Color

Meanings & Symbolism

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:

intuition
activity
joy
aspiration
knowledge
alertness
laughter
brightness
logic
caution
light
communication
optimism
confidence
order
energy
philosophy
expansion
playfulness
expression
power
extroversion
satisfaction
fear
signal
forgiveness
spontaneity
friendship
stimulation
gaiety
summer
 happiness sunshine
idealism thought
ideas uncertainty
imagination warmth
intelligence warning
innovation wisdom
inspiration 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:

logic
acceptance
loyalty
authority
maturity
balance
obedience
calmness
order
care
peace
caution
piety
cleanliness
power
coolness
protection
cooperation
quality
compassion
quietness
 confidence reflection
contemplation reliability
culture responsibility
depression sadness
despair security
depth self control
dignity serenity
faith sincerity
flexibility solitude
frankness stability
freedom stiffness
freshness technology
goodness tenderness
harmony tradition
honesty tranquility
hope transparency
ice trust
infinity truth
intelligence unity
introspection value
isolation virtue
law 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

So, do these ring a bell with what you think the colors mean? Give this fun exercise a try –
here’s a fun little personality test based on the Luscher Color Test.

Books About Color Symbolism and Meaning