It’s a bright, youthful color, radiating warmth and joy. This is one of the reasons for yellow’s connection to happiness. The return of a yellow sun and the subsequent bloom of spring flowers is enough to make most people smile after a long winter. It’s a delicate and provocative color (unless neon pink is involved). Pink is a softer hue, suggesting a gentler kind of love. Or, the exact opposite-jealousy, anger, and revenge.

A visually hot color, red represents passionate, sexual love. It’s evident in all facets of what makes life. Beyond blood, it represents physical energy and humans’ will to exist. No matter one’s race, religion, or personal beliefs, we are all united by the same life force, the blood that flows through the red rivers of our veins. You can extract color palettes from a photo and learn more about the color tools in Shutterstock Create. And, if your next adventure in color is establishing a palette for your brand, look no further than our color palette generator. Let’s look at some of the most common symbolism in popular colors, then explore them in full. There are a range of cultural influences that affect one’s view of a specific color, like political and historical associations ( flag colors, political parties), mythological and religious associations (references to color in spiritual texts), and linguistic associations ( idioms and expressions). While there are some universal associations people have with different colors, their meanings differ from culture to culture. In art and anthropology, color symbolism refers to color’s ability to signify meaning to a viewer. If you’ve ever had the blues or been so angry you saw red, then you’re familiar with the powerful ways in which color can describe intangible ideas and emotions. Here’s an in-depth look at what various colors symbolize in cultures around the world. Color quite literally colors the way we view our world.

Color lights meaning emotional wheel