# What is so special about the colour red?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 15, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819 "2002-11-15T03:08:55Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LuthAeron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LuthAeron)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/1 "2002-11-15T03:08:55Z")
When a person sees the colour red, that person will think most often of an emotion such as hatred and anger, or love and passionate tenderness. What has been done to us that a reflected wavelength can cause us to ~sense a certain emotion? What other colours express emotion to you?
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### Author:  [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/2 "2002-11-15T03:20:09Z")
green, jealousy; blue, sadness; purple, pain; yellow, happiness
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### Author:  [@leroy\_the\_mule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leroy_the_mule)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/3 "2002-11-15T05:35:13Z")
My wife goes crazy for me when I wear a red T-shirt, I don’t know why. I do not wear one every day, though, because the magic fades after a while.
After years and years of hearing how “handsome” he looked in it, my grandfather wore a particular red sweater at every social event. Even in the nursing home women would not leave him alone!! 🆒
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### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/4 "2002-11-15T14:51:50Z")
:mad:
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### Author:  [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/5 "2002-11-15T17:58:14Z")
All you ever wanted to know about [**colors**](http://www.paint.org/con_info/choosing.htm), but were afraid to ask. 😉 [sup]Here’s the [**latest in colors**](http://www.village-paint.com/newpaint.htm)[/sup]
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/6 "2002-11-15T18:17:08Z")
Blood?
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### Author:  [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)
#### Post date: [November 15, 2002, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/7 "2002-11-15T23:20:10Z")
Blood? That reminded me of one favorite joke: Captain Blood’s Red shirt of courage:
> [@](#):
>
> Long ago, when sailing ships ruled the waves, a captain and his crew
> were in danger of being boarded by a pirate ship. As the crew
> became frantic, the captain bellowed to his first mate, “Bring
> me my red shirt!” The first mate quickly retrieved the
> captain’s red shirt, which the captain put on and lead the crew
> to battle the pirate boarding party. Although some casualties
> occurred among the crew, the pirates were repelled.
>
> Later that day, the lookout screamed that there were two pirate
> vessels sending boarding parties. The crew cowered in fear, but
> the captain, calm as ever, bellowed, “Bring me my red shirt!”
> And once again the battle was on. Once again, the captain and
> his crew repelled both boarding parties, although this time more
> casualties occurred. Weary from the battles, the men sat around on
> deck that night recounting the day’s occurrences when an ensign
> looked to the captain and asked, “Sir, why did you call for your
> red shirt before the battle?” The captain, giving the ensign a
> look that only a captain can give, exhorted, “If I am wounded
> in battle, the red shirt does not show the wound and thus, you
> men will continue to fight unafraid.” The men sat in silence
> marvelling at the courage of such a man. As dawn came the next
> morning, the lookout screamed:
> “10 PIRATE SHIPS AHEAD!!!”
>
> The men became silent and looked to the captain, their leader, for his usual command.
> The captain, calm as ever, bellowed, “Bring me my brown pants!”
😃
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### Author:  [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/8 "2002-11-16T12:10:29Z")
Red is anger because of blood, as it colours the face when you are angry.
But red (leaning towards pink) is also romantic, as the face flushes when you are aroused (that’s why lipstick and rouge were/are so popular).
Blue is cold. That’s because water is (appears) blue, and also your skin goes blue when you are cold.
Green is soothing, because it is the colour of nature, grass, leaves, spring - often a very pleasant and gentle season.
It goes on like that…
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [November 16, 2002, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/9 "2002-11-16T19:33:16Z")
:mad: :mad: ARRGH!!! :mad: :mad:
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/10 "2002-11-17T08:21:37Z")
Purple is the colour of romance, and also the colour of royals.
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### Author:  [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/11 "2002-11-17T19:57:32Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Blue is cold. That’s because water is (appears) blue, and also your skin goes blue when you are cold.
What if you are not white? What does blue mean then?
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### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [November 17, 2002, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/12 "2002-11-17T20:11:23Z")
green is not soothing.
Thats the color the clouds get when theres a bad storm on the way.
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### Author:  [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/13 "2002-11-18T03:34:29Z")
_What has been done to us that a reflected wavelength can cause us to ~sense a certain emotion?_
Well, some of us have been cut/sliced/mauled/ruptured/bitten/etc. which caused massive amounts of a **RED** fluid to exit our bodies, often followed by our **DEATH**. Others of us saw this and took note. Over hundreds of thousands of years, one might expect us to have developed a reaction to the color red.
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### Author:  [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/14 "2002-11-18T03:57:31Z")
I read about a man who was blind from birth. Eventually surgery gave him vision. He just went wild for red and couldn’t understand why it wasn’t everyone’s favorite color. He particularly admired fire hydrant red.
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### Author:  [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/15 "2002-11-18T04:00:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by vanilla \*
> green is not soothing.
> Thats the color the clouds get when theres a bad storm on the way.
Actually it is, scientifically the colour green causes the least simulation to our eyes and to the brain.
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### Author:  [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-so-special-about-the-colour-red/136819/16 "2002-11-18T14:09:54Z")
It IS my favorite color.