Look Inside " Global Color: Clues and Taboos"




From the "Global Symbolism of Green" chapter

Text from "Global Symbolism of Green" chapter



from the "About Global Color Symbolism" chapter

Text -About Global Color Symbolism

Excerpts


The Symbolism of Green

Japan
The Japanese word for green and blue - “ao” - are the same. Japanese call green traffic lights “ao,” thereby creating much confusion to foreigners who perceive this as calling the light “blue.”

United Kingdom
"British Racing Car Green" is a dark green symbolic of high-speed and high-performance cars.


The Symbolism of Blue

Belgium
Blue is for a baby girl; pink for a baby boy (a reversal of traditions in other Western cultures).

China
"Blue film" is the term used to describe pornography. This can be traced to its origin in pre-revolutionary China when brothels were painted blue to advertise the prostitutes within.

The Symbolism of Yellow

India
Yellow and saffron yellow (a yellow-orange) are sacred and auspicious colors in Indian culture.

Israel
Yellow was used to label Jews in the Middle Ages. Hitler revived this tradition in the 20th Century.

Note: There are many more examples of the symbolism of a color under each country or cultural category.