Meanings of color

Here is a table of colors and many of the meanings they tend to evoke, particularly in Western
cultures. Notice how colors can mean very different things - it is not that the colors themselves
have meaning, it is that we have culturally assigned meanings to them. For example, red
means warmth because of the color of fire. Likewise, it means anger because of the increased
redness of the face when it flushes with blood. Purple symbolizes royalty only because the
only purple dye that was available for many centuries was very expensive.

Color Western meaning

warmth, love, anger, danger, boldness, excitement, speed,
RED: strength, energy, determination, desire, passion, courage,
socialism
PINK: feminine, love, caring, nurture
cheerfulness, low cost, affordability, enthusiasm, stimulation,
ORANGE:
creativity, aggression, food, halloween, liberal (politics)
attention-grabbing, comfort, liveliness, cowardice, hunger,
YELLOW: optimism, overwhelm, Summer, comfort, liveliness, intellect,
happiness, energy, conflict
durability, reliability, environmental, luxurious, optimism, well-
GREEN: being, nature, calm, relaxation, Spring, safety, honesty, optimism,
harmony, freshness
peace, professionalism, loyalty, reliability, honor, trust,
BLUE: melancholia, boredom, coldness, Winter, depth, stability,
professionalism, conservatism
power, royalty, nobility, elegance, sophistication, artificial,
PURPLE:
luxury, mystery, royalty, elegance, magic
conservatism, traditionalism, intelligence, serious, dull,
GRAY:
uninteresting
relaxing, confident, casual, reassuring, nature, earthy, solid,
BROWN:
reliable, genuine, Autumn, endurance
Elegance, sophistication, formality, power, strength, illegality,
BLACK:
depression, morbidity, night, death
Cleanliness, purity, newness, virginity, peace, innocence,
WHITE:
simplicity, sterility, snow, ice, cold
Also:
 Temperature
o The more towards the red end of spectrum you go, the hotter it gets.
o The more towards the blue/purple end of the spectrum you go, the colder it gets.
 Weight:
o Darker and more intense colors seem heavier.
o Lighter colors seem, unsurprisingly, lighter.
 Money:
o Darker colors, such as burgundy red, tend to show opulence (they are often called
'rich' colors).
o Dull shades, such as gray and dark browns indicate poverty.
 Seasons:
o Pastel and light shades are delicate, feminine, springtime.
o Bright shades of primary colors indicate summer.
o Earthy shades of brown, yellow and orange speak of nature and the fall.
o Cool shades of white, black and blue represent winter.

Use in retail and business

Here are some ways in which colors are used in retail and business:
 Red: Creates urgency - often used in sales and impulse sales
 Green: Easy, calm - used to relax people
 Blue: Creates trust - used by financial institutions such as banks
 Navy blue: Cheaper - selling to price-sensitive
 Royal blue: Urgency - selling to impulse buyers
 Pink: Romantic - selling to women and girls
 Yellow: Grabbing attention - used in displays and windows
 Orange: Energizing - used to push for action, as in impulse buying
 Purple: Calm - used in anti-aging products
 Black: Power - selling luxury, aggressive products, or to impulse buyers
Color can even change what you taste. Customers who bought 7-Up cans that had their color
changed to yellow reported that the drink tasted more lemony.

Gender effects
Men and women see colors differently. Men are generally less sensitive to color, so a subtle
shade of orangey-red will just appear red. Men also see green things as more yellow than
women. Women are less sensitive to color in the detail of objects and also in things which are
moving quickly.
Red has been associated with romance and an American experiment offering dates with
identical pictures of the same woman in different colored dresses found that a red dress was
most effective in stimulating male desire.

Cultural effects
Remember that color can be culturally dependent. For example, although Black is the color of
death in many countries, in China the color associated with death is White.

Color Non-Western meaning

Eastern: luck, prosperity, happiness, long life, fertility, power
RED:
Some Africa: mourning

PINK: Belgium: boys (rest of Europe is girls)

ORANGE: Eastern: happiness, spiritual
Eastern: sacred, imperial, wisdom, male
Some Middle-East: mourning

YELLOW: Africa: high rank

France: jealousy
Greece: sadness

Eastern: birth, hope, new beginnings, youth, immortality, fertility

Middle East: Islam, strength, luck, fertility, prestige
GREEN:
Africa: corruption
South America: death

Eastern: immortality, life, feminine

BLUE: Middle East: protection

Mexico: mourning

Eastern: wealth, privilege, sorrow, mourning

PURPLE:
Brazil: death, mourning
BROWN: Eastern: earth, mourning
BLACK: Eastern: wealth, health, boys, mystery, evil
Eastern: death, mourning, funerals, sadness, purity, age, misfortune
WHITE:
Middle East: purity, mourning