Colour Meanings

the colour purple
What does this colour mean?  Why is it associated with women?
The colours green, white and purple were adopted by the Women's Suffragette movement in 1908. Purple stands for dignity, self reverence and self respect, white for purity and green for hope and new life.
Find out more about the history of the women's movement by clicking here

Scroll down for more about the meaning of purple.

natural and psychological meanings
A colour is a colour is a colour......... or is it?  Colours have meanings and these are associated with both natural and psychological states.

We are surrounded by colour in our daily lives -

• in our gardens
• our houses
• our clothes 
• the food we eat
• the pictures we paint.  

We choose colours to convey or express a mood, lift our spirits, match our natural colouring, to attract attention or just because we like a particular colour.

Why does one colour appeal to us over another?

Natural associations of colour are timeless and universal.

Blue  the colour associated with the sky  no matter where in the world you are.
Green  the colour of vegetation, displays  its full pallette from yellow green of new shoots to very deep dark tropical greens.   

The many colours of the rainbow are the same wherever and whenever rainbows have appeared.  Rainbows are common subjects for young children when they are learning to represent the world through painting and drawing.  My younger daughter painted this rainbow on our fence when she was 8 years old.

Psychological associations of colour vary from one culture to another.  

These are connected to cultural meanings and beliefs. An example of this is the wearing of white by brides in Western cultures and the wearing of red by brides in China and India.

In the West, white is a symbol of purity and innocence. In China red means good luck and celebration.  In India red means purity.

Purple is traditionally associated with royalty.  It is the colour of good judgement although unfortunately that doesn't always apply to royalty!  Purple is a rich colour being a combination of red and blue, the warmest and the coolest colours.  This colour is used in meditation because it is the colour of people seeking spiritual fulfilment. 

Learn more about psychological meanings of colour.

For examples of saying it with colour click on the link