Rainbow of Your Life
“Richard of York Gave Battle In Vain”, I was in awe when I was learning English and came across this wonderful mnemotechnic verse to remember the colours of the rainbow. We did not have anything like that! I never thought it was important either, although, as is the case with most people, I love rainbows. Aren’t they magical? They make us feel good. But what are they other than optical illusions?
I guess we generally do not read too much into them. For me, they represent my attitude to life, my holistic views of the world. Colours can tell us a lot about the food we eat, they can change our emotions, they can influence our thought processes. They remind us that everything is relative, that life, just like us, has got lots of colours and they all play an important role.
Colours and nature
Nature is our greatest teacher and scientists are bringing more and more information about the power of colour.
Take food, for example. The colour of the plants on your plate can tell you a lot about the food itself. We know now that plants get their wonderful colours from phytonutrients. Phytonutrients, in other words, nutrients coming from plants, are natural chemicals that support the plant’s ability to defend itself. You may have already heard about Flavonoids, Carotenoids or Phytoestrogens. Lycopene is a Carotenoid that provides red and pink colours. Anthocyanins are present in blue and purple plants, allicin in white and brown and the list goes on.
Their names are hard to remember but I do remember Rosveratrol – my good excuse to drink wine!
If you have never come across the expression “phytonutrients” and their possible impact on our health, you surely have heard of antioxidants. Now we are talking, right? Antioxidants help protect our cells from damage. And guess what? Many phytonutrients have got antioxidant properties. That is why there is so much research looking in this direction.
When we observe the animal world we see that nature uses colours to perfection. Animals use them to attract the opposite sex (think of peacocks), to warn the opponents or predators (poisonous frogs), to blend in and not to be seen by prey (tigers) or to hide and not to be seen by predators (deer).
Some animals are even a few steps ahead and use ultraviolet markings or polarised colours. We humans need special equipment to see them!
Colours and psychology
The human race has been fascinated by colours for thousands of years but it was the famous poet Johann Wolfgang Goethe who first described the influence of colour on our emotions in his Theory of Colours in 1810. Since then, many scientists have been experimenting with colours and their effects on human behaviour and although it is a complex and multifaceted task, many outcomes have been widely popularised.
Even in this category, I would like to start with food. One thing is where the colours come from, the other is how it affects our appetite. The ancient Romans were among the first to find out that we “eat with our eyes”. We enjoy food more if it looks good, if it is colourful. This knowledge has unfortunately led to the food industry using artificial colours. But that is another story…
Experiments showed that people do not enjoy eating as much when they eat in darkness or, believe it or not, when the colour blue is present (e.g. blue plates, blue lighting).
It has also been observed that different types of food get different appearances when exposed to coloured light. A red meat steak, for example, would look a bit whitish under red neon lights and the accompanying green salad would appear sort of blackish. Maybe it is not such a great idea to use this type of lighting in a dining room.
Choosing the interior colours very carefully may also be wise. It is because certain colours seem to be warmer (red, orange, yellow), cooler (green, blue, indigo, violet), darker colours make spaces look smaller while the light colours do the opposite.
Marketing companies have been using the magic of colours to influence our decision making for years. Sure, this depends on our perception but combining the right colours with the selected audience seems to be an art worth mastering. Research shows that women prefer lighter, softer colours, while most men like bolder, stronger colours, for example.
Experts design logos keeping the importance of colours in mind. Blue, for instance, is believed to evoke sincerity, red excitement, green reliability or success etc.
Employers are interested in understanding how the colours influence the performance of their employees. Many studies have shown that the colours indeed can influence the employees directly or indirectly by changing their mood. One study found out that people feel better when working in a colourful environment. They seem to make more mistakes when working in white interiors. Cool colours seem to be more calming while warmer colours appear to be over-stimulating.
Using blue light increased alertness and speed of working with information and so some employers started using it in their work environments. Similar approach is being taken in many other fields like sports and games.
Colours and symbolism
Very specific chemical compounds give food colours. The influence of colours on our emotions has been backed by lots of behavioural experiments. When it comes to symbolism and various religions and philosophies though, it is becoming very complicated.
Colours mean different things to different people in different parts of the world. Here you will find a few examples just to spark your curiosity.
Black (technically, not a colour) may be associated with death in the “western” world but the Egyptians saw it as a “source of life” because it symbolized the fertile soil of the Nile's plains.
In Buddhism and Hinduism, we come across chakras (energy centres) and each of them is associated with a specific colour. The rainbow represents complete knowledge. Tibetan Buddhism's concept of the “rainbow body” has been studied for centuries.
If we look at Christianity, the Bible mentions many colours and the meanings associated with them. For example, looking just at the primary colours: Red – the blood of Jesus, love of God or atonement, Blue – heaven, authority, Yellow – faith, glory, joy.
Islam has been associated with the colour green for a very long time. In the Quran, it is mentioned several times that the colour green will be worn by the inhabitants of paradise. Another important colour in this religion is white - it symbolizes purity and peace.
Colour and science
And if the way we use colours does not seem factual enough for you, you may be interested in all the scientific research accumulated so far on this subject. There is a lot of it and it goes way back. The famous physicist Sir Isaac Newton described the colours when observing sunlight shining through a glass prism and the scientists continue studying colour (the property possessed by an object of producing different sensations on the eye as a result of the way it reflects or emits light) to this day. Thanks to their work, we can calculate the level of pollution in the atmosphere based on the shape and colour of a rainbow, for example.
Although very dependent on the cultural, political and religious context, the research into colours will continue to shape many disciplines of human activity.
Resources:
1. http://www.colormatters.com
4. https://theweek.com
5. https://www.health.harvard.edu
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
8. https://www.colourstudies.com
9. https://www.sherwin-williams.com
