# When Red Became an Urgent! Color **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 17, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563 "2005-11-17T22:41:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/1 "2005-11-17T22:41:55Z")
Why do certain colors have certain associations? (examples: red means stop, green means go, yellow means caution) -and what are some of the others? Is there any history behind any of these associations as to how they turned into a certain meaning? (why did black become mourning?) Is this a cultural definition or could there be a genetic cause amongst human beings to react to a color a certain way? ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/2 "2005-11-17T22:55:10Z")
Red became an “urgent” color because in nature poisonous creatures had that color on them as a warning display. Examples: [black widow spider](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=black+widow+spider&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t), [coral snake](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=coral+snake&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t), some [poison dart frogs](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=poison+dart+frog&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt) etc. It’s also associated with fire, so it naturally became used by us as a warning color. The color black for mourning isn’t as universal, for example in some religions [white](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White) is the color of mourning. (Scroll down for mention of this fact.) ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/3 "2005-11-18T00:09:54Z")
Cecil addresses the subject in this column: [Who decided red means “stop” and green means “go”?](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_152.html) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/4 "2005-11-18T00:27:01Z")
> [@Zabali\_Clawbane](#): > > Red became an “urgent” color because in nature poisonous creatures had that color on them as a warning display. Examples: [black widow spider](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=black+widow+spider&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t), [coral snake](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=coral+snake&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t), some [poison dart frogs](http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=poison+dart+frog&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t&fl=0&x=wrt) etc. It’s also associated with fire, so it naturally became used by us as a warning color. How about blood? I’d think that would contribute to the association of red = dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/5 "2005-11-18T01:30:53Z")
I am old enough to remember when stop signs (as opposed to traffic lights) were yellow octagons. I would guess that it was in the early 50s that almost overnight, the stop signs became red octagons. But it was quite obviously a really good idea and spread really quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/6 "2005-11-18T01:33:53Z")
**Hari Seldon** , what country do you memories come from out of curiosity? **Antigen** , that too to an extent. Bloodflow could be a good thing also, as in “Dinner’s on the table!”. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/7 "2005-11-18T01:45:20Z")
In ancient Tamil Nadu, red was an auspicious color used in epithets of deities. The name of the Hindu god Shiva comes from a Dravidian word for red. As the color of blood, it symbolized the life force. ---
**Author:** ![MessyPaint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@MessyPaint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MessyPaint)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-red-became-an-urgent-color/331563/8 "2005-11-18T15:11:16Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > How about blood? I’d think that would contribute to the association of red = dangerous. cecil actaully mentions this in the article loopus linked, > [@](#): > > Red, the color of blood, has been a danger signal since time immemorial. It’s said the Roman legions bore the red banner of the war god Mars into battle 2,000 years ago. i like these histories given about tamil nadu, stop signs, and the poisonous animals i find these associations fascinating