# RED-The colour of revolution or the Republican Party? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 17, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387 "2024-04-17T00:38:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rippingtons\_fan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rippingtons_fan/32/11767_2.png) [@rippingtons\_fan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rippingtons_fan)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/1 "2024-04-17T00:38:09Z")
Is the colour red ever going to be the colour for revolutionary movements any more, or has it been usurped forever by the Republican Party? ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/2 "2024-04-17T01:16:07Z")
Red = Republican is only in the context of the Republican and Democratic parties. Outside of that specific context, the color red definitely does not refer exclusively to the Republican Party. Worldwide, the color red more commonly refers to Socialists and Communists. Wikipedia’s take on political colors, for what it’s worth: > **[Political colour](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_colour)** > > Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially. They represent the intersection of colour symbolism and political symbolism. Politicians making public appearances will often identify themselves by wearing rosettes, flowers, ties or ribbons in the colour of their political party. Parties in different countries with similar ideologies sometimes use similar colours. As an example the colour red symbolises left-wing ideol Bl... ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/3 "2024-04-17T01:21:07Z")
I know some Republicans who were pissed off years ago that the color they associated with aggression and Communism was being used “unfairly”, in their perception, to apply to the GOP. Although now, given the pro-Putin leanings, maybe it was an appropriate choice all along. ---
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/4 "2024-04-17T01:32:20Z")
In Canada, red is the color of the Liberal party, Blue is the conservatives, and orange is the NDP. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/5 "2024-04-17T02:32:42Z")
> [@rippingtons\_fan](#): > > Is the colour red ever going to be the colour for revolutionary movements any more, or has it been usurped forever by the Republican Party? Since the Republicans ARE a revolutionary party hell-bent on overthrowing the US constitution, I think in fact red is being _renewed_ as a revolutionary color, not being usurped or retired. Since about the year 2000, maybe 2004 they are the polar opposite of “conservative”. Reactionary revolutionary is where they are now. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/6 "2024-04-17T03:40:42Z")
I seem to remember reading here somewhere that the US usage of red and blue was a fairly recent invention for a TV channel’s coverage of election results…? In Europe it tends conventionally to be red=left, yellow/orange=centre/liberals, blue=conservatives (black=conservative/religious), but there are variations. In both Germany and the Netherlands it’s a journalistic short cut to refer to coalition governments by the colour combination - so, “Jamaica” (black/yellow/green) = Christian Democrats + Free Democrats + Greens, and the current “Traffic Light” coalition = Social Democrats + Free Democrats + Greens. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/7 "2024-04-17T12:14:47Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I seem to remember reading here somewhere that the US usage of red and blue was a fairly recent invention for a TV channel’s coverage of election results…? Yep. Sayeth wiki: > Although both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American colors of red, white, and blue in their marketing and representations, since election night 2000 blue has become the identifying color for the Democratic Party while red has become the identifying color for the Republican Party. That night, for the first time all major broadcast television networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: blue states for Al Gore and red states for George W. Bush. Since then, the color blue has been widely used by the media to represent the party. This is contrary to common practice outside of the United States where blue is the traditional color of the right and red the color of the left. From: > **[Democratic Party (United States)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party_(United_States))** > > The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States. Since the 1850s, its main political rival has been the Republican Party. > The Democratic Party was founded in 1828. Martin Van Buren of New York played the central role in building the coalition of state organizations that formed a new party as a vehicle to elect Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. The Democratic Party is often called the world's oldest active political party. The party supported expans... More here if you’re _really_ interested in the backstory: > **[Red states and blue states](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states)** > > Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue states — in presidential and other statewide elections. By contrast, states where the vote fluctuates between the Democratic and Republican candidates are known as "swing states" or "purple states". Examining patterns within states reveals that the rever... ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/8 "2024-04-17T17:07:16Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Red = Republican is only in the context of the Republican and Democratic parties. And only because of the 2000 election coverage when all the channels picked blue=D; red=R. So it is arbitrary as opposed to unions picking red because of communism or an Islamic movement choosing green. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/9 "2024-04-17T17:09:52Z")
I view red = Republican for electoral maps and tie colors for your debate suit. If I saw someone waving a red banner, I wouldn’t assume they were celebrating Republicanism. That’s all American flags and Don’t Tread on Me nonsense ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/10 "2024-04-17T17:17:26Z")
Interestingly, here in Austin Texas there are a lot of Democrats who use red and Republicans who use blue in their campaign posters. I suspect it’s a deliberate attempt to mess around with the voters. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2024, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/11 "2024-04-17T20:52:47Z")
By comparison, in the UK, Boris Johnson’s success in 2019 in winning many traditional Labour-held seats across a swathe of the Midlands inspired someone to describe those seats as the “red wall”. Not to be outdone, as the opinion polls have swung against the Tories, opening up prospects for the LibDems (colour orange) to pick up safe Tory seats across the south, they’ve been talking up the prospect of breaking through a similar “blue wall”. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/12 "2024-04-18T01:54:28Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > And only because of the 2000 election coverage when all the channels picked blue=D; red=R. So it is arbitrary as opposed to unions picking red because of communism or an Islamic movement choosing green. Well, yes and no: obviously, political parties pick their own logos, colors, and slogans. On the other hand, you do see, e.g., blue “D” logos and organizations like ActBlue, so they are paying it some credit, for whatever reasons, although > [@LSLGuy](#): > > both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American colors of red, white, and blue in their marketing and representations so plenty of American flags all around. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2024, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/13 "2024-04-18T13:57:28Z")
FTR, the quote you attributed to me is actually an excerpt from wiki as I said in my post. No biggie, but I don’t want to seemingly take credit for their writing. Discourse has a shortcoming when you (anyone) quotes a part of a post that’s itself wholly inside a quote, the outer context is lost. Which makes it look like the wrong person said whatever. The solution if you’re going to quote a snip of somebody else’s quote, is to include a little bit of their own writing from their post before or after the quote you want a snip of. Which may then entail cutting down their quote to just the snip you care about, and using ellipses to indicate those snips. It’s more work, but it keeps the record straight. Like this: > [@LSLGuy](#): > > Sayeth wiki: > > > Although both major political parties (and many minor ones) use the traditional American colors of red, white, and blue in their marketing and representations … ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/14 "2024-04-19T00:18:17Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So it is arbitrary as opposed to unions picking red because of communism or an Islamic movement choosing green. But communism being associated with red or Islamicism being associated with green are just as arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/15 "2024-04-19T01:37:49Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Well, yes and no: obviously, political parties pick their own logos, colors, and slogans. From wikipedia > On March 14, 2014, the [California Republican Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Republican_Party) officially rejected red and adopted blue as its color. Archie Tse, _The New York Times_ graphics editor who made the choice when the _Times_ published its first color presidential election map in 2000, provided a nonpolitical rationale for retaining the red–Republican link, explaining that "Both ‘Republican’ and ‘red’ start with the letter ‘R.’ From The Verge > The color coding we’re familiar with today didn’t stick until the iconic (and extremely lengthy) election of 2000, when _The New York Times_ and _USA Today_ published their first full-color election maps. The _Times_ spread used red for Republicans because “red begins with r, Republican begins with r,” said the senior graphics editor Archie Tse, “it was a more natural association.” And USA Today > Prior to 2000, red and blue did not always respectively denote Republicans and Democrats. That changed with the election of the new millennium and its drawn-out conclusion – which ended in mid-December that year with Republican George W. Bush being declared the official winner over Democrat Al Gore. > > That was the first year USA TODAY published its full-color election map, and the same is true with The New York Times. I think it is pretty well established blue for Dems and red for Pubs was chosen for them in the 2000 election by the media. > [@Chronos](#): > > But communism being associated with red or Islamicism being associated with green are just as arbitrary. Not quite. Those movements chose their own colors. Communism: the red of blood and war and bloody uprising. Islam: the origin of green is more obscure, but for whatever reason it was quickly adopted by Muslims as the color representing their religion. So no, not arbitrary. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/16 "2024-04-19T01:53:17Z")
Red, the blood of angry men! Black the dark of ages past! Red, a world about to dawn! Black, the night that ends at last! ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/17 "2024-04-19T17:25:53Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > FTR, the quote you attributed to me is actually an excerpt from wiki as I said in my post. No biggie, but I don’t want to seemingly take credit for their writing. Apologies; mea culpa! > [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I think it is pretty well established blue for Dems and red for Pubs was chosen for them in the 2000 election by the media. All right, but your first quote seems to confirm that the California Republican Party “officially rejected red and adopted blue as its color’”. They picked their own color— it was not chosen for them by the media— and, notably, it was not red in this instance. The color scheme on their web page appears to be more or less blue and green, naturally with some red-white-and-blue merch you can buy. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/18 "2024-04-19T17:33:36Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > They picked their own color— it was not chosen for them by the media— and, notably, it was not red in this instance. And the result of that is that in 2024 their color is red as chosen by the media. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/19 "2024-04-19T17:44:37Z")
Is that a _result_, or simply the media picking and sticking with their own color scheme for maps and so on? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2024, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387/20 "2024-04-19T17:47:12Z")
Pre-2000, as I recall, blue was used by TV news on election days for whichever party was in power, and red for the other. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/red-the-colour-of-revolution-or-the-republican-party/1000387.md?page=2)