Color Red

Last on the rainbow is red.  Greens and blues are cool and calming, but red…hot and fiery.   It is one of the most visible colors, which it is often used as a warning like a stop sign or fire engine.  Yellow actually has a longer wavelength and is therefore more of an attention grabber but somehow red just seems to work better.

The word red comes from the Sanskrit rudhira as well as the Germanic rauthaz.  It was a color term that came into use after the original terms of black and white.  The color is produced from a substance called madder, which comes from a plant root.  It also is derived from red lead, cinnabar, and artificially through chemicals.  The artist Titian, famous for the use of his color red, made his paint from grinding cinnabar.  The most common red food dye is carmine, made from crushed cochineal insects.

We’ve seen how all the colors have good and bad connotations, but red has the most contradictory effects. We think of passion and love but also anger and power.  It is also a symbol of excitement.  Common phrases reflect this: “in the red” “seeing red” “red flag” “red carpet treatment”.  In China red is the color for happiness and good luck.  Many brides wear red on their wedding day.

Psychological tests were run and these experts found that wearing red or just being exposed to it can raise blood pressure rates as well as the heart rate.  You will find you perspire more.  These are all indicators of an increased energy output.  Many people, when they become overstimulated or angry, get red in the face, which is a physiological representation of those metabolic changes.

We see a lot of athletic uniforms that include red.  As a sign of dominance, the aggressive color is a favorite of many teams and individuals, like Tiger Woods.  The other side of the coin is that red is also a romantic color (“My love is like a red, red rose” by Robert Burns).  Researchers are always coming up with new experiments.  One was where they showed men an image of a the same woman except that in one shot she wore a blue blouse and in the other it was red.  Those guys felt that the woman in red was more sexually attractive than the other.

Since red is such an attention getter, it is often associated with power and powerful people, like those individuals who wear red power ties, or the Roman Catholic Cardinals who are dressed all in red.  Just the fact that they are trying to stand out can make us think that they are more important than others.

Red is one of the favorite colors when designing a restaurant.  Possibly because it is thought to stimulate your appetite?

If red is your favorite color, those who study these things say you are probably bold and full of energy.  You are likely, at least somewhat, if not very, competitive and enjoy new adventures.  If you wear it a lot, you enjoy being the center of attention.

Fun facts about red:

• Initially babies’ vision is only in grays, black and white.  Red is the first true color they can detect.
• Red stripes on the American flag stand for valor, courage, and to honor those who gave their lives for our nation.
• Natural redheads make up only about 2% of the population.  It is a recessive gene and one day may be gone.  Scotland has the highest percentage of redheads with Ireland coming in second. 
• Bulls are color blind and they are not disturbed by the fact that the cape is red, but that it is moving.
• Red wine gets its color from the skins and stems.
• Your blood looks red because of hemoglobin, which is a protein that sends the oxygen through your body.
• Most lobsters are not red.  They only turn that color when the heat from cooking changes the pigment Crustacyanin.

Now that we have gone through all the colors of the rainbow, I wonder what will be next month.