The Emotional Symbolism of Colour

by Eric Tatton

Recently I was researching for a lecture I was to give about morality and as a result became very conscious of the way that colour influences our everyday life. Take for instance how colour has eclipsed black and white in the cinema, in photography and on television.

I find that it is also important to study the emotional aspect of colour. For example, it is recorded that the original Blackfriars Bridge in London when it was first opened to the public was painted black, but so many people committed suicide by jumping off the bridge that the City of London ordered it to be painted green which reduced the number at once. Was this because of colour influencing an emotional reaction? The reason for such an influence cannot easily be explained.

We talk of a coward having a yellow streak, an unschooled person a greenhorn, we say blue for a boy and pink for a girl. I suggest that the reason for this rests on the age old beliefs in the emotional power of colour.

All colour is found in the spectrum and represents the prismatic colours and the colours of the spectrum are of intense interest to us as they are the colours we see in a rainbow.

Of intense interest to us is the colour blue. We are told that blue is an emblem of universal benevolence and friendship, that it was regarded as the colour of importance by many religious orders even in ancient times. The druids regarded blue as the symbol of truth, the Egyptians regarded it as a sacred colour and to them it represented a peculiarly exalted and heavenly nature.

Think of blue as it is appreciated in everyday life. A clear blue sky is certainly the nearest we can get through our normal senses to an experience of infinity. We speak of a true blue friend, a person of blue blood and yet, paradoxically, we use blue to indicate unsavoury publications. One is blue with cold, black and blue with injuries. In African American music, sad, introspective music is referred to as ‘the Blues’. Some years ago it was announced that, strangely, cars painted blue were more likely to be involved in accidents than any other colour.

Let me quote from a book about the painter, Cézanne, in which a large number of pages are devoted to the colour blue.
”Just as we gladly follow an agreeable object which flees before us, so we gladly look at blue, not because it advances before us, but because it draws us after it.”

Here is a list of colours which symbolise virtue and emotion:

White; (although not strictly a colour) is accepted generally as a symbol of purity and innocence.

Blue: universal benevolence and friendship.

Purple: symbolises union because it is the result of mixing red and blue. It conveys the idea of royalty, justice, fortitude and strength.

Red: symbolises dignity, fervency and zeal.

Green: as the chief colour of nature it is symbolical of abundance and hope, immortality of divine truth.

Black: (again not strictly a colour) symbolises grief and sorrow. In heraldry on the other hand it has an entirely different meaning, that of prudence and wisdom.

Yellow and Gold:  these symbolise the sun, constancy and greatness of spirit.

Silver: colourless and associated with the soul.

Orange:  represents pride and integrity.

I am sure you will agree that colour has a great influence on our emotional life.

Eric Tatton