Red
by: Bay
When it comes to colors, arguably the most prominent (that is not a shade) is red. The first color listed when thinking of the rainbow, one of the easiest to identify, and one that certainly holds a lot of significance, there is no ignoring the color red.
Let’s start with the cultural significance of red. Red is a color normally associated with very passionate emotions. Love, anger, lust, guilt – all of them are typically connected to the color red. Blood, too, is connected with the color red, and as a result red is often connected with violence, bloodshed, and sacrifice. It is extremely common for villainous characters, whether in movies, books, myths, or even in religious texts, to be connected with the color red somehow, often in their clothing. For instance, in Christianity, Satan is often portrayed as being red. A famous Viking also associated with red is Eric the Red. Darth Maul from the Star Wars series also has a red and black face.
Psychologically, red is the color that catches the eye the most. If something is red, you are much more likely to see it than if it were any other color. For this reason, it is often used in advertising. The color red also is proven to elevate the heart rate when seen, possibly explaining why red is connected with intensity so much. Red also makes people hungry, which makes it a very popular color in restaurant decoration.
Why would all of this be so about the color red? Why would red be a color that we evolved to perceive in such a way? I, personally, strongly believe it has to do with the fact that blood is red. Blood would definitely be something that, if seen, should cause a fight or flight response in the natural world. In the natural world, after all, not much else would be red but blood, so it would be reasonable to elevate the heartbeat at the sight of red. The sight of red would be a sign of conflict.
All in all, red is a very unique color. It creates intensity, and attracts attention. There is nothing like the color red.