Color red: discover its psychological meaning

When you think of romance, passion, intensity… does the color red come to mind? this is something very natural, so much so that in fact, it is one of the most symbolic colors of all. Love=red And although it is universally recognized for this particular characteristic, have you ever wondered why it is so.

If you have that question in your mind, don't worry, the psychology of colors can explain the power that red has to enchant and excite us. After all, each color has a particular meaning, as well as a different impact for each of us.Which is why they inspire us to create endless things or to feel a certain way.

So now you know, if you want to find out everything related to the meaning of the color red according to psychology, then keep reading this article and stay on your screen.

Psychology of color and its emotional impact

One of the best development areas to put color psychology into practice is in the marketing market and, for what reason? Well, thanks to the fact that colors have a great visual impression on us, but not only does it stay there, but they manage to stimulate our brain so that it associates it with other things. For example, food, makeup and even technology. And all thanks to the emotion that we experience when perceiving those colors, coupled with the listening experience that they offer us to finish selling the product.

In this sense, everything is based on the emotions that we can generate with colors and that is where the psychology of color acts because each hue can represent a feeling and a state of mind. Which leads us to acquire that product, just as the experts in marketing and branding have planned.

One of the clearest examples of marketing, taking the color red as a reference, is that this color can stimulate the appetite and that is why you can see it in restaurant chains such as McDonald's, Pizza Hut or KFC. While others also connect it with romance and passion, which is why we can see a lot of red in Valentine's Day gifts and decorations.

The color red: discover its psychological meaning

Love, passion and appetite, that must be all the meaning that the color red acquires in us, right? Well, not completely.You see, the color red may have one of the simplest meanings of the entire spectrum of colors within psychology. Which is undoubtedly the intensity.

But, since it is just a color that represents intensity, it has a very wide variety of meanings in all those feelings and sensations that imply an intense reaction or response. In this way, for psychology red dances between being a clear representation of extroversion and having a spiritual sense

So, we can say that the meaning of the color red in general is intensity, but that it also has other connotations, such as: passion, love, romance, sensuality, the forbidden, risk, success, power and aggressiveness. Therefore, it is established as a link between what is good and what is bad in life and which have taken shape with each culture in the world and of which we will talk in depth below.

What the color red transmits to us

As we already mentioned, the color red has many implications in our different cultures and therefore, we can find it in various things. As you will see now.

one. Red, the color of passion

This is perhaps the most iconic feature of the color red in the world and the truth is that it has a very particular and human origin. Which is due to the act of blushing and 'getting red' when we react to an event or to a person that causes us nervousness. When this happens, the body's blood pumps faster, the heart flutters, our breathing becomes short and as it travels to the head it accumulates and becomes a visibly red hue.

In addition, since ancient times fire has been symbolized with this color and we all know that a moment of passion is as hot and scorching as fire. Including their attraction to him and the subjective feeling of ´burning´ in the romantic moment with that person.

2. Hate is also red

Well they say that there is a step from hate to love and that seems to be the same case for its meaning. As this is a fairly intense and strong emotion, it is represented with the color red. Precisely because of the physiological alterations that this emotion produces in us.

3. Red, red, more violence

And speaking of physiological alterations, one of the major ones that affects us the most, transforms us and has negative consequences is aggression and violence. Which, in psychology are also focused under the color red. Thanks to the anger without measure that is unleashed, the accumulation of blood in our body and even because of the "thirst for blood" that we want to shed, in a subjective and literal way in certain cases.

4. Danger! Here comes more red!

Yes, danger is also represented by the color red. That is why the warning and caution signs are drawn in red, to draw our attention and perceive the risk we run if we continue without taking any prior care.

However, did you know that this has been the case since ancient times? Since, men associated natural catastrophes such as fires or earthquakes, which devastated their homes, with the red color that sprouted from explosions or the bowels of the earth. Therefore, over time it became an intuitive sign of danger.

5. Extroversion and Power

At the other extreme, we have the color red as the clear manifestation of power, good luck and extroversion. Since it is a very striking and rich color before our eyes, it is a color that attracts us and causes us sensations. That is the reason why, a red dress or red lips attracts eyes or because people of Chinese heritage have a preference to use this color in their buildings or decorations, since they think that this color attracts success.

Many associate it with the fact that red represents life, matter and warmth. That is, everything that we can not only see, but have access to and enjoy.

6. Warmth in the use of red

Touching on the previous point of warmth, this is a characteristic of the color red that also comes from ancient times. Where those who lived in the coldest and most inhospitable regions of the earth, had to face life and the low prosperity of their lands due to high temperatures. Therefore, fire and warmth were something sacred because it represented the opposite of cold.

In this sense, many companies use this color for their logos, as a way of inviting people to use their products to feel the same warmth as their homes, so they can be at home. A clear example is that of Coca-Cola, which even has its own registered shade of red: Coca-Cola red.

7. Red and Hell

Many believe that hell is a place where eternal blazing flames burn as punishment for sinful and repulsive acts committed in earthly life.However, the origin of why hell has this description is linked to the way people in countries with high temperatures perceived heat.

Which was a torment, since there were few moments to cool off and the food used to be sour or spicy. In addition, they were more prone to a fire due to the intense heat.

8. Red as a sacred element of religion

We know that blood is red and since the days of ancient Christianity, the color red has been honored as a symbolism towards the blood of Jesus Christ spilled by his sacrifice for humanity, when he was crucified. For this reason, we tend to see red cloaks or the inclusion of some element of that hue in the representative paintings of Christ.

Other curiosities of the color red

Since we were little we are taught that red is one of the primary colors and therefore, when combined with others, they create new colors (such as purple or orange) which is something extraordinary because, this wants say that it is one of the colors that exist in reality and that our eyes are able to perceive as they really are.

Let's remember that each color has a specific frequency (wavelengths between 654 nm and 700 nm) and we can perceive the different shades that this color has, (that is, see it lighter or darker) depending on the wavelengths of light that can be captured by one of the cones of our eyes (which are 3, one for each primary color)

So it's normal that, if you feel angry or romantic, the color red is the color that comes first to your mind to express it .