisms of the Color Orange:

 action  fitness

 ambition  flavor

 appetite  flexibility

 assurance  friendship

 celebration  fun

 change  generosity

 charisma  happiness

 communication  health

 competence  heat

 coziness  humanism

 creativity  humor

 determination  independence

 disorder  invitation

 domination  joy

 dryness  laughter

 earth  motivation

 emotion  practicality

 encouragement  radiation

 endurance  security
  energy  service

 enthusiasm  society

 exaggeration  smile

 excitement  success

 expansion  sunset

 explosion  temptation

 extravagance  tropic

 extroversion  visibility

 exuberance  warmth

 fascination  warning

 wisdom

Meaning of the Color Yellow

From: Color Symbolism Chart – YELLOW

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Yellow

Egypt: happiness, prosperity

China: Imperial color to worship, the sky
Futbol: yellow card, warning
Other: truth
Typical Meanings & Symbolisms of the Color Yellow:

 activity  intuition

 aspiration  joy

 alertness  knowledge

 brightness  laughter

 caution  logic

 communication  light

 confidence  optimism

 energy  order

 expansion  philosophy

 expression  playfulness

 extroversion  power

 fear  satisfaction

 forgiveness  signal

 friendship  spontaneity

 gaiety  stimulation

 happiness  summer

 idealism  sunshine

 ideas  thought

 imagination  uncertainty

 intelligence  warmth

 innovation  warning
  inspiration  wisdom

 youth

Meaning of the Color Green

From: Color Symbolism Chart – GREEN

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Green

Islam: Allah in nature

Northern Europe: The Green Man

Typical Meanings & Symbolism of the Color Green:

 adventure  laziness

 aspiration  life

 calmness  open air

 cleanliness  outdoors

 comfort  moist

 efficiency  mucous

 environment  nature

 equilibrium  neutrality
  faith  progress

 fertility  prosperity

 foliage  quietness

 frankness  relaxation

 freedom  renewal

 freshness  reproduction

 friendship  safety

 generosity  security

 good luck  sincerity

 grass  spring

 growth  sympathy

 harmony  vegetation

 health  vigor

 hope  wisdom

 youth

Meaning of the Color Blue

From: Color Symbolism Chart – BLUE

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Blue

Catholicism: Virgin Mary, God Father

Islam: Mosque decorations
UN Flag: peace, cooperation
India: mercy
Jewish: Holiness

Typical Meanings & Symbolism of the Color Blue:

 acceptance  logic

 authority  loyalty

 balance  maturity

 calmness  obedience

 care  order

 caution  peace

 cleanliness  piety

 coolness  power

 cooperation  protection

 compassion  quality

 confidence  quietness

 contemplation  reflection

 culture  reliability

 depression  responsibility

 despair  sadness

 depth  security

 dignity  self control

  faith  serenity

 flexibility  sincerity

 frankness  solitude

 freedom  stability

 freshness  stiffness

 goodness  technology

 harmony  tenderness

 honesty  tradition

 hope  tranquility

 ice  transparency

 infinity  trust

 intelligence  truth

 introspection  unity

 isolation  value

 law  virtue

 water

Meaning of the Color Purple (Violet)

From: Color Symbolism Chart – PURPLE

Cultural Color Symbolism & Meanings of Purple or Violet

Ancient Cultures: wealth

Catholicism: contrition, penitence, color of Lent

Typical Meanings & Symbolism of the Color Purple or Violet:

 ambition  mystery

 aristrocracy  mysticism

 art  nobility

 anxiety  nostalgia

 beauty  passiveness

 balance  penitence

 compassion  preciousness

 conflict  pride

 contrition  quietness

 coolness  reflection

 creativity  religious devotion

 drama  responsibility

 dream  richness
 dignity  royalty

 enchantment  sadness

 enigma  secrecy

 extravagance  sensuality

 fantasy  seriousness

 fashion  shadows

 femininity  sobriety

 grief  solemnity

 homosexuality  solitude

 independence  sophistication

 individualism  sorrow

 inspiration  spirituality

 intelligence  splendor

 introspection  style

 intuition  sublimation

 justice  suffering

 knowledge  superstition

 leadership  truth

 luxury  value

 magic  wealth

 majesty  wisdom

 meditation  wit
 mood  vanity