An exploration into colour symbolism as used by - National Centre ...

Work of past theorists
In order to understand the symbolism that is assigned to a colour, we have to consider how the
meanings that have come to be associated with that colour have evolved throughout history.
Since antiquity many prominent scientists, philosophers and theorists have attempted to
investigate the development of colour symbolism. Others, such as Sir Isaac Newton (1643-
1727) and more recently, Johannes Itten (1888-1967), also carried out extensive studies and
research, but they were only interested in the physics of colour, and not its emotional or
psychological significance. Not all developed their own conclusions, some merely expanded
on the work of others who had gone before them, adding to it or disagreeing with it as they
saw fit. Below I have outlined some of the most notable contributors, in the chronological
order that they were active.
As far back as Ancient Grecian times, colours were used as a mark of social respect or
suspicion. The Pythagoreans had a marked aversion to colour, whereas Empedocles (c. 490
BCE – c. 430 BCE) considered it to be “the soul of life and the root of all existence”,
assigning the key natural elements of earth, air, fire and water to be represented by the colours
yellow, black, red and white respectively (Brusatin, 1991).
In the second century CE, Artemidorus Daldianus wrote that in dreams red clothes are a sign
of “good fortune and fame”, and that white clothes signify “great calamity” and uncertainty
due to the association with the white shrouds in which the dead were clothed when they were
buried (Brusatin 1991 cited Daldianus). He went on to say that black is a symbol of mourning
and slavery, but in a dream it represents only “minor misfortunes”. He also mentions violet,
describing it as a “shade of separation” and a “sign of detachment and widowhood”.
©Laura Dilloway, NCCA 2006 5