red

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Artificial red poppies.

Sandstone interior of Antelope Canyon, displaying various reddish hues

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 625–750 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared, or below red and cannot be seen by human eyes.

In human color psychology, red is associated with energy and blood, and emotions that stir the blood, including anger, passion, and love.^[3]

Red is used as one of the additive primary colors of light, complementary to cyan, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the subtractive primary colors of RYB color space but not CMYK color space.

One common use of red as an additive primary color is in the RGB color model. Because "red" is not by itself standardized, color mixtures based on red are not exact specifications of color either. In order to produce exact colors the color red needs to be defined in terms of an absolute color space such as sRGB. As used in computer monitors and television screens, red is very variable, but some systems may apply color correction (so that a standardized "red" is produced that is not in fact full intensity of only the red colorant).

Red in human culture

In ancient history and culture

Art

• It is likely that Red ochre was the earliest pigment employed by late Archaic Homo sapiens when it was used by Cro-Magnons for their cave paintings.
• In some art, interior design and fashion contexts, shades of red are described by reference to the colors of fruits and vegetables that commonly match that shade. These include cherries, beets, turnips, strawberries (often used in referring to "strawberry blonde" hair), and raspberries (as referenced in the Prince song "Raspberry Beret"). While the most popular color for apples is a dark shade of red, the fruit is usually invoked in fashion or decorating to reference a pale yellowish greenish.

Cultural symbolism

• In Japan, red is a traditional color for a heroic figure.^[4]
• In ancient China, red was the symbol of fire and the south, and is one of the main five classical colors.
• In the Indian Sub-continent, red is the traditional color of bridal dresses, and is frequently represented in the media as a symbolic color for married women.
• In Chinese culture and symbolism, red is the color of good luck and success, and is used for decoration and wedding attire (during the traditional half of the wedding ceremony, while the bridal attire in the modern half is usually white). Money in Chinese societies is traditionally given in red packets. Stock market gains in China and other East Asian countries are displayed in red, while losses are displayed in green.
• Red is considered holy in some parts of Sub-saharan Africa. In these regions women are forbidden to wear red clothes.
• In Russia, red (красный) represents beauty. The Russian word for beauty derived from the word "red" and has the same root (КРАСавица, КРАСота, КРАСивый).

Ethnography

• Red Indians is a British term for Native Americans.
• Amerindians are sometimes called the red race.

Literature

• Red Planet is a 1949 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein.
• The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne about a woman in a Puritan New England community punished for adultery with ostracism, her sin represented by a red letter A worn on her clothes.
• The Scarlet Plague is a 1912 science fiction novel by Jack London that takes place in 2072, after a scarlet plague has almost wiped the human race from the planet.
• The Red Badge of Courage is a 1895 impressionistic novel by Stephen Crane about the discovery of the meaning of courage by a soldier in the American Civil War.
• The Scarlet Pimpernel, by Baroness Orczy, is a famous play and novel (1903/1905) about a fictional hero, named for the scarlet pimpernel flower that is his symbol, who helps members of the aristocracy escape the French Revolution.

Mythology

• Red was associated in Roman mythology with the god of war, Mars, and the reddish planet Mars became named after him. (A Roman general receiving a triumph had his face painted red, perhaps to personify Mars.)

• The phrase "red-blooded" describes someone who is audacious, robust, or virile; it is sometimes used to contrast with a cold or effete "blue blood" although the terms are unrelated in origin.

Animals and plants

• When used about animal coloration red usually refers to a brownish, reddish-brown or ginger color. In this sense it is used to describe coat colors of reddish-brown cattle and dogs, and in the names of various animal species or breeds such as red fox, red squirrel, red deer, Robin Redbreast, Red Grouse, Red Knot, Redstart, Redwing, Red Setter, Red Devon cattle etc. The usage for animal color appears similar to that for red ochre, red hair and Red Indian. Interestingly red appears to be rarely used in names of animals which are a brighter blood-red or scarlet color (Carmine Bee-eater, Scarlet Tanager).

• When used for flowers, red often refers to purplish (red deadnettle, red clover, red helleborine) or pink (red campion, red valerian) colors.

Religion

• In East Asian countries, the names of the deceased are written in red ink in a Book of the Dead. To write a living person's name with red ink is taboo, tantamount to placing a curse on the person.
• In Christianity, red represents the color of Christian martyrs who suffered death for their faith. It may also represent fire and so may symbolize the presence of God. It is the liturgical color for Pentecost. It is sometimes used for Holy Thursday and during Eastertide. In Roman Catholic tradition it is used for all feast days of Christian martyrs as well as Palm Sunday in anticipation of the death of Jesus. Red may also represent the deadly sin wrath. Satan is usually depicted as colored red and/or wearing a red costume in both iconography and popular culture.

Thailand

• In Thailand, red is associated with Sunday on the Thai solar calendar. Anyone may wear red on Sundays, and anyone born on a Sunday may adopt red as their color.

In modern culture

Film

• A movie trailer of a film that the MPAA has rated NC-17 has red color bars.
• Flash Gordon is a 1936 film serial. It tells the story of three people from Earth who travel to the planet Mongo to fight the evil Emperor Ming the Merciless. Ming had tried to conquer Earth through biological warfare by infecting humans worldwide with a disease called The Red Death.
• The Red Shoes is a popular 1948 movie about ballet.
• Red Planet Mars is a 1952 science fiction film.
• The Red Spectacles is a 1987 science fiction film.
• The Red Violin is a 1998 film telling the 300 year history of a special violin.
• Red Planet is a 2000 science fiction film.
• In The Village, the color red is believed to anger a race of people living in the woods.

Music

• Red is an album and the title track by British rock group King Crimson
• Red is an American Christian Nu-Metal band from Linesville, PA.

Gangs

• Red is the color claimed by the street gangs Bloods and Norteños.

Holidays

• Red is one of the Christmas colors, along with green, white, gold, and silver. Santa Claus has a red costume.
• Red, as well as or in combination with the colors rose, pink, and/or magenta, symbolizes Valentine's Day.

Sexuality

• A red-light district is a neighborhood where prostitution and other businesses in the sex industry flourish.
• In Wales, in Welsh, a blue movie (i.e. a pornographic film) is called a ffilm goch (a red movie).
• Red is the term used in the gay fetish scene referring to fisting. It is taken from the hanky code which is used by men to show their sexual preference.

Sports

• Rosso corsa is the traditional color of Italian race cars, particularly Ferrari.
• In Soccer, the referee shows a red card to a player who has been sent-off.
• Red is the color of many Korean sports teams such as their soccer team. The Korean soccer team is so called the "Red Devils" (붉은 악마)
• Red is the national color of Poland and is heavily featured on sporting uniforms of Polish teams and athletes.
• Liverpool Football Club are known as the Reds due to wearing the all-red strip which was introduced in the 1960s by Bill Shankly.
• In Wales, red is the color of both the International Wales national rugby union team and the Welsh national football team.
• In auto racing the red flag means the race gets stopped because of a wreck or debris.
• The Cincinnati Red Stockings are the oldest professional baseball team, dating back to 1869. The franchise soon relocated to Boston and is now the Atlanta Braves, but its name survives as the origin for both the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. During the 1950s when red was so strongly associated with communism, the modern Cincinnati team was known as the "Redlegs" and the term was even used on baseball cards. After the red scare faded, the team was known as the Reds again.

Television

• In the TV show Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-1969), the engineering (notably Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott) and security personnel of the crew of the Starship Enterprise wear red Starfleet uniforms. (See: redshirt)
• In the TV show Power Rangers and its Japanese counterpart, Super Sentai, red is one of the colors that is always worn by a Power Ranger or a Super Sentai member. The others are blue and yellow in Power Rangers, and blue in Super Sentai. Red rangers are usually the leaders, usually male, and they're always the focus characters.
• In the TV show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends, an imaginary friend made by Terrance, the main character's brother, was named Red, who was the color red and shaped like a block.
• One of the members of the popular Japanese manzai group "TIM", who appear on many television programs in Japan, is named Red.

Transportation

• Red is used on railway signals, traffic signals, and ship signals for stop or danger.
• The Royal Mail paints their vehicles red.
• London Underground trains have red warning panels on the fronts, unlike mainline trains, which have yellow fronts.
• TfL specifies red for the color of buses operating in London
• Red is generally used for notices and warning signs.
• Fire trucks in the most of the larger United States cities are fire engine red.
• Most major cities with rapid transit rail lines have a Red line.
• Red indicates downward travel on elevators.

In International and global affairs

Military

• Red is the color of beret used by the Royal Military Police in the British Army.
• Red is the color often used for the Ancient Roman Empire. It has been said that Roman officers would wear red so that if they were wounded, it would not discourage their troops nearby.
• In the history of Japan red is the color of military flags used by the Heike (or Taira) clan and of the Genji (or Minamoto) clan, two clans that struggled for power at the close of the Heian era, in the late 12th century.
• In the United States Army, red is the color of the artillery and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Brick red is the color of the United States Army Transportation Corps, while crimson is the color of the Ordnance Corps, and Maroon is that of the Medical Corps.
• The Soviet Union Red Army was often represented by a red star.
• In the Finnish Army, red is the color of artillery. Black symbols on a red field signify field artillery, white symbols signify anti-aircraft artillery.
• Red is the color commonly associated with the British and British Army (e.g., Redcoats).
• Red, in wargaming is depicted as a hostile force; originating from Helmut von Moltke. Blue would represent friendly forces, thus the phrase blue on blue fire comes to mean friendly fire.

National colors

• Red and green are the national colors of Portugal and Bangladesh.
• Red and black are the national colors of Albania, and along with golden, of Germany, Angola, and Belgium.
• Red and yellow are the national colors of China, Spain, Vietnam, and the former Soviet Union, and along with blue, of Colombia, Venezuela, Romania, Chad, and Moldova.
• Red and white are the national colors of Indonesia, Singapore, Canada, Malta, Turkey, Tunisia, Denmark, Poland, Monaco, Bahrain, Peru, Japan, and Switzerland.
• Red, white, and blue are the national colors of the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Norway, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Serbia, Croatia, Paraguay, Iceland, Panama, Russia, Cuba, Chile, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Nepal, and Liberia.
• Red, white, and green are the national colors of Wales, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Bulgaria and Lebanon.
• Australia has a red, white, and blue flag, but their national colors are green and gold.
• Red, white, blue, and gold are the national colors of the Philippines.
• Red, white, blue, and black are the national colors of South Korea.

Politics

• Even before Europe's Revolutions of 1848, "Socialist" red was used as a color of European Revolutionaries, often in the form of the red flag. It was also used by Garibaldi's camicie rosse ("redshirts") in the Italian Risorgimento, and taken up by Leftist and generally revolutionary groups, while the white of legitimist Bourbon partisans became associated with pre-World War I conservatives. This relates to the term "Blood of the workers", representing the suffering of the proletariat.
  • For instance the Civil War in Russia and the Civil War in Finland were fought between the "Red Army" and various "White Armies".
  • The identification of Communism with "Socialist" red (with the red flag being the primary color of the flag of the Soviet Union) and the red star being a Communist emblem led to such Cold War phrases as "the Red Menace" and "Red China" (distinguished from Nationalist China, "Free China," or Taiwan). See also The East is Red. Mao Zedong was sometimes referred to as a "red sun". The color was also associated with political vehicles such as the Red Guard in China and the Red Guards during the Russian Revolution of 1917 as well as with left wing paramilitary terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction in Germany and the Japanese Red Army.
• Red remains associated with parties on the left of the political spectrum, with several notable exceptions (see "Political Parties" below)
• Red and black are colors associated with anarchism, and, specifically, anarcho-syndicalism.
• In maps of political parties, red is traditionally used for the following parties:
  • Australia: Labor and Communist Party Of Australia
  • Brazil: Workers' Party
  • Canada: Liberal Party of Canada
  • Finland: Social Democratic Party of Finland
  • Germany: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (Social Democratic party of Germany) and Partei des Demokratischen Sozialismus (Party of Democratic Socialism)
  • Italy: Partito della Rifondazione Comunista and Partito dei Comunisti Italiani
  • India: Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India
  • Malta: Malta Labour Party
  • New Zealand: New Zealand Labour Party
  • The Netherlands: Partij van de Arbeid (Social Democratic party), Socialistische Partij (Socialist Party), and in combination with green, GroenLinks.
  • Paraguay: Colorado Party
  • Portugal: Portuguese Communist Party (and the Unitarian Democratic Coalition, of which the PCP is part of)
  • Puerto Rico: Popular Democratic Party (PPD)
  • Serbia: Liberal Democratic Party
  • Sweden: Swedish Social Democratic Party and the Left Party (Sweden)
  • Turkey: Republican People's Party
  • United Kingdom: Labour Party
  • United States: Republican Party, since the 2000 presidential election, when contrasted with blue representing Democratic Party; also Socialist Party USA.

In business and money

Finance

• In North American stock markets, red is used to denote a drop in stock prices. In East Asian stock markets, red is used to denote a rise in stock prices.

In Science

Astronomy

• In astronomy, stars of stellar class M (the stars with the coolest temperature) are classified as red stars.
• Mars is called the Red Planet because of the reddish color imparted to its surface by the abundant iron oxide present there.
• Astronomical objects which are moving away from the observer exhibit a red shift.
• Jupiter's surface displays a Great Red Spot, a football-shaped area south of the planet's equator. Astronomers believe the spot to be some kind of storm.
• Stargazers sometimes cover their flashlights with a red filter, since red (long-wavelength) light does not desensitize the eyes as much as shorter wavelengths do.^[5]

Biology

• Oxygenated blood is red due to the presence of oxygenated hemoglobin.
• Red light is the first to be absorbed by sea water, so that many fish and marine invertebrates that appear bright red are black in their native habitat.

Geography

• Red or pink is traditionally used by cartographers to represent the British Empire.
• Red has been used throughout time to represent royalty throughout the world.

Heraldry

• In English heraldry, red (called gules) denoted ardent affection or love, while crimson (blood-color) stood for boldness, enthusiasm, or impetuosity. (The American Girls Handy Book, p. 369-370)
• Red is the color of the coat of arms of Ħamrun, Malta.

Medicine

• Red is the color of blood, and a Red Cross, Red Crescent or Red Crystal emblem signifies medical personnel, facilities, or equipment, according to the Geneva Conventions.
• Red is used to symbolize AIDS awareness or Drug awareness, in the form of a red ribbon.

Ophthalmology

• Red light is used to preserve night vision in low-light or night-time situations, as the rod cells in the human eye aren't sensitive to red.

Photography

• A red filter used in black and white photography increases contrast in most scenes. For example, combined with a polarizer, it can turn the sky black. Films simulating the effects of infrared film (such as Ilford's SFX 200) do so by being much more sensitive to red than to other colors.
• Red illumination was (and sometimes still is) used as a "safelight" while working in a darkroom, as it does not expose most photographic paper and some films. Though many more modern darkrooms use an amber safelight, red illumination is closely associated with the darkroom in the public mind.

In psychology and modern thought

Hazard symbolism

Stop sign used in various countries. The shape and color red is used nearly universally today.

Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

• Red catches people's attention, and is often used to indicate danger or emergency.
  • Red symbolizes heat and fire. Taps for hot water are often labeled red. Red is commonly the color of fire alarm boxes, fire extinguishers, and the firefighter profession itself.
  • Red denotes "stop" in, for instance, stop signs, traffic signals, brake lights, or the flashing lights of a school bus or railroad crossing.
  • Red indicates extreme danger on Western color-coded scales, such as wildfire hazard signs or the U.S. Homeland Security Advisory System. It also denotes the maximum level of danger and preparedness as in the phrases "condition red" and "red alert".
  • In auto racing, a red flag signals all cars to immediately stop.
  • Emergency exits on passenger aircraft and in general are indicated by red signs and lighting.
  • With ships on collision courses, the ship on starboard tack sees the Green for Go light on the ship on port tack, while the ship on port tack sees the Red for Stop light on the ship on starboard tack.

Mysticism

• In the metaphysics of the New Age Prophetess, Alice A. Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into seven different metaphysical personality types, the sixth ray of love-devotion is represented by the color red. People who have this metaphysical personality type are said to be on the Red Ray.
• Red is used to symbolically represent the first (Muladhara) chakra.
• Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a red aura is typically someone who is in an occupation requiring vibrant health and vigorous physical exertion, such as a professional sportsperson, a personal trainer, or a manual laborer. ^[6]

Red pigments

References

1. ^ Thomas J. Bruno, Paris D. N. Svoronos. CRC Handbook of Fundamental Spectroscopic Correlation Charts. CRC Press, 2005.
2. ^ W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords
3. ^ Pasquale Gagliardi (1992). Symbols and Artifacts: Views of the Corporate Landscape. Aldine Transaction. ISBN 0202304280. 
4. ^ PS2 News: CVG goes straight to hell with Devil May Cry director - ComputerAndVideoGames.com:. Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
5. ^ Be a Stargazer. Sensitize Your Eyes. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
6. ^ Swami Panchadasi The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms Des Plaines, Illinois, USA:1912--Yogi Publications Society Page 31

External links

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Red

• All About The Color Red