The color red; passionate and lucky

When we think of the color red, many feelings come to mind. Red represents lust, love, passion, and also danger. As a culture, we have come to associate some negative connotations with red, and also some positive ones. For example, red represents sin and guilt. A classic example of this is in the novel the Scarlett Letter. The woman who is punished with adultery has a red letter ‘A’ sewn into her clothes. This comes from the belief that red is associated with the blood of murder. Take a look at the book cover for the Scarlet letter below, and it's easy to see that red means sin and danger.

However, red can also represent love and lust. With Valentines Day right around the corner, we’ll all be seeing a lot of red roses. You wouldn’t buy someone a red rose unless you loved them…and ladies, if you receive a rose that’s not red on Valentines Day then he jut wants to be “friends”.

In China however, red is perceived in a totally different way. According to Chinaculture.org, red is seen in a very positive light representing courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune and happiness. In Chinese weddings, it is customary for people to wear red dresses including the bride because it is thought to bring luck. This would seem strange at an American wedding, as white is the traditional color for the bride. If a bride were to wear red in the United States, people would most likely be taken aback and possibly offended. In this photo, even the wedding cake for a Chinese wedding is red.

Red is also used in big holidays such as Chinese New Years. In this photo you can see how red is one of the prominent colors for decorating and is symbolic of celebration. It is the main color of the dragon, and those underneath the dragon are also wearing red.

Red is a color that around the world has no exact definition. That is why it is important for us to always pay attention to our target markets and who we're delivering our messages to. We wouldn't want to offend anyone out of pure ignorance.