Meaning Of Rainbow Colors In Hindi? The 139 Latest Answer

Color Theory for Designers Part 1: The Importance of Color

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Quick Summary ↬ Let’s dive into color theory. We will discuss the meanings behind the different color families and give some examples of how these colors are used. Let’s dive into color theory. We will discuss the meanings behind the different color families and give some examples of how these colors are used.

There are few things in design that are more subjective—or important—than the use of color. A color that may evoke one reaction in one person may evoke the opposite reaction in another, due to culture, past association, or even just personal preference. Receive email updates on upcoming articles.

Color theory is a science and an art in itself, upon which some build entire careers, as a color consultant or sometimes as a brand consultant. Knowing how color affects the majority of people is an incredibly valuable skill for designers to master and offer to their clients.

However, there is a lot behind it. Something as simple as changing the exact hue or saturation of a color can create an entirely different feel. Cultural differences can amplify these effects, with a hue that’s cheerful and uplifting in one country becoming depressing in another.

This is the first part of a three part series on color theory. Here we will discuss the meanings behind the different color families and give some examples of how these colors are used (with a bit of analysis for each). In part 2 we will talk about how hue, chroma, value, saturation, tones, tints and shades affect the way we perceive color. And in Part 3, we’ll discuss how to create effective color palettes for your own designs.

More after the jump! Read more below ↓ Meet Touch Design for Mobile Interfaces, Steven Hoober’s brand new guide to mobile design with proven, universal, human-centric guidelines. 400 pages packed with in-depth user research and best practices. Jump to table of contents ↬

Warm colours

Warm colors include red, orange, and yellow, and variations of these three colors. These are the colors of fire, autumn leaves, and sunsets and sunrises, and are generally energizing, passionate, and positive.

Red and yellow are both primary colors, with orange falling in the middle (making it a secondary color), meaning that warm colors are all really warm and aren’t created by combining a warm color with a cool color. Use warm colors in your designs to reflect passion, happiness, enthusiasm and energy.

Red (Primary Color)

Red is a very hot color. It is associated with fire, violence and war. It is also associated with love and passion. In history, it has been associated with both the devil and cupid. Red can actually have a physical effect on people by increasing blood pressure and respiratory rate. It has also been shown to improve human metabolism.

Red can be associated with anger, but also with importance (think of the red carpet at award shows and celebrity events). Red also indicates danger (the reason traffic lights and signs are red and that warning signs are often red).

Outside the western world, red has different associations. In China, for example, red is the color of prosperity and good luck. It can also be used to attract good luck. In other Eastern cultures, red is worn by brides on their wedding days. In South Africa, on the other hand, red is the color of mourning. Red is also associated with communism.

Red has become the color associated with AIDS awareness in Africa due to the popularity of the [RED] campaign.

In design, red can be a strong accent color. It can have an overwhelming effect when used too often in designs, especially in its purest form. It is a great color when there is power or passion to be represented in the design. However, red can be very versatile, with lighter versions being more energetic and darker hues being more powerful and elegant.

examples

The bright red of the illustration on the home page of Nacache Design’s website gives the page a lot of energy and vibrancy.

The bright pink of the background on Ming Lab’s website is welcoming and passionate. (2010)

The muted red on Startup Lab’s website is energetic without being aggressive. (2010)

Bigsound Buzz’s website uses a monochromatic design of different shades and tones of red, which in this case creates a poppy retro vibe. (2010)

Build in Amsterdam’s website uses a bright red accent color that immediately draws attention to the center of the page. (2010)

orange (secondary color)

Orange is a very vibrant and energetic color. In its muted forms it can be associated with the earth and autumn. Because of its association with the changing seasons, orange can represent change and movement in general. Orange is also strongly associated with creativity.

Because orange is associated with the fruit of the same name, it can be associated with health and vitality. In designs, orange grabs attention without being as overwhelming as red. It is often seen as friendlier and more welcoming and less intrusive.

examples

Bitter Renter’s bright and bold homepage makes full use of the energy orange can bring to a design.

We Are Not Sisters’ dark orange, oversized typography makes an instant impression. (2010)

The subtle use of orange as an accent color in Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street shows that it can be used in more elegant and conservative designs. (2010)

Sbjct mixes a subtle peach color with a dark orange for a more monochromatic design that still has plenty of energy. (2010)

For the typography, Robin De Niro also uses a very light peachy background with two tones of orange in a much more subtle design.

yellow (primary color)

Yellow is often considered the brightest and most energizing of the warm colors. It is associated with luck and sunshine. However, yellow can also be associated with deceit and cowardice (calling someone yellow is calling them a coward).

Yellow is also associated with hope, as seen in some countries when families who have loved ones at war display yellow ribbons. Yellow is also associated with danger, although not as strongly as red.

In some countries, yellow has very different connotations. In Egypt, for example, yellow represents mourning. In Japan it represents courage and in India it is a color for merchants.

In your designs, bright yellow can bring a sense of happiness and happiness. Softer shades of yellow are often used as a gender-neutral color for babies (rather than blue or pink) and toddlers. Bright yellow also conveys a calmer feeling of happiness than bright yellow. Dark yellow and golden yellow can sometimes look aged and can be used in designs where a sense of permanence is desired.

examples

Kettle’s not-quite-real yellow is vibrant and vibrant without being overwhelming. (2010)

Deskpass uses a slightly darker yellow, giving it an eye-catching but slightly muted look. (2010)

Toyfight uses a light goldenrod background but otherwise keeps its design simple and straightforward.

Milano Contract District’s website is simple and minimal, with the overall impact of the design relying on the bright yellow background.

Susa Ventures uses a goldenrod color as an accent color in their typography to great effect.

cold colors

Cool colors like green, blue, and purple are often more muted than warm colors. They are the colors of the night, of the water, of nature and usually have a calming, relaxing and somewhat reserved effect.

Blue is the only primary color within the cool spectrum, meaning the other colors are created by combining blue with a warm color (yellow for green and red for purple).

For this reason, green takes on some of the characteristics of yellow and purple some of the characteristics of red. Use cool colors in your designs to convey a sense of calm or professionalism.

Green (secondary color)

Green is a very down-to-earth color. It can represent new beginnings and growth. It also signifies renewal and abundance. Alternatively, green can also represent envy or jealousy and lack of experience.

Green shares many of the same calming qualities as blue, but it also contains some of yellow’s energy. In design, green can have a balancing and harmonizing effect and is very stable.

It is suitable for designs related to prosperity, stability, renewal and nature. Lighter green is more energizing and vibrant, while olive green is more representative of the natural world. Dark green is the most stable and representative of prosperity.

examples

The website for Memory is Our Homeland uses a teal hue energized by the yellow typography without being too garish.

The Rhythm of Food website uses a light kelly green that is ideal for a website that blends food and information.

Rich hunter green is a great accent color on an elegant restaurant website like Le Farfalle Osteria. (2010)

Anna Rosa Krau’s website has a soft sage green background that looks almost neutral for this portfolio.

HelloMind’s light green background is youthful and conveys a sense of growth (in line with their product for improving your brain function).

Bold and modern, Studio Farquhar’s lime green accents stand out with their minimalist layout.

Blue (Primary Color)

Blue is often associated with sadness in the English language. Blue is also commonly used to represent calm and responsibility. Light blue can be refreshing and friendly. Dark blue ones are stronger and more reliable. Blue is also associated with peace and has spiritual and religious connotations in many cultures and traditions (for example, the Virgin Mary is generally depicted in blue robes).

The meaning of blue depends heavily on the exact shade and hue. When it comes to design, the exact shade of blue you choose has a huge impact on how your designs are perceived. Light blue often has a relaxed and calming effect. Light blue can be stimulating and refreshing. Dark blue, like navy, is excellent for corporate locations or designs where strength and reliability are important.

examples

The light blue background of the website home page with the Future of Design survey results stands out and is then used as the accent color for the rest of the website. (2010)

Versett uses a light blue as the primary color on its website, along with a range of other light hues to differentiate different areas. (2010)

Deep Mind’s website uses different shades of blue for its background, giving it a trustworthy, authoritative feel. (2010)

Purple (secondary color)

In ancient times, the dyes used to create purple hues were extracted from snails and were very expensive, only royalty and the very wealthy could afford them.

Purple is a combination of red and blue, inheriting some attributes from both. It is also associated with creativity and imagination.

In Thailand, purple is the mourning color for widows. Darker purples are traditionally associated with wealth and nobility, while lighter purples (like lavender) are considered more romantic.

In design, dark shades of purple can convey a sense of wealth and luxury. Light shades of purple are softer and associated with spring and romance.

examples

The first project in Filippo Bello’s portfolio uses a purple color scheme that enhances the sense of creativity. (2010)

The website for the One Shared House documentary uses a vibrant shade of purple and accents of pink to convey a sense of energy, creativity and imagination.

On the content stack, purple red works well as an accent color against a neutral background, drawing attention to important page elements like buttons.

Purple is the perfect shade for a creative endeavor like KIKK Festival 2016.

neutrals

Neutral colors often serve as a background in design. They are often combined with lighter accent colors. However, they can also be used alone in designs and create very sophisticated layouts. The meanings and impressions of neutral colors are much more influenced by the colors surrounding them than warm and cool colors.

Black

Black is the strongest of the neutral colors. On the plus side, it is commonly associated with power, elegance, and formality. On the negative side, it can be associated with evil, death, and mystery. Black is the traditional color of mourning in many western countries. It is also associated with rebellion in some cultures and associated with Halloween and the occult.

Black, when not only used as an accent or for text, is often used in fancier designs, but also in very elegant designs. It can be either conservative or modern, traditional or bohemian, depending on what colors it is paired with. In design, black is often used for typography and other functional parts due to its neutrality. Black can make it easier to convey a sense of sophistication and mystery in a design.

examples

The faded black (technically dark gray, but close enough to black that it makes sense to classify it as such) of the DUA website works beautifully in such a minimalist design. (2010)

The black background of the Anonyme Hamburger Gesellschaft is a perfect canvas for the site’s amazing food photos. Anonymous Hamburger

Many of the images in Timothy Saccenti’s portfolio are dominated by black, which is also the color of the transparent menu, giving the entire site a quirky, modern feel. (2010)

Minimalist design with black as the accent color gives Heco’s website a super modern feel.

The black hue used here along with the animation gives it an edgy, almost spooky feel.

White

White is on the opposite end of the spectrum from black, but like black, it can pair well with almost any other color. White is often associated with purity, cleanliness and virtue. In the West, white is commonly worn by brides on their wedding day. It is also associated with the healthcare industry, specifically doctors, nurses, and dentists. White is associated with goodness, and angels are often depicted in white.

However, in much of the East, white is associated with death and mourning. In India, it is traditionally the only color widows are allowed to wear.

In design, white is generally considered a neutral background that gives a bigger voice to other colors in a design. However, it can help convey cleanliness and simplicity and is popular in minimalist designs. White in designs can also represent either winter or summer depending on the other design motifs and colors that surround it.

examples

Black & Wood uses white as both a background and accent color (e.g. in typography), giving the site a very clean feel. (2010)

The predominantly white background of Nuno Coelho Santos’ website adds to the modern aesthetic.

Skylark’s website used white typography to give the site a cleaner feel without going minimalist in the design itself. (2010)

Spent used white typography to give the site a modern yet soft look. (2010)

Dwell uses white as an accent color on its welcome page, a very unique but effective choice for something that includes a CTA. (2010)

Gray

Gray is a neutral color that generally falls on the cool end of the color spectrum. It can sometimes be seen as moody or depressing. In some designs, light shades of gray can be used in place of white, and dark shades of gray can be used in place of black.

Gray is generally conservative and formal, but it can also be modern. It is sometimes considered the color of mourning. It is often used in corporate designs where formality and professionalism are paramount. It can be a very sophisticated color. Pure grays are blacks, although other grays may contain blues or browns. In design, gray backgrounds are very common, as is gray typography.

examples

The Round website is very modern, with different shades of gray used to delineate different areas of the website. (2010)

The gray background on the office-only website is so subtle it appears almost white, giving the site a very modern look. (2010)

Gray is given a sophisticated yet down-to-earth feel on the Shinola website. (2010)

Gray is a perfect background color for a portfolio of illustrations. (2010)

Brown

Brown is associated with earth, wood and stone. It is a completely natural color and a warm neutral. Brown can be associated with dependability and dependability, with steadfastness and down-to-earthness. It can also be considered boring.

In design, brown is often used as a background color. It can also be seen in wood textures and sometimes in stone textures. It helps add a sense of warmth and health to designs. It is sometimes used in its darkest forms as a substitute for black, either in backgrounds or in typography.

examples

Trefecta uses warm brown as the accent color for buttons and CTAs, an unexpected choice given the modernity of the rest of the design. (2010)

The off-white background and brown typography of Yasuhiro Yokota’s portfolio website is warm and earthy, but still serves as a good backdrop for grayscale design work.

Off & On Barber Shop uses various brown elements for most of its website, giving it a vintage feel. (2010)

Umbert Cessari’s website uses different shades of brown as accent colors throughout, giving it an earthy vibe. (2010)

Green Rebel’s website uses brown for much of their typography and graphics, as well as some of the textures, giving it an organic feel. (2010)

Beige and light brown

Beige is somewhat unique on the color spectrum as it can take on cool or warm tones depending on the surrounding colors. It has the warmth of brown and the coolness of white and, like brown, is sometimes perceived as dull. It is a conservative color in most cases and is usually reserved for backgrounds. It can also symbolize piety.

Beige in design is commonly used in backgrounds and is often seen in backgrounds with a paper texture. It takes on the properties of the surrounding colors, which means that it itself has little impact on the final impression a design makes when used with other colors.

examples

People Map’s website uses a more golden brown tone that gives the website an upscale feel, especially when combined with the website’s typography.

Plane Site’s warm beige background color has a modern feel without appearing minimalist. (2010)

La Pierre Qui Tourne’s website uses a variety of brown tones for their primary color palette, along with some great bright colors for a very fun design.

Mile Inn’s website combines modern typography with a beige and black color palette for a website that feels retro and hip. (2010)

The brown accent color used on this page is totally unexpected and gives it a mid-century modern look.

cream and ivory

Ivory and cream are sophisticated colors with some warmth from brown and lots of coolness from white. They are generally quiet and can often evoke a sense of history. Ivory is a calm color with some of the purity associated with white, although slightly warmer.

In design, ivory can bring elegance and tranquility to a place. It can take on an earthy quality when paired with earthy colors like peach or brown. It can also be used to lighten darker colors without using the stark contrast of white.

examples

The almost imperceptible ivory background of Stefanie Bruckler’s portfolio page is a welcome change from the typical neutral gray and gives it a timeless look. (2010)

Rich cream feels like a very modern and even edgy accent color when used with a black background.

Cream is an unexpected background color for a tech-focused website, but gives it a warm, human touch.

Considering how weird The Lobster movie is, the website’s use of a pale cream background is an unexpectedly muted choice that feels very modern. (2010)

Sweet Magnolia Gelato’s rich cream background is a perfect neutral for a warm and inviting design.

Shortly

While the information contained here may seem a little overwhelming, color theory is more about the feeling that a particular hue evokes than anything else. But here’s a quick guide to the general meaning of the colors discussed above:

Red: passion, love, anger

Passion, Love, Anger Orange: Energy, Happiness, Vitality

Energy, Happiness, Vitality Yellow: Happiness, Hope, Deceit

Happiness, hope, deceit Green: new beginnings, abundance, nature

New beginning, abundance, natural blue: calm, responsibility, sadness

Calm, Responsible, Sadness Purple: Creativity, Royalty, Wealth

Creativity, Royalty, Wealth Black: Mystery, Elegance, Evil

Mystery, Elegance, Evil Grey: Moody, Conservative, Formal

Moody, conservative, formal White: Purity, cleanliness, virtue

Purity, cleanliness, virtue Brown: naturalness, wholesomeness, reliability

Nature, Wholesomeness, Reliability Tan or Beige: Conservative, Pious, Boring

Conservative, Piety, Dull Cream or Ivory: Calm, elegant, puristic

The whole series

More resources

(lu, il)

You see color in everything around you, at all times of the day – but do you ever stop to think about the effect each of those colors is having on you? Whether it’s the calming effect of blue skies and green fields, or the salivating reds and yellows of your local fast food joint, each color has meaning and evokes emotion. There’s an entire science (and art) in the meaning of color. As a business owner or designer, it’s important to be aware of these color meanings so you can choose your colors wisely and harness the magical power of color symbolism.

Color meanings can be powerful, so choose your colors carefully. Illustration by OrangeCrush.

Colors can be a powerful tool – if you know how to use them. For a business – whether yours or your client’s – there are all sorts of areas where color comes into play. You might immediately think of branding elements like the logo, business cards, and stationery. Color choice is also important for online communication and marketing materials: your website, social media, emails, presentations, as well as offline tools like flyers and product packaging.

Where do color meanings come from?

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Millions of years of biological conditioning have created certain associations between colors and objects or emotions, while some associations may be more recent. Understanding these associations will give you a shortcut to people’s hearts and provoke a certain emotion and maybe even behavior. Feelings are far more powerful than rational thoughts based on facts and figures, and applying color meaning and color symbolism will make your branding efforts and designs far more effective.

Choose your colors carefully. Design for a pencil set by ve_sta for Vibrant Colors.

Color meanings arise from psychological effects, biological conditioning, and cultural developments. Some color meanings are deeply ingrained in our brain because they are visible all around us, such as: B. Red as the color of fire associated with warmth, or green with nature. We are biologically predisposed to pay attention to bright colors because brightly colored animals or plants are often poisonous. We are attracted to red fruits over green fruits because the color indicates ripeness and sweetness.

Other colors have developed cultural meanings over time and their meanings have been adopted by society, such as pink as a color for girls and blue for boys in western cultures (which was not always the case).

Here are a few things that can affect the meaning of colors:

Cultural Differences – Red represents happiness in China, but in South Africa it is the color of mourning. Americans associate green with money since that’s the color of dollar bills, but that’s not the case around the world. In Western countries black is the color of mourning, in some East Asian countries it is white. In the USA green is the color of envy, in Germany yellow. Depending on where you operate, you need to be aware of these differences.

—Red represents happiness in China, but in South Africa it is the color of mourning. Americans associate green with money since that’s the color of dollar bills, but that’s not the case around the world. In Western countries black is the color of mourning, in some East Asian countries it is white. In the USA green is the color of envy, in Germany yellow. Depending on where you operate, you need to be aware of these differences. Time — Colors can also change in meaning over time: red used to be considered a strong, masculine color, while blue was a feminine color suited to girls.

—Colors can also change meaning over time: red used to be considered a strong, masculine color, while blue was a feminine color suited to girls. Shades and Tones – A color can have a general meaning, but lighter shades can vary dramatically compared to darker shades, while more natural, muted shades differ from faux neon colors. Make sure you look at the specific associations of the different shades and tones. For example, if you use neon green, just because you chose a shade of green, don’t assume it will go well with an eco-friendly brand. Likewise, a light magenta has a completely different meaning than a muted pastel rosé, even though they’re both pinks.

—A color can have a general meaning, but lighter shades can vary dramatically compared to darker shades, while more natural, muted shades differ from artificial neon colors. Make sure you look at the specific associations of the different shades and tones. For example, if you use neon green, just because you chose a shade of green, don’t assume it will go well with an eco-friendly brand. Likewise, a light magenta has a completely different meaning than a muted pastel rosé, even though they’re both pinks. Color Combinations – When using more than one color, you need to be aware of how color combinations affect the overall statement. They can improve each other, pop each other, mix or fight each other. You need to think about their combined meanings and what effect you want to achieve with your combination. Color theory helps you understand the relationships between colors.

Now let’s examine what all these colors mean…

The meaning of the colors

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Red represents energy, passion and danger

The meaning of red

What red means:

Red is associated with the heat of energy, passion and love. We “see red” when we are angry, and it is also the color of blood, power and danger, making it a strong color in branding. Think of the bright red of a fire engine or the stop sign on the road. Red is also thought to stimulate appetite, which is why it’s popular at fast-food joints – most famously at McDonald’s, which combines red with another primary color, yellow.

Netflix uses red to attract users to its platform, with red calls-to-action to join or sign up. Another famous red brand is Coca-Cola (and according to the story, it was Coke’s marketing campaign that branded Santa red). . It will be interesting to see what happens with Coca-Cola’s recent packaging redesign as they move away from that iconic red to coordinate their new Diet-Cola flavors with other colors.

How to use it:

Red and black is a bold combination that is masculine and powerful. Design by Torvs.

If you have a loud brand and want to stand out, then red might be the color for you. Its high energy makes it a great choice for caffeinated drinks, fast cars, or sports. With its appetizing properties, it goes well with restaurants looking to attract hungry customers. It can also be used as an accent color to draw attention to something on your packaging or encourage visitors to “buy now” on your website.

Do you have a question? Ask our team.

Orange stands for creativity, youth and enthusiasm

The meaning of orange

What orange means:

As a secondary color, orange combines the warmth and heat of red with the playfulness and joy of yellow. It attracts attention without being as bold as red, and is used for warning signs such as traffic cones and high-visibility clothing. It is an energetic color that can evoke health and vitality due to its obvious association with oranges and vitamin C. It’s also a youthful color that brings an element of vibrancy and fun.

A good example of using orange to entertain a young audience is Nickelodeon. To encourage energy and activity, Gatorade uses a flash of orange, while orange is also a popular color for tropical drinks like Fanta. There can be unusual historical reasons for a brand’s color choice: luxury brand Hermès chose orange because it was the only box available during WWII! It’s a confident color, but not usually associated with luxury.

How to use it:

The orange brings an unexpectedly creative twist to the financial business in this Cross the Lime logo.

Orange can be a good choice for a youthful and creative brand that wants to be a bit different from the mainstream. It’s a friendly color that also inspires action, so like red, it can be used as an accent color to draw attention and encourage activity.

Yellow represents happiness, hope and spontaneity

The meaning of yellow

What yellow means:

Yellow is the color of the sun, smileys and sunflowers. It’s a happy, youthful color, full of hope and positivity. It is another color that gets your attention and for that reason can also be used to signal caution like red and orange.

McDonald’s golden arches (well, they’re really yellow) are a globally recognized symbol that can be seen from afar and is immediately associated with fast food. In the same way, Best Buy’s yellow label indicates reduced costs for its cost-conscious customers (say that three times quickly!).

How to use it:

Cheerful yellow quinoa packaging design by Mila Katagarova. This shade of yellow goes well with a happy, wholesome brand like Why Bar in this packaging by Martis Lupus.

Yellow is a good choice when speed, fun, and low cost are attributes you want to associate with your brand. However, be careful with different shades: a bright yellow will immediately catch people’s attention and is a useful way to highlight or emphasize a design, a pale or warm yellow can look natural and healthy, while a neon yellow instead is very can appear artificial.

Green stands for nature, growth and harmony – but also for prosperity and stability

The meaning of green

What green means:

Green is commonly associated with nature as it is associated with grass, plants and trees. It also represents growth and renewal as it is the color of spring and rebirth. Another association is “getting the green light” to move on, giving it an association with taking action. In the US, green (and especially dark green) is also associated with money and thus stands for prosperity and stability.

Green is also often seen as a fourth color alongside the primary colors red, yellow and blue (think Microsoft and Google), providing a sense of visual balance and consequently a calming and relaxing influence. Well-known brands that use different shades of green include Starbucks, Spotify, and Whole Foods Market.

How to use it:

The green goes well with the natural material of this organic bamboo packaging by tomdesign.org for Midori Way.

The connection to nature makes green a natural choice (see what I did there?) for a brand that’s eco-friendly, organic, or sustainable. As with yellow, be wary of the fact that muted or lighter shades of green can represent nature, but neon versions have the opposite effect, feeling more artificial and less harmonious. On a website, a green call to action may suggest “go” – although the struggle continues with red buttons, which may instead suggest urgency.

Blue represents calm, confidence and intelligence

What blue means:

The meaning of blue

Blue is a calm and soothing color that represents intelligence and responsibility. Blue is cool and relaxing. Light baby blue is peaceful, while dark blue can signify depth and power. It is the most popular color in the world, both in terms of personal preference (for both genders) and use in business logos. It is the color of choice for trusted corporate institutions, often in combination with a mature grey:

IT companies e.g. Intel, Microsoft, IBM, HP, Dell

Financial institutions e.g. American Express, Visa, Goldman Sachs, Paypal

Large corporations e.g. Procter & Gamble, General Electric, General Motors, Boeing and Lowes

Blue is also the natural choice for the LinkedIn professional network.

Interestingly, blue is also the color of choice for many other social networks. Facebook is blue — apparently because founder Mark Zuckerberg is red-green-blind and blue is the most vivid color he can see. The association with trust and dependability works well in the context of a social network with all the concerns about privacy and whatnot, and you’ll find that Twitter is blue too, as is Instagram, Russia’s VKontakte and even social media sites Machinable .

How to use it:

Business card design by KreativeMouse.

If you want to be instantly associated with professionalism and confidence, then blue is the color for you. Since it’s universally popular, it’s also a great choice if you want to appeal to both men and women. Associated with calm and serenity, blue also goes well when it comes to relaxation, therapy, or meditation.

Do you have a question? Ask our team.

Purple represents luxury, mystery and spirituality

The meaning of purple

What purple means:

Purple is an interesting colour: it is both warm and cool, combining the passion and energy of red with the calm and serenity of blue. Due to its associations with royalty, purple is inherently prestigious and luxurious. Purple dye was historically expensive, meaning only wealthy rulers could afford it. The ruling classes and kings and queens of old wore purple, and Queen Elizabeth I even forbade anyone outside of the royal family to wear it. Purple is also associated with religion and spirituality as ancient rulers were considered descendants of the gods and the color has special meaning in religions such as Catholicism, Judaism and Buddhism. To make matters worse, purple is trending, with Ultra Violet being Pantone’s pick for Color of the Year 2018.

Funnily enough, brands aren’t always as strategic about color choices as they should be. Yahoo, so the story goes, went purple because that was the cheapest color available to refurbish offices in the early days. You can see a more typical use of purple at the Asprey brand, a British luxury company with a heritage dating back to the 18th century and a royal purveyor to every British monarch since Queen Victoria.

How to use it:

Magical purple book cover design entry by Meella.

Use purple when you want to evoke those luxe, royal connections – combine with gold for that extra “wow”. Or use it when you want to add a pinch of mysticism and spirituality to your brand. Add some green for a really striking contrast, or with pink to emphasize femininity.

Pink represents femininity, playfulness and romance

The meaning of pink

What pink means:

In this day and age, it’s impossible to look at pink and not think of little girls, cotton candy, and colored gum. Pink represents femininity and romance, sensitivity and tenderness. It is naturally cute, sweet and charming.

Along with brown, pink is one of the least common colors in logos. Typical uses of light pink include Barbie and Cosmopolitan, with their obvious target markets, as well as Baskin Robbins and Dunkin’ Donuts, which take advantage of the color’s “sweet” side. Wedding companies and other feminine brands often prefer a lighter shade of pink. Less typical uses include Lyft and TMobile – both challenging brands that aim to differentiate themselves from their competitors and bring in an element of playfulness and accessibility.

How to use it:

Pink snack packaging design entry by Martis Lupus.

Using pink is a quick shortcut to communicate “this is for women,” and if you know it appeals to your female target market, then it’s a good choice. However, for some audiences it can be off-putting and you may want to be more creative in communicating femininity without resorting to clichés. You can also use it in unexpected ways to stand out from your boring and drab competitors or to add an element of surprise to an otherwise sophisticated design.

Brown stands for wholesomeness, warmth and honesty

The meaning of brown

What brown means:

Brown is a natural color that is connected to the earth, giving a sense of stability and support. Due to its connection to the earth and nature, brown is reminiscent of farming and farming and other outdoor activities. It’s warm and friendly, practical and dependable, and can also represent the old-fashioned and tried-and-true.

Brown isn’t used that often in logos. When it does, it usually represents a benefit. Although blue is the typical corporate color, UPS used brown to represent reliability (along with a later addition of yellow to bring an element of warmth and friendliness). Until recently (ie 2010) they even used the color in their slogan: “What can brown do for you?”

How to use it:

The choice of brown color contributes to a traditional looking stamping effect in this Welsh bakery logo design by ultrastjarna.

Brown is a warm, neutral color that you can use as a background that conveys warmth and wholesomeness. Use it for an earthy brand and in a natural combination with green to really capture that organic feel. You can also use brown to give the impression of a well-established heritage and sense of tradition. Brown lends itself well to chocolate brands for obvious reasons.

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Black represents elegance, power and sophistication

The meaning of black

What black means:

Black is an incredibly versatile color and probably the most commonly used color in graphic design. In branding and marketing, black is commonly associated with exclusivity, power and elegance. It’s bold, powerful and a little mysterious, making it a firm favorite of modern brands. Depending on the design context, a cool and unapproachable look can also be created. At the same time, it’s an inherently neutral color that works well in combination with any other color and is often used for typography and other key, grounding design elements.

Luxury brands like Chanel and Dior keep things classy with an iconic black and white logo. Brands like these like to be a little intimidating and aloof as it makes them more exclusive and sophisticated. The James Bond 007 logo is black. Newspaper logos tend to be black, too, given the historic black-and-white printing presses. Of course, most brands have a black and white version of their logo, as printing in black and white tends to be cheaper than printing in color.

How to use it:

A striking all black wine label design by Dan Newman.

If you want to convey a sense of luxury, you can’t go wrong with a simple black and white color scheme. Combined with a gold, silver or why not a royal purple, you will give your brand a touch of exclusivity and prestige. On the other hand, black can also be used with bright colors for contrast and in combination with other strong colors like red or orange it can be extremely effective and exciting.

White represents minimalism and simplicity

The meaning of white

What white means:

If you’re in the know, you know that white light does indeed contain all the colors of the rainbow—but to the naked eye, at least, white is the opposite: it’s the absence of any color. In Western cultures it is often associated with virginity (think of brides wearing white on their wedding day as a symbol of purity), while in some East Asian countries it is the color of mourning. When used in design and branding, white creates a minimalist aesthetic. It can be very simple, clean and modern. It’s also the most neutral color of all and can be quite understated as a base for other, more exciting colors.

Apple’s advertising and packaging are a powerful illustration of how white can be used for a modern and minimalist aesthetic that emphasizes beautiful product design. Marc Jacobs prints a simple black logo on white luxury packaging and tote bags. Health and beauty brands that want to convey a touch of purity and natural ingredients also tend to use white in their packaging. It is obviously also suitable for wedding stamps.

How to use it:

This white packaging design by Imee008 keeps things very clean and simple.

White space can be just as important in a design as any other creative element. White is typically the color used for website backgrounds as it ensures your text is easy to read. It is also often used as a secondary accent in a color scheme. Together with pastel colors, it can evoke spring and femininity; combined with plain black it becomes classic and minimalistic. When it comes to white, it really depends on the colors you combine it with.

Gray represents professionalism, formality and conventionality

The meaning of gray

What gray means:

Gray is a more mature, responsible color associated with the gray hair of old age. Its positive connotations include formality and dependability, while the negative side can mean being overly conservative, conventional, and unemotional. It’s safe and quite subdued, serious and reserved.

Gray is rarely the star of the show. Nintendo briefly favored a gray logo from 2008 to 2016, but has since reverted to its former red. The jewelry brand Swarovski has a gray logo, although if you look at the website, the version used there is black. They tend to see the color gray as a secondary color, playing a supporting role for another, stronger character.

How to use it:

A modern and formal – but in this case a bit unconventional – gray and black web design by Mila Jones Cann

Use gray when you have a reputable brand and want to communicate the authority and stability of a corporate institution. Pair it with blue for the ultimate in conservatism and reliability. It is actually a very popular color in web design as well. You might want to use gray as an alternative to white for a softer website background—or as an alternative to black text for less harsh contrast and easier readability.

Multicolor stands for fun, variety and optimism

by Nick Slater on Dribbble

What multicolored means:

We looked at the meaning of each color. So what happens when you bring them all together? What feelings are evoked with multicolored designs? Well, while monochromatic branding can bring focus and style, colorful branding can show that a brand is playful, informal and creative.

As you can imagine, children’s brands often use multicolored designs – think Toys “R” Us or Crayola – but adult brands can get creative too! Google uses multiple colors in its logo to represent the brand’s playfulness. An interesting case is ebay, which had a similarly colorful logo until 2017, when it simplified its logo to one color in its marketing (although the colored logo is still used on the site). Likewise, Apple has evolved its logo from the multicolored striped apple to a sleeker silver one.

How to use it:

A bright and multicolored web design by Denise M.

Why choose one when you can choose them all?! Using lots of color in your branding and designs can be a great way to stand out, show your playfulness and appeal to kids or a more creative audience. Consider using complementary colors to create a real “pop” (colors that are opposites on the color wheel, for example purple and orange), analogous colors for more harmony (colors that are next to each other, for example , red , orange and yellow) or triadic colors for a more dynamic effect (colors evenly spaced around the color wheel). You can read more about these different color combinations in this article on color theory.

Gold, silver, bronze and other metallics represent wealth, prosperity and success

What metallic means:

Gold and silver are both precious metals associated with wealth and expensive jewelry. Often paired with black, a touch of shimmering metal can add instant glamor to a brand. Gold is also the color of a winner, associated with the first place medal, and can represent success. It is a warm color related to yellow and therefore shares the qualities of feeling bright and cheerful. Silver is cooler and a little less luxurious, coming in second, but still representing grace and elegance. Bronze in third place captures the qualities of brown and is therefore more earthy, natural and mature.

Rolex uses a gold crown in its logo, while Lamborghini and Porsche also use elements made of gold. Louis Vuitton’s monogram could be described as gold and brown (although the shade of gold is actually called “dirt”). Clearly, gold is the color of luxury! On the other hand, silver is commonly used in car logos – VW, Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan, Audi, Mercedes – where it represents quality and workmanship.

How to use them:

Hot gold foil on a black background gives this Esteban T wine label design and packaging an exclusive Petit Verdot feel.

Metallic effects can be difficult to recreate online – they really are more materials or textures than colors. Gold is essentially a lustrous yellow, silver is lustrous gray, and bronze is lustrous brown. You can still suggest metallic tones on a website or in a logo through shading and highlighting, but the full effect is seen on printed materials, where you can use foil to create that metallic sheen. For a look that immediately says “luxury,” you can’t go wrong with black and gold.

Know your color meanings

—

A bright and colorful business card design by Daria V. for Mama J.

So here we go, an epic journey through colors and emotions.

Of course, it’s not an exact science. People may have personal preferences that override any deeper biological tendencies, cultures differ in their interpretations, and there may be other things you want to consider as well.

Now that you know the rules, you can play around with them and see what works for you. Feel free to destroy them too, you crazy rebel. Just make sure you do it on purpose and don’t go for crazy color combinations without considering the impact they might have.

Now that you know what each color means, would you like to know how to choose the perfect colors for your business? This article on choosing brand colors will tell you everything you need to know.

Indigo is a rich color between blue and violet in the visible spectrum, it is a dark violet blue. Dark denim is indigo, as is indigo dye. It’s a cool deep color and also a natural one. True indigo dye is extracted from tropical plants as a fermented leaf solution and mixed with lye, pressed into cakes and pulverized.

Natural indigo has been around since Greek and Roman times and became popular in India, China and Japan. So indigo goes back in time, it has history, a revolt in Bengal in the 17th century was named after it. Indigo is mysterious, serious, elegant and globally appealing.

In this photo by Max Solve we see the mysterious indigo and how it can be used to create a kind of resonant mood in an image, especially when combined with intense and saturated hues like fuchsia.

Indigo’s history as a dye also makes it look classic but with a rustic feel, as in these Kel Cerutti products, where indigo is paired with traditional surface pattern design.

Indigo pairs well with a classic tomato red, this combination is historically accurate as it has been a popular combination in the past, this book cover design by Roman Dz pulls off that vintage look.

For Brett Saison craft brewery’s packaging design, the choice of indigo over black or dark brown gives this design a stately, classic and premium feel. Indigo and gold go well together.

For Philosophy Jeans, we see indigo in one of its most iconic uses. The jeans are made from raw Japanese selvedge and dyed with real indigo dye. The jeans are retro in every way, including the fact that they are made using old vintage WWII shuttle looms. The packaging is more contemporary, clean, reduced and absolutely down-to-earth – the indigo and the construction paper brown give the design an emphatically natural, casual and at the same time high-quality look.

So indigo is electrifying when paired with fuchsia, historic with a classic red, expensive with gold and of course with craft paper.

Margaret Penney is the managing editor of Notes on Design. Margaret is a new media teacher, designer, writer and artist and founder of Hello Creative Co.

The meaning of colors is often imbued with great symbolic power. Even in the modern English-speaking world, where superstitious beliefs have largely faded in the light of scientific knowledge, many colors have retained their ancient associations.

Most people know that brides often wear white, that “seeing red” means being angry, and that one can be “green with envy”. But to learn why these connotations exist, one must look back at the beliefs and practices of the ancients.

Red

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Red has a number of symbolic meanings in many different cultures, including life, health, strength, war, courage, anger, love and religious fervor. The common denominator is that all of this requires passion.

In moments of anger, lust, or embarrassment, bright red, oxygenated blood rushes to the skin’s surface in response to your sympathetic nervous system’s “fight or flight” response. There are many theories as to why human and non-human species evolved this physiological trait, but many focus their conclusions on asserting dominance or appearing more attractive to a potential mate, according to the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (opened in new tab).

In terms of dominance, the color red even has implications in the world of sports. A study published in Nat (opens in new tab)u (opens in new tab)re (opens in new tab) magazine found that several football teams achieved better match results when they wore mostly red jerseys than when they played other colors , such as white and blue.

Colors were so powerful in traditional cultures that red objects were believed to convey health through their color alone. For example, most red stones, such as garnets and rubies, have been said to have health-promoting and disease-preventing properties. In Rome, children wore red coral as a talisman to protect themselves from disease, and in China, children always wore a red garment for similar reasons.

White

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Throughout history, white has been synonymous with purity and virtue, which lends itself to many religious ceremonies. Wearing white to a wedding, for example, dates back more than 2,000 years to when Roman brides wore white tunics to signal a woman’s virginity, according to Ohio State University (opens in new tab).

But it wasn’t until Queen Victoria walked down the aisle in a white lace dress to marry Prince Albert in 1840 that wearing a white wedding dress became popular. In many Asian cultures, particularly China, white is not traditionally used for wedding dresses — red or gold are perhaps more commonly seen wedding colors — but it is worn in place of black at funeral ceremonies and is a symbol of mourning, according to Yerevan State University (opens in new tab).

Although white is often referred to as “color,” according to Encyclopedia Britannica (opens in new tab), white is actually the combination of all color wavelengths reflected by an object.

Black

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to the Journal of International Color Association (opens in new tab), the color – or rather the sense of color – black is often associated with negative associations such as death, fear or sadness.

Many ancient cultures believed that black was “the color of mystery and the mysterious ways and wisdom of God,” wrote historian Ellen Conroy in her book The Symbolism of Colors (1921). This was because the night, the absence of light, transcended human perception in the same way that the wisdom of God was deemed incomprehensible.

Of all mysteries, death was perhaps the greatest. The ancients were completely “in the dark” about what would happen to them after death, and so in many cultures it was (and still is) represented by the color black. There was the added coincidence that death bears similarities to sleep, which occurs in the dark of night and when closed eyelids block all light. Throughout history, the color black has also been associated with terrifying and mysterious things like black magic, black holes, the black plague and so on.

Of course, black isn’t always synonymous with death and despair, especially in the fashion world. A study published in the journal Color Research and Application (opens in new tab) found black to be the overall favorite color among female study participants.

violet

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Purple symbolizes royalty, nobility and imperialism. In many European societies, the symbolism was even enshrined in law: from ancient Rome to Elizabethan England, according to Harvard Law School (opens in new tab), “costume laws” prohibited anyone but close members of the royal family from wearing the color.

Purple’s elite status comes from the rarity and cost of the dye originally used to create it. Cloth merchants obtained “Tyrian Purple,” as the dye was called, from a tiny mollusc that, according to Molecules magazine (opens in new tab). More than 9,000 molluscs were needed to produce just one gram of Tyrian purple, and since only wealthy rulers could afford to buy and wear fabric dyed with the color, it became associated with the imperial classes of Rome, Egypt, and Persia brought.

Another implication of this is that purple also became a symbol of spirituality and holiness, as the ancient emperors, kings and queens who wore the color were often seen as gods or descendants of the gods.

Blue

(Image credit: Getty Images)

According to Conroy, for most of recorded history, the primary association of the color blue with truth has been a meaning that leaves a residue in the phrase “true blue” in our language. This was because blue is the color of a calm and clear sky, and it’s a calm reflection that leads to truth.

Today, however, blue primarily conveys sadness and despair. When you got the blues, you’re down. The connotation can refer to tears and rain, as water was usually represented as blue in people’s minds.

However, research has shown that the color blue has many positive effects on humans. For example, a study of street crime in Glasgow, Scotland, and Nara, Japan found that crime rates decreased in areas where blue streetlights were installed, according to Psychology Today (opens in new tab).

Green

(Image credit: Getty Images)

For obvious reasons, the color green represents nature and the environment; More abstractly, it symbolizes wisdom. The latter association has ancient roots.

According to Conroy, the Egyptians believed that a god named Thoth guided the souls of the dead to “a verdant hill of everlasting life and wisdom.” Later, the Romans based their god Mercury on Thoth, and the planet Mercury was in turn based on the god. For this reason, in astrology, “Green is sometimes referred to as the color of the planet Mercury, which is the planet that governs the spirit and imparts knowledge, knowledge not only of the kind essential to material success, but also inspirational knowledge and heavenly wisdom,” Conroy wrote.

Aside from its association with wisdom, green also has a downside. “Green in its derogatory meaning gives us ‘the green-eyed monster jealousy’ which is the direct opposite of Heavenly Wisdom, for jealousy is always due to the intrusion of the desires of the self, while Heavenly Wisdom desires to give rather than receive,” wrote Conroy.

The color green is also firmly associated with the environment – especially when used to illustrate products or campaigns that support the health of the planet. According to the BBC, the word “green” comes from the Proto-Indo-European word “ghre” (ancient peoples living around the 4th millennium BC), meaning “to grow”. It’s fair to assume that green’s connection to nature lies in its abundance. Most plants naturally produce green-colored pigments called chlorophyll, which are the sites for the conversion of atmospheric carbon dioxide into breathable oxygen, known as photosynthesis.

Yellow

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Not surprisingly, yellow symbolizes happiness, warmth, and sunshine in most cultures; these are properties of the yellow sun and its effects.

In ancient cultures where a god or gods were associated with the sun, such as Egypt and China, yellow was the supreme and noblest color and therefore the color of religious figures and kings (who were believed to be descendants of the gods were).

Conroy explains that all colors have a downside, a demeaning meaning traditionally opposed to positive. In addition to warmth and happiness, yellow also represents cowardice and deceit. “We often recognize the insidious Judas in old pictures by his dingy yellow robes,” she wrote.

orange

Astronauts in their orange spacesuits before launch of the Space Shuttle Atlanis on mission STS-125, in front of a model of the shuttle. (Image credit: NASA)

Similar to red, orange has a number of symbolic meanings and connotations—for example—in many Western cultures, orange is often used for fun, strength, courage, and creativity, according to the Huffington Post (opens in new tab).

However, in recent history, orange has become a warning and is used for high-visibility clothing (e.g. space suits) and safety equipment (e.g. traffic cones). This association is handy: orange contrasts the most with the color blue, so it is easily visible on a clear sky.

Additional Resources

For more information on how color has influenced the world throughout history, see The Colors of History: How Colors Shaped the World (opens in new tab) by Clive Glifford and Color: A Natural History of the Palette ( opens in new tab)” by Victoria Finlay.

bibliography

Andrew Elliot, “Color and psychological function: a review of theoretical and empirical work”, Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 6, April 2015, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00368 (opens in new tab)

Naira Gasparyan, Color Symbolism and its Cognitive (opens in new tab)cultural message, Yerevan State University, 2019.

Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin, The colors of human: the evolution of pigmentation in the human lineage, Philosophical Transcriptions of the Royal Society B, Vol. 372, May 2017, https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2016.0349 ( opens in new tab)

Indigo (rainbow) / #233067 hex color code

The color indigo (rainbow) with the hexadecimal color code #233067 is a medium-dark shade of blue. In the RGB color model #233067 it consists of 13.73% red, 18.82% green and 40.39% blue. In the HSL color space, #233067 has a hue of 229° (degrees), 49% saturation and 27% lightness. This color has an approximate wavelength of 469.29 nm.

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SHARE: Understand the Science of What the Different Colors of the Rainbow Look Like Learn about the colors of the rainbow. © MinutePhysics (A Britannica Publishing Partner)

Article libraries with this video: color, isaac newton, rainbow

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The rainbow as we know it is red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. ROYGBV. I’m ignoring Indigo because, let’s face it, Indigo? But where exactly is purple? Is it here at the end? This dark blue? And what is this lighter light blue-green? Cyan maybe? So why don’t we say the rainbow is red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue? ROYGCB.

Well we actually do. And we just forgot. When Isaac Newton originally observed a rainbow of light divided by a prism and named the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, what he called blue was actually what we would call blue-green today, or teal or cyan. Reminiscent of the color of the blue sky. And what we tend to call blue today, Newton called violet, as in: roses are red, violets are blue. dark blue.

He only included indigo in his seven primary colors of the rainbow so that they would correspond to the number of notes on the western musical scale. Do re mi fa so la ti– yes.

It is well known that purple, magenta and pink do not appear in the rainbow of a prism because they can only arise as a combination of red and blue light. And these are on opposite sides of the rainbow and far from overlapping. So there is no purple or pink in a prism’s rainbow. Violet is red in the roses there, violets are blue, but purple is not. Then why do rainbows in the sky often look like they’re purple?

I sometimes suspect it’s an optical illusion where beautiful deep blues in small amounts surrounded by a lighter color appear purple to our eyes. However, sometimes purple and pink are really there because a rainbow is really a rain disk. Each color of sunlight is reflected in a brightly rimmed disc of different sizes, which combine to form a white disc with a variegated border.

But since light is a wave, the perturbation from the raindrops themselves gives each disk multiple rings. The known outer ring is only the brightest. The others are called surplus rings and are the source of surplus rainbows. The smaller the raindrops, the stronger the extra loops. And if the drops are the right size, the first red supernumerary ring can clearly overlap with the purple main ring. And what do red and violet give? Violet.

As the saying goes, roses are red, violets are blue, and purple in a rainbow is an extra hue.

When sunlight and raindrops combine to form a rainbow, they can form a whole circle of light in the sky. But it’s a very rare sight. Sky conditions need to be just right for this to happen, and even when they do, the bottom of a full-circle rainbow is usually blocked by your horizon. This is why we don’t see rainbows as circles, but as arcs across our sky.

If you see a rainbow, pay attention to the altitude of the sun. It helps determine how much arc you will see. The lower the sun, the higher the peak of the rainbow. If you could get up high enough you would see that some rainbows continue below the horizon as you get closer to sea level. Climbers are sometimes more likely to see a rounded rainbow, although even a tall mountain isn’t high enough to show you the full circle.

Pilots sometimes report seeing true full-circle rainbows. They would be difficult to see through the small windows that we passengers look through, but pilots have a much better view from the front.

By the way, we searched for pictures of full-circle rainbows. But most of the ones we found weren’t really rainbows. They were either halos around the sun – or airplane glory.

What is NOT a rainbow? Hear from a master of celestial optics

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Conclusion: Can you ever see a rainbow in a circle in the sky? Yes, but they are most commonly seen by pilots who have a good view of the sky through an airplane’s wide front windows.

Indigo is probably the most famous of all natural dyes and is certainly the most commonly used today. What is indigo? The dye is derived from the leaves of plants of the Indigofera genus that grow in tropical climates. The leaves are converted by farmers into a blue extract that is sold to dyers, who make dye vats with the addition of an alkali (such as lye or lime) and a reducing agent (either chemical, such as thiourea dioxide, or natural, such as powdered fructose), or as a syrup from certain fruits.)

In the past, balls made from dried Indigofera leaves, used by local dyers, were available in some West African countries such as Mali and Senegal. In Europe, before the 19th century, the production of indigo balls was carried out by breeders using the native woad plant (Isatis tinctoria). In the 19th century, the old-fashioned use of bullets was gradually abandoned and replaced by the blue extract called indigo. Today only a few people deal with the use of Indigofera balls: Among them Dogon Indians in Mali and artists like the American Rowland Ricketts, who makes a compost from Persicaria tinctoria, which grows in a temperate climate, using an old Japanese method composting the plant revives material and using it for dyeing.

Indigo barrels ready for dyeing in Japan. Photo by Susan E. Horton

Indigo has been known for thousands of years, particularly in India, the oldest center of indigo dyeing. India was the main source of indigo in the Graeco-Roman era, although other Asian countries such as China and Japan have also used indigo for centuries. It became an incredibly valuable resource in Europe during the Middle Ages, and became only slightly less rare as trade routes opened up during the Renaissance. Demand for the dye fueled trade wars, fueled the slave trade, and partially funded the American Revolutionary War.

Impact of Indigo on Science

The indigo fever even had an impact on science and physics that continues to this day! In the mid-17th century, Sir Isaac Newton proved that white light encompasses a full spectrum of colors. He demonstrated that light can be split using a prism and then recombined using another prism.

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Illustration of Newton’s double prism experiment from his 1671 letter to the Royal Society.

He divided the indistinct color continuum into seven distinct, visible colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. So what is indigo doing in the color wheel? Newton’s distinctions and color names were somewhat arbitrary, as was the nature of color in general. Indigo was an important raw material at the time and Newton’s contemporaries could have recognized it.

How you see color depends on the context, your culture, and the language you use to talk about color. The only reason we see a rainbow made up of bands of color at all is because human perception prefers to organize stimuli into different “buckets” rather than looking at a spectrum. It’s a shortcut your brain takes so it doesn’t have to work as hard.

Newton decided to divide the rainbow into seven colors because he believed that seven was a cosmically significant, even “magical” number. The scale has seven notes, and Newton chose to define seven different colors as well.

Modern Color Wheel Controversy: What’s Indigo Doing In There?

Today, many color specialists advocate removing indigo from the colors of the rainbow. You want to define it as: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Today, the color “indigo” refers to a blue-purple color that many people can’t really tell apart from blue or purple. Experts say Newton only included indigo in the rainbow because he wanted seven colors and indigo was an extremely valuable commodity at the time.

But many believe that what Newton called “blue” was closer to modern “aqua,” a mixture of blue and green, and that his “indigo” was what we would call “blue” today. This makes sense when you consider the actual color of indigo cakes. They really aren’t very purple at all. In this case, it’s not his decision to define seven colors that’s the problem, but the naming conventions that are the problem.

In today’s world, where most blue dyes are synthetic, calling blue “indigo” makes little sense. It’s especially difficult to teach to children, who may be wondering, “What is indigo?” It might make more sense to convert the rainbow into a more modern version, still with seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, aqua, blue, purple!

Learn how to create patterns in an indigo paint pot

Arashi Shibori from “Natural Shibori: Arashi”

There are many methods of creating patterns on indigo dyed fabrics. Some like ikat and woven shibori are made before or during the weaving of the fabric, others like batik, arashi shibori and itajime shibori are done on the actual fabric. All methods use some form of resist, be it wax as in tie-dye, rod winding as in arashi, or tying off sections of yarn to prevent the color from seeping in as in ikat. If you’re interested in trying your hand at arashi, watch this video, Natural Shibori: Arashi, by Elizabeth McTear.

If you are interested in woven shibori, you will find the on-demand web seminar Weaving Fabric for Shibori: For Four Shanks or Less with Indigo and Catharine Ellis helpful.

Itajime Shibori from Natural Shibori: Itajime starring Elizabeth McTear.

And if you want to try Itajime Shibori, which involves folding and pinching the cloth to form resist patterns, check out this other video by Elizabeth McTear, Natural Shibori: Itajime

Whichever method you choose, you’ll find that indigo is an intriguing color, whether it’s on the color wheel or not!

Published August 26, 2016 Revision April 26, 2022 Revised again May 13, 2022

Colors of the rainbow in the right order

The colors of the rainbow in order are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. You may remember her by the acronym Roy G Biv!

We’ve all seen a rainbow at some point. But while they’re fairly common, it’s striking how little most people actually know about rainbows.

In fact, most people couldn’t even name the 7 colors of the rainbow in order. If you’ve ever tried to close your eyes and try to name these colors in the correct order, you’ll find that getting it right is a lot harder than it seems.

The most common mnemonic techniques are to either memorize the initials for each color in order (VIBGYOR) or convert them to a name by reversing the order (ROY G BIV).

Sunset is still my favorite color and rainbow is second. – Mattie Stepanek

What is the order of the 7 colors of the rainbow?

The white light emanating from the sun can be broken down into the 7 colors of the rainbow in order:

violet

indigo

Blue

Green

Yellow

orange

Red

Just remembering the first letter of each color might be the best way to remember them.

However, there is no general agreement on this. Notably, the science and science fiction writer and thinker Isaac Asimov (1920-1992) said the following about it:

It’s common to list indigo as a color intermediate between blue and violet, but it never seemed to me that indigo was worthy of the dignity of being considered a separate color. – Isaac asimov.

Despite what Asimov said, it seems to be generally accepted that the colors of the rainbow are seven and that they actually contain the color indigo. This is probably because more ordinary people looking at a rainbow (both directly and at a photo or video recording of it) can see and identify the seven colors.

Color of the Rainbow Color Wavelength (nm) Violet 455 – 390 Blue 492 – 455 Green 577 – 492 Yellow 597 – 577 Orange 622 – 597 Red 780 – 622

But there’s a lot more to know about the colors of the rainbow than just the order.

What is the origin of the 7 colors of the rainbow?

The 17th-century English theologian, astronomer and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton (1642 – 1726 or 1627) was the first to recognize that it was possible to see the full spectrum of colors by breaking apart white light.

The most natural way to create a prism would be using raindrops. Because of this, a great way to observe the visual spectrum is by looking at a rainbow.

Even a quick look at the full color spectrum makes it clear that the colors are not separate categories. If you look closely, you’ll see that each color blends into the one next to it.

So the color violet bleeds into the color indigo, the color indigo bleeds into the color blue, the color blue bleeds into the color green, the color green bleeds into the color yellow, the color yellow bleeds into the color orange, and the color orange goes into the color red.

What’s on both sides of the spectrum? Ultraviolet or UV is the neighbor of violet and Infrared or IR is the neighbor of red.

Since all of the colors blend into each other, choosing seven colors can seem a bit arbitrary. However, contemporary observers may not question this because we have accepted that there are seven colors. We were told that so it may be difficult to see otherwise. But the decision that there were only seven colors, and therefore to ignore everything that lies “in between” each of those colors, has very deep historical roots.

What is the story behind the 7 colors of the rainbow?

It is no coincidence that we chose 7 colors. The number 7 has a long history in western culture.

It all started in ancient Greece. As early as the 6th century B.C. A mathematician named Pythagoras (c. 570 – 495 BC) believed that numbers were closely related to the real world. Numbers were not just abstractions for him, they had almost magical qualities.

“There is geometry in the hum of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.” — Pythagoras

Pythagoras was the first to apply numbers to pretty much everything that happens in real life. For example, he discovered that the seven musical notes could also be rendered (or at least given credit for) as mathematical equations.

He found that most phenomena in nature, or more generally in the real world, had something to do with the number seven. Mathematics and mysticism are combined in the thinking of Pythagoras. The thinking of Pythagoras was enormously influential among philosophers in the classical world.

If you’re unsure if any of this is still relevant in the 21st century, just consider how many different concepts are associated with the number seven, many of which date back to ancient times.

For example, we still talk about the seven wonders of the world, Christians believe in the seven daily sins, there were seven dwarfs in the Snow White fairy tale, etc. But not only that – there are also seven days of the week. Everywhere you look you see the number seven.

Why are there 7 rainbow colors?

The crucial fact here is that Isaac Newton was not only an admirer of Pythagoras, but also of everyone who has been influenced by his thinking over the years, particularly Philolaus (c. 470 – c. 385) and especially Copernicus ( 1473). – 1543).

This influence can be seen in how Newton’s thinking about the solid color spectrum evolved. Initially, the English thinker saw only five colors in the spectrum, in the following order: red, yellow, green, blue, and violet. He added orange (between yellow and red) and indigo (between violet and blue) only after considering Pythagoras’ connection between music and color.

Because as Pythagoras thought and has since accepted, if there are seven musical notes, then there should be seven colors. Obviously there are more colors than these seven, but they are all the result of combining two or more of these seven main colors.

So, as you can see, the story of why there are seven colors in the rainbow is very complex, very long, and very old. But it’s also surprising because it incorporates elements of math, numerology, and even music. Although most people have accepted the seven colors as fact, in Isaac Asimov’s estimation, indigo should be removed and the rainbow should only have six colors. Can you now name the 7 colors of the rainbow in order?

Rainbows are delightful sights of nature to observe when we have rain and sun at the same time.

The rainbow has been reproduced by artists and individuals for many years, all with different symbols or meanings, but have you noticed that we cannot see the color pink in a rainbow?

But is there pink in the rainbow anywhere? Is every color we see present in this beautiful act of nature?

In this article, we will examine whether pink exists in the rainbow.

Is the color pink actually in the rainbow?

The rainbow created by nature does not contain the color pink… anyway.

You may have seen drawings or paintings that include pink in the rainbow, but this is all fictional.

In that order, the rainbow contains red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

To put it simply, pink is not in the rainbow because violet and red are on opposite ends.

The color pink is created by mixing red and violet; Therefore, pink cannot exist because red and violet do not meet in the rainbow.

Although this is a simplified explanation, there is a lot of science behind why we see certain colors.

Why isn’t pink in the rainbow?

We know that pink is made up of red and violet, and since they are on opposite sides of the rainbow and never meet, pink is never seen.

A rainbow is formed when the sun and rain are in the same place at any given time, but it can only be visible when the sun is behind you and the rain is in front.

When it rains, the tiny raindrops break up the sunlight and break it down into seven spectral colors.

Known as white light, sunlight is a mixture of all visible colors. So when it’s scattered by the raindrops, we see these colors.

The colors projected into a rainbow are from the visible spectrum, and these are colors that have their own wavelength.

Pink does not exist in the visible spectrum as it is a mixture of colors; it has no wavelength of its own.

Is pink a real color?

There has been much debate as to whether pink is a real color or is it made up.

Robert Krulwich of the Radio Lab radio show wrote a blog explaining that pink is a man-made color.

He explains that there is no wavelength band that mixes red and violet, making the color pink part of our imagination.

Because it doesn’t have its own wavelength, it’s not an official color.

However, many scientists and lovers of the color pink have opposed this adoption, stating that pink, like any other color, is an invention of our brains.

Biologist Timothy H. Goldsmith explained that our brain creates all colors, so who says what an official color is or isn’t.

“Color is not actually a property of light or of objects that reflect light. It is a sensation that arises in the brain.”

What other colors are not in the rainbow?

Just as pink is absent from the rainbow, brown, black, and white are also absent.

This is because brown comes from the mixture of green and red, which, similar to pink, never touch. Therefore, brown will never appear in a rainbow.

We don’t see white in the rainbow because the sun is white light and it is the white light that turns into the colors.

Black is not seen because the color black is the absence of all other colors.

There are many colors in the rainbow that we can’t see, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

There are colors created from the ultraviolet and infrared light within the rainbow that the human eye cannot see naturally.

Finally

Although our eyes perceive color tones differently, we all see the same colors in the rainbow.

We don’t see pink because it doesn’t have its own wavelength and is a mixture of red and violet wavelengths.

If red and violet were in contact with the rainbow we might see pink, but that will never happen due to the refraction of light.

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rainbow of feelings

Did you know that every rainbow has seven colors that start with red and end with violet or purple? The colors of the rainbow are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.

Oh, just these simple 7 colors of the rainbow can evoke such emotions. Of course, a rainbow in itself symbolizes success, hope, and happiness for many of us. Gazing at the vibrant rainbow colors you may feel happiness and a sense of excitement and wonder.

Indeed, a rainbow is a beautiful thing. Over the centuries, rainbows have puzzled scientists, captivated storytellers, and become part of societal change. But if you look at each color of the rainbow individually, you can also feel a range of emotions.

Rainbow of feelings – color moods

In addition, many researchers have proven that color and light can change our mood, sleep, heart rate, and even happiness. A great example can be seen in our daily routine; green and blue light, d. H. Sky and nature revitalize us and make us happy and full of energy. So maybe you can start to see that colors play an important role in our lives. Different colors symbolize different personalities and also affect our mood differently. Even the seven colors of the rainbow are also associated with seven chakra colors, seven days of the week, the colors of the auras, and more.

The rainbow is a beautiful natural phenomenon; Knowing the meaning of each color of the rainbow makes it even more beautiful. While nature or God created this glorious natural phenomenon; Philosophers have given meaning to its colors.

Let’s revisit the seven colors of the rainbow and their meanings: (From Color Meanings – Colors of the Rainbow)

rainbow colors meanings

Red – The first color of the rainbow from the top. Red represents passion, vitality, enthusiasm and security. It is the light with the longest wavelength. Orange – This light or color is a combination of yellow and red. It is a dynamic color that represents creativity, practicality, playfulness, and balance or control. Yellow – This is the color of sunshine itself. It represents clarity of thought, wisdom, order and energy. Green – The middle color of the rainbow and represents fertility, growth, balance, health and prosperity. Blue – This is the fifth color of the rainbow that makes us think of the unknown. The sky and the vast oceans are this color and hence it has been associated with spirituality and divinity. Indigo – It is believed that where blue is calming, indigo is sedating. Indigo is mystical as it bridges the gap between finite and infinite. These colored gemstones are often used for spiritual attainment, psychic abilities, self-awareness, and enhancing intuition. Purple – The last color of the rainbow is a mixture of red and blue. It is considered the highest element of spirituality. It can stimulate your imagination and be an inspiration for artists. Dark shades of purple are associated with mourning. Deeper shades of violet or purple indicate high spiritual mastery.

Therefore, the most fascinating aspect of the rainbow – the vibrant color palette – can give us a rainbow of emotions to feel, express and contemplate. The idea that certain colors can change our mood or affect our behavior and decisions is largely true. However, most of the time we either ignore this or we are simply not aware of it in our daily lives.

Rainbow of Feelings – An Oil Diptych

In summary, whether we believe it or not, colors have an emotional effect on us. We think about the right shade to paint our house or the color we want to wear to an event, and it goes on and on. Because we are not aware of the importance of each color, but we know that in one way or another it plays a very essential role in our lives.

So, as you look at this little oil summary I’ve called “rainbow of feelings,” remember to be a RAINBOW in your own life. Because the rainbow truly reflects how life is actually lived, with a plethora of human emotions. Be passionate like red, creative like orange, positive like yellow, generous like green, trustworthy like blue, sincere like indigo and calm like violet. Because then you can face your obstacles, your fear and sadness, but still have the strength and knowledge to keep the happiness within you.

“YOUR LIFE IS LIKE A CANVAS. FILL IT WITH BRILLIANT COLORS OF JOY, HAPPINESS AND YOUR LIFE WILL SHINE LIKE A MASTERPIECE.”

dare to feel

Red

See more of Red’s creations in her gallery.

The proverbial “end of the rainbow”

The rainbow has been a popular part of art and religion throughout history.

religion [edit]

The rainbow has found a place in the mythological systems of many cultures. It is sometimes personified as a deity, like the Greco-Roman messenger goddess Iris or the Australian Aboriginal rainbow serpent; while in other cultures it may represent a bridge or an archer’s bow. In Jewish Christianity, the rainbow is associated with God’s protection as described in the book of Genesis (9:11-17) as a sign of the covenant between God and man.

art [edit]

Rainbows are generally described as very colorful and peaceful. The rainbow often appears in paintings.[1] These often have a symbolic or programmatic meaning (e.g. Albrecht Dürer’s Melancholy I). In particular, the rainbow appears regularly in religious art (e.g. in Joseph Anton Koch’s Thanksgiving Noah). Romantic landscape painters such as J.M.W. Turner and John Constable were more concerned with recording fleeting effects of light (e.g. Constable’s Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows). Other notable examples can be found in the works of Hans Memling, Caspar David Friedrich and Peter Paul Rubens.

The Blind Girl, oil painting (1856) by John Everett Millais. The rainbow – one of the beauties of nature that the blind girl cannot experience – is used to emphasize the pathos of her condition. (around 1803) by Joseph Anton Koch. Noah builds an altar to the Lord after being delivered from the flood; God sends the rainbow as a sign of his covenant (Genesis 8–9). ‘Noah’s Thanksgiving Offering

The rainbow also appears frequently in contemporary visual art, notably in Peter Coffin’s Untitled (Rainbow), 2005,[2] and in Ugo Rondinone’s Hell, Yes!, 2001.[3] Like many other cultural references to the rainbow, these emphasize either the possible grandeur of the natural world or the happiness, joy, and celebration often culturally associated with a profusion of color.

In 2012, American artist Michael Jones McKean created a large-scale artwork, The Rainbow.[4] The project created a fully sustainable prismatic rainbow using thousands of gallons of pressurized collected rainwater that at times stretched across several city blocks.[5]

literature [edit]

The rainbow inspires metaphor and simile. Virginia Woolf in To the Lighthouse emphasizes the impermanence of life and the mortality of man through Mrs. Ramsey’s thoughts: “It was all as impermanent as a rainbow”.

Wordsworth’s 1802 poem “My Heart Leaps Up” begins:

My heart jumps when I see it

A rainbow in the sky:

That’s how it was when my life began;

So now I’m a man;

So be it when I grow old

Or let me die!…

The Newtonian deconstruction of the rainbow is said to have provoked John Keats to lament in his 1820 poem “Lamia”:

Not all charms fly

At the mere touch of cold philosophy?

Once upon a time there was a terrible rainbow in the sky:

We know their shot, their texture; it is given

In the boring catalog of ordinary things.

Philosophy will clip an angel’s wings,

Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,

Empty the haunted air and the gnome mine –

Design a rainbow

In contrast, Richard Dawkins; wrote of his 1998 book Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder:

My title comes from Keats, who believed that Newton destroyed all poetry of the rainbow by reducing it to the prismatic colors. Keats could hardly have been more wrong, and my aim is to lead those tempted by a similar view to the opposite conclusion. Science is, or should be, the inspiration for great poetry.

music [edit]

Film and TV[edit]

flags [edit]

Rainbow flags are typically used as a sign of a new era, hope, or societal change. Rainbow flags have been used in many places over the centuries: in the German Peasants’ War in the 16th century as a symbol of the cooperative movement; as a symbol of peace, especially in Italy; to represent the Tawantin Suyu or Inca territory, mainly in Peru and Bolivia;[6] by some Druze communities in the Middle East; from the Jewish Autonomous Region; since the early 1920s to represent the International Order of the Rainbow for girls and since the 1970s as a modified symbol of gay pride and LGBT social movements. In the 1990s, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and President Nelson Mandela referred to the newly democratic South Africa as a “rainbow nation”, also in reference to its diversity and multiculturalism.

Rainbow symbol [ edit ]

Rainbow window decoration in Walthamstow, May 2020.

The rainbow has been embraced as a symbol of hope during the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in times of lockdown. Households around the world displayed homemade pictures of rainbows in their windows, often alongside positive messages.[9]

The rainbow was a symbol of ethnic and racial diversity. Various Rainbow Coalition movements have used the rainbow as a metaphor to bring together people of a wide range of races and faiths.[10]

This is the final part of our Color Therapy series: Psychological Effects of Color. You can read previous issues: Color Therapy and Healing, Color Meanings and Symbolism, and download our free Color Meaning and Symbolism Charts. In this latest edition we will examine the following topics:

1. What is color psychology?

2. Application of color psychology in everyday life

3. Psychological effects of cool colors

4. Psychological effects of warm colors

5. Color Psychology for Marketing & Advertising

6. General psychological effects of colors

What is color psychology?

Color psychology is based on the mental and emotional effects of colors on sighted people in all facets of life. There are some very subjective parts of color psychology, as well as some more accepted and proven elements. Keep in mind that there will also be differences in interpretation, meaning and perception between different cultures.

Application of color psychology in everyday life

Did you know that your surroundings can affect your emotions and state of mind? Have you ever noticed that certain places particularly irritate you? Or that certain places are particularly relaxing and calming? Well, there’s a good chance that the colors play a part in these rooms.

In art therapy, color is often associated with a person’s emotions. Color can also affect a person’s mental or physical condition. For example, studies have shown that some people looking at the color red caused an increased heart rate, which then caused extra adrenaline to be pumped into the bloodstream. You can learn more about how color therapy works and how light and color can affect us.

There are also well known psychological effects of colors as they relate to two main categories: warm and cool. Warm colors — like red, yellow, and orange — can evoke a variety of emotions, ranging from comfort and warmth to hostility and anger. Cool colors — like green, blue, and purple — often evoke feelings of calm and sadness.

The concepts of color psychology can also be applied in everyday life. For example, you may be planning to repaint your walls or redecorate a home or room with a new color scheme. Well, you might want to consider some of these suggestions about colors and how they might affect your emotions and mood:

Psychological Effects of Cool Colors

Need to be creative? Need help firing those brain synapses? Try using the color purple. Purple uses both red and blue to create a nice balance of stimulation and serenity that is said to encourage creativity. Light purple is believed to bring about a peaceful environment, thereby relieving tension. These could be great colors for a home or office.

Are you looking for a peaceful and soothing environment? You might consider using green and/or blue. These cool colors are usually considered calming. There is actually a bit of scientific logic behind it – because the eye focuses the color green directly onto the retina, it should put less strain on the eye muscles.

The color blue is recommended for high-traffic rooms or rooms where you or other people will be spending a lot of time. Another cool color, blue is typically a calming and calming color said to lower breathing and blood pressure. The bedroom is a great place to use these colors as they are designed to help you relax.

Psychological effects of warm colors

Would you like to create a stimulating environment or whet your appetite? You might consider using the colors yellow or orange. Often associated with food, these colors can make your stomach growl a little. Have you ever wondered why so many restaurants use these colors? Now you know why after watching the movie SuperSize Me people said they were hungry.

You should be careful when using bright colors like orange and especially yellow. They reflect more light and are unduly irritating to a person’s eyes, which can cause irritation. You probably don’t want to paint your dining room or kitchen these colors either if you’re a calorie counter.

Color Psychology for Marketing & Advertising

Marketing and advertising are known to use color psychology. The fact that some companies have invested heavily in this type of research and many others have consistently carried out its application shows that they have enough confidence in the concepts of color psychology to implement them in their advertising.

Color is consistently used to make people hungry, to associate a positive or negative tone, to promote confidence, feelings of calm or energy, and in myriad other ways.

Most marketing and advertising professionals will probably agree that there are benefits to understanding and harnessing the psychological effects of color. Now let’s take a look at some of the more common characteristics of color psychology, organized by some common colors.

Common psychological effects of colors

Below are some common psychological effects of color in the western hemisphere. Also, on the following pages you will find a more comprehensive list of color meanings and symbols, including some charts that we have created that you can download or embed on your website.

Remember that certain shades or tones can lead to very different meanings. The context around the color and even surrounding colors can also have an effect. Think of this more as a first guide to color psychology.

Color psychology: the color white

purity

innocence

cleanliness

sense of space

neutrality

Mourning (in some cultures/societies)

Color Psychology: The Color Black

authority

energy

Strength

devilish

intelligence

Thinning / slimming

death or grief

Color Psychology: The Color Grey

neutral

Timeless

practically

Color psychology: the color red

love

romance

soft

warmth

Comfort

energy

excitement

intensity

life

blood

Color Psychology: The Color Orange

happy

energetic

excitement

enthusiasm

warmth

wealth prosperity

sophistication

change

stimulation

Color psychology: the color yellow

happiness

Laugh

bright

warmth

optimism

hunger

intensity

frustration

Fury

attention grabbing

Color psychology: the color green

naturally

Cold

growth

money

health

envy

Quiet

harmony

Quiet

fertility

Color Psychology: The Color Blue

Quiet

serenity

cold

indifferent

wisdom

loyalty

truth

focused

unappetizing

Color Psychology: The Color Purple

royalty

assets

sophistication

wisdom

exotic

spiritual

prosperity

respect

secret

Color psychology: the color brown

reliability

stability

Friendship

sadness

warmth

Comfort

security

naturally

organic

Mourning (in some cultures/societies)

Color psychology: the color pink

The rainbow is one of the most beautiful, naturally occurring phenomena in nature. Scientifically, rainbows appear in the sky when sunlight hits raindrops, causing the light to be scattered and refracted. But rainbows symbolize so much more than just a scientific anomaly.

Rainbows hold deep meaning and significance for the individuals who discover them. For example, people who have suffered a great personal loss are often deeply saddened when they see a rainbow, especially on an important day or at that time when they need to know they have not been forgotten.

And because the rainbow is an important symbol, it follows that each of the colors represented in the rainbow also has an important meaning and significance.

Due to the importance of the rainbow to multiple religions and cultural beliefs, the rainbow is filled with symbolism.

Let’s take a look at each of the colors and what they mean.

What are the colors of the rainbow?

When listed, the colors of the rainbow appear in this order:

Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet

Sometimes scholars simply refer to this list as ROYGBIV (pronounced Roy G. Biv). Any rainbow you spot in the sky will represent each of these colors in that order.

But here’s a fun fact: while we only list seven colors in the rainbow, the rainbow is actually made up of over 1 million colors, most of which the human eye can’t see or understand. So the rainbow is as mysterious as it is profound.

The colors of the rainbow and their meaning

Here’s a walkthrough of the seven colors of the rainbow and what each one represents.

1. Red

Red is listed first because it is the first color in the arc of the rainbow. It also has the longest wavelength of any color represented. It is a color full of vibrancy and strong emotions.

For Christians, red symbolizes energy and wisdom. For Buddhists and Hindus, red corresponds to the muladhara chakra, which is grounding.

But even without religious significance, red is a powerful color with strong emotions. It is a highly pigmented color that naturally associates it with strong feelings and emotions. Red is never used to show weakness or subtlety. Instead, it is used in almost all countries and cultures to denote danger or to express a warning.

Red always draws our attention and tells us that something important is happening.

In famous literature, red is used to represent passion, hostility and war. In roses, for example, red represents the strongest form of love. It is also the color used to represent evil and the devil.

In Japan and China, red is the most revered color of the rainbow, which is why brides in China traditionally wear red.

The red of the rainbow represents the following:

enthusiasm

dedication

security

vitality

2. Orange

The second color of the rainbow, orange is a warm, vibrant color. It is typically a happy color that makes people feel friendly and comfortable.

A mixture of the colors on either side of it (red and yellow), Orange feeds on both. For example, the cheerfulness of yellow and the vitality of red combine to create the color orange. According to the chakra system, orange in this context represents the energy that is often associated with creativity, sexuality and fertility.

In addition to the chakra system, orange represents creativity and the ability to relax and enjoy life.

But it’s important to understand that not all oranges are created equal.

Burnt orange represents tension and aggression.

Dark orange represents ambition.

Golden orange represents self-control.

Peachy orange represents good manners.

Typically, the lighter shades of orange are most associated with positive feelings and emotions.

The orange of the rainbow represents the following:

persistence

persistence

Strength

3. Yellow

Yellow is the happiest color in the rainbow.

This sun color represents energy and warmth. It is often associated with happiness, clear thinking, and communication. Yellow is often associated with inspiration. When you’re ready to start a new creative project or endeavor, place something yellow where you can easily see and appreciate it.

Yellow occurs naturally around the world in the form of egg yolks, sunflowers, lemons and bees. It is often used to illustrate a happy face.

Yellow, the brightest color in the rainbow, is known to grab our attention more easily than any other color. (Maybe that’s why the most common highlighter color is yellow!)

Bottom line: It’s hard to miss something yellow.

Note: Use yellow sparingly. Too much yellow can actually emit the opposite. Too much yellow makes people feel judgmental and critical.

The yellow of the rainbow represents the following:

awareness

happiness

energy

neatness

4 (Green

Located in the center of the rainbow, green is the color of life. Here in the west it is also a color that symbolizes wealth, which is why our money is green.

It is a refreshing color that symbolizes growth and renewal.

But green is also a bit of a dichotomy. On the one hand, green represents life and growth; on the other hand, it stands for envy. (Ever heard the expression green with envy?) Perhaps there’s a finer line between wealth and envy than we think.

Because so much of our plant life is green, this color is often associated with nature and natural life. Recycling and using natural products is sometimes referred to as “green living”. When people decide to replace synthetic products with more natural products, they are said to be going green.

Interestingly, the human eye is able to discern more variations of the color green than any other color in the rainbow.

The green of the rainbow represents the following:

growth

health

Nature

assets

5. Blue

Blue is the color of the sky and ocean and represents peace, relaxation and stability. That’s no surprise. When people want to relax, they often look for water. Even simply replacing the background image on a computer background with an ocean scene can be beneficial in this regard.

Because blue is the color of the sky, it is often associated with divinity and used to illustrate trust and loyalty.

It’s a stabilizing color, but is also sometimes used to illustrate melancholy (hence the Monday blues). The blues is a famous musical genre that originated in the Deep South and is characterized by smooth tones.

Blue is a popular color with many healing and calming properties.

Note: Too much blue can make people feel rigid. Blue is a good color to take in moderation.

The blue of the rainbow represents the following:

Quiet

communication

knowledge

Peace

6. Indigo

Indigo is the most controversial color in the rainbow.

For years, scientists and weather hobbyists have debated whether indigo even belongs on the list because it’s so difficult to tell apart. Does indigo really deserve its own place, or do people only see blue and violet?

Similarly, people have long tried to answer this question: is indigo blue or purple? The answer: it’s both. (Though if you want to get more specific, indigo is three-quarters blue and one-quarter purple.)

A mix of purple and blue, indigo is the color of the midnight sky. Because of this, Indigo encourages individuals to think more deeply about life and has strong connections to spiritualism and inner thinking.

It also stands for mystery.

As with other colors in the rainbow, it’s important not to go overboard with indigo. Too much indigo causes a person to feel intolerant, judgmental, and avoidant. Too much internal thinking can lead to frustration or anxiety. Used in moderation, however, indigo can be very useful.

The indigo of the rainbow represents:

awareness

intuition

spiritual achievement

wisdom

7. Violet

Purple is one of the most popular colors in the rainbow. And for a good reason.

While red has the longest wavelength in the rainbow, violet has the shortest. Violet is at the opposite end of the rainbow from red and is the most subtle color of all. But don’t confuse subtlety with weakness. Violet has its own unique superpowers.

For example, people the color violet report feeling more empathetic and kind. Purple is also associated with individuality and selflessness.

Violet arises from red and blue and is a lighter shade of the color purple and therefore shares some of the same meanings.

The purple of the rainbow represents:

creativity

performance

luxury

secret

royalty

The Bible and the colors of the rainbow

We cannot talk about the meaning of the colors of the rainbow without mentioning the Bible. It is believed that the “rainbow is a sign from the Almighty that we are not forgotten”. It is mentioned in the story of Noah’s Ark; After God appeared before Noah after the Flood, there was a beautiful rainbow in the sky, symbolizing His glory and power and His covenant.

In the Bible, the rainbow is mentioned in the book of Genesis, in the book of Revelation and also in the book of Ezekiel:

In Genesis it is described as a sign of God’s mercy and a covenant He made with Noah that such a flood would not come again.

, it is described as a sign of God’s mercy as well as a pact/covenant he made with Noah that such a flood would not be sent again. In Revelation, the Apostle John compares the colors of the rainbow to the glory or power of God.

, Apostle John compares the colors of the rainbow to the glory or power of God. In Ezekiel 1:26-28 the colors of the rainbow are compared to the glory of God.

Noah teaches mankind the seven basic rules they must abide by, which correspond to the seven colors of the rainbow:

You shall not worship idols You shall not blaspheme You shall not murder You shall not engage in immoral relationships You shall not steal You shall respect all living beings You shall establish courts

These are known as the Noahide Laws, and the seven colors of the rainbow remind us of our obligation to them.

angel colors

Another important term related to the colors of the rainbow is angel colors. Devout Christians use these to focus on their prayers to the Lord. Like the seven colors of the rainbow, there are seven angel colors. Some gifted people with “sight” see not only the refracted light of the rainbow, but another metaphysical system that they believe are angels sent to earth to guide us. These are actually similar to the concept of chakra and aura colors that we talked about earlier.

The seven angel colors include:

Blue: Angel Michael (Power/Protection) Yellow: Angel Jophiel (Thoughts/Wisdom) Pink: Angel Chamuel (Love/Relationships) White: Angel Gabriel (Purity/Harmony) Green: Angel Raphael (Healing/Prosperity) Red: Angel Uriel ( Wisdom Service/Energy) Purple: Angel Zadkiel (Mercy/Transfiguration)

Finally

The rainbow is truly a beautiful, mysterious and magical phenomenon. Nothing in nature excites or invigorates us like recognizing a full arc (or double arc!) across the sky. And knowing the importance of each color makes it all the more fascinating.

Next time you see a rainbow, stop and take it in. Let its beauty and creativity fill you with peace and joy.

It has been said that no two people see a rainbow exactly alike. So the rainbow you see in the sky is really unique to you!