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The Colors of Color Guard
Color is a part of all our lives. We 'feel blue', see the world through ‘rose-colored glasses' and can have 'black moods'. Colors affect us
emotionally. Our reactions to color are both instinctive and learned. Instinctive reactions appear to be universal; learned reactions are a
product of cultural influence. Culture plays a large part in our perceptions and feelings about color.
Red! The color of a morning sunrise, of a campfire,
of a delicious apple or a tree in its last thrush of fall
color. It is a Stingray Corvette breaking speed
records on the Autobahn. Reds evoke our deepest
and most dangerous emotions. Red is the color of
blood, aggression, danger, war, and violence. A man
and a girl wearing red bring two different images to
the mind. Red is Salomae in her seven veils, dancing
feverishly before Herod. Red is excitement, energy,
desire, speed, strength, power, heat, love, fire, and all
things passionate.
Green Like most colors, the wrong green can make or break
your show. Green can be used to evoke calming or
invigorating thoughts of nature, fertility, renewal,
spring, and environment. Other uses of green are to
indicate good luck, good or poor health, youth, vigor,
generosity. Emotionally, green can convey jealousy,
inexperience, envy, or misfortune.
Blue skies, blue water, sacred blue… the color that
most identifies our world and our most precious
source of life and renewal: water. Blue suggests
peace, tranquility, and calm. It can also speak of
stability, harmony, unity, trust, truth, confidence,
security, cleanliness, order, and loyalty. In Greece,
blue is the color of virginity. On the darker side, blue
can indicate depression and physical or emotional
coldness.
Yellow is the color of joy, happiness, optimism, idealism,
imagination, hope. It is the sun in the sky, the color of
summer and gold and wealth. However, studies show
that, in décor at least, yellow creates feelings of anxiety
and unease. This color can be used to design an
atmosphere of betrayal, deceit, dishonesty, cowardice,
jealousy, covetousness, or illness.
Brown evokes comfortable earthy feelings of home and
hearth. Brown can call to mind the deep musty giving soil
of our Earth, the outdoors with its tall trees. It is symbolic
of reliability, the endurance and stability of trees and
rocks, rural country, all things archaic and ancient. The
color of the peasant caste, brown is also associated with
poverty, body functions, filth and “off-color” humor.
White Use this color with care; its symbolic burden is heavy.
For most of western culture, white is the color of
virginity. However, in many Asian cultures, white is the
color of mourning, the color of death. Here are some of
the more common emotions or states most commonly
associated with white: reverence, purity, cleanliness,
peace, humility, innocence, youth, birth, winter, snow,
good, sterility, marriage, and death.
Black Westerners view black as somber, and its most common
symbolic use is to express mourning and death.
However, this does not explain its popularity in
costuming and staging. Black is used to provide depth
and anonymity to a stage. It can express power,
formality, sophistication, style, elegance, and wealth.
Black is a backdrop for our darker emotions: fear, evil,
unhappiness, sexuality, mystery, sadness, remorse, and
anger.
