Red
Encyclopedia
Red is any of a number of similar color
s evoked by light
consisting predominantly of the longest wavelength
s of light discernible by the human eye
, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm
. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared
(below red), and cannot be seen by the naked eye
. Red is used as one of the additive primary color
s of light, complementary to cyan
, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the subtractive primary colors of RYB color space but not CMYK color space. Sometimes certain shades of red are even used to symbolize anger, or aggression.
, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g. rose
s), and ripe fruits (e.g. apples, cherries). Fire
is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy
" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism
in the mid-19th century, red was used to describe revolutionary movements.
technologies, are being replaced by blue lasers, as red's longer wavelength causes the laser's recordings to take up more space on the disc than blue lasers. A main theory for why primates developed sensitivity to red, is that it allowed ripe fruit to be distinguished from unripe fruit and inedible vegetation. This further drove other adaptations to take advantage of this new ability, such as red faces. Red light is also used to preserve night vision
in low-light or night
-time situations, as the rod cell
s in the human eye are not sensitive to red. Red is one of the three additive primary colors of light, complementary to cyan, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the three subtractive primary colors of RYB color space but not CMYK color space.
One common use of red as an additive primary color is in the RGB color model
. Because red is not by itself standardized, color mixtures based on red are not exact specifications of color either. The United States government sets certain specifications for what paints to use when red is stated in a design. In order for computers to produce exact colors, the color red needs to be defined in terms of an absolute color space
, such as sRGB. color correction (so that a standardized red is produced that is not in fact full intensity of only the red colorant).
Red illumination was (and sometimes still is) used as a safelight
while working in a darkroom
, as it does not expose most photographic paper and some films. Though many more modern darkrooms use an amber
safelight, red illumination is closely associated with the darkroom in the public mind.
s emitting in the red region of the spectrum have been available since the invention of the Ruby laser
in 1960. In 1962 the red Helium-neon laser
was invented, and these two types of lasers were widely used in many scientific applications including Holography
and education. Red Helium-Neon lasers were used commercially in LaserDisc
players. The use of red laser diode
s became widespread with the commercial success of modern DVD
players, which use a 660nm laser diode technology. Today, red and red-orange laser diodes are widely available to the public in the form of extremely inexpensive laser pointer
s. Portable, high powered versions of these are also available for various applications. More recently, 671nm DPSS lasers have been introduced to the market for all-DPSS laser display systems, Particle image velocimetry
, Raman spectroscopy
, and holography.
Mars
is called the Red Planet because of the reddish color imparted to its surface by the abundant iron oxide
present there. Astronomical objects which are moving away from the observer exhibit a red shift
. Jupiter
's surface displays a Great Red Spot, an oval-shaped gigantic storm south of the planet's equator
. Many elements exhibit a red color when burned; calcium
, for example, produces a brick-red when combusted.
Oxygenated blood
is red due to the presence of oxygenated hemoglobin
. When used about animal coloration red usually refers to a brownish, reddish-brown or ginger color. In this sense it is used to describe coat colors of reddish-brown cattle and dogs, and in the names of various animal species or breeds such as red fox, red squirrel, red deer, Robin Redbreast, Red Grouse, Red Knot, Redstart, Redwing, Red Setter, Red Devon cattle etc. The usage for animal color appears similar to that for red ochre, red hair and Red Indian. When used for flowers, red often refers to purplish (red deadnettle, red clover, red helleborine) or pink (red campion, red valerian) colors.
Red is associated dominance in a number of animal species. For example, in mandrill
s red coloration of the face is greatest in alpha males, increasingly less prominent in lower ranking subordinates, and directly correlated with levels of testosterone
. Red can also affect the perception of dominance by others, leading to significant differences in mortality, reproductive success
and parental investment
between individuals displaying red and those not. In humans, wearing red has been linked with increased performance in competitions, including professional sport
and multiplayer video games. Controlled tests have demonstrated that wearing red does not increase performance or levels of testosterone during exercise, so the effect is likely to be produced by perceived rather than actual performance. Judges of tae kwon do have been shown to favor competitors wearing red protective gear over blue, and, when asked, a significant majority of people say that red abstract shapes are more "dominant", "aggressive" and "likely to win a physical competition" than blue. In contrast to its positive effect in physical competition and dominance behavior, exposure to red decreases performance in cognitive tasks and elicits aversion in psychological tests where subjects are placed in an "achievement" context (e.g. taking an IQ test).
, an 1850 American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
, features a woman in a Puritan
New England
community who is punished for adultery with ostracism, her sin represented by a red letter 'A' sewn into her clothes. This all comes from a general Hebrew view inherited by Christianity which associates red with the blood of murder, as well as with guilt in general. Often, things will be in red to scare. Another popular example of this is in the phrase "caught red-handed", meaning either caught in an act of crime
or caught with the blood of murder still on one's hands. At one point, red was associated with prostitutes, or now, with brothels (red-light districts). In Roman Catholicism
, red represents wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins
. In Christianity
, Satan
is usually depicted as colored red and/or wearing a red costume in both iconography and popular culture
. Statistics have shown that red cars are more likely to be involved in accidents.
The color red is associated with lust, passion, love, beauty, and danger as well. The association with love and beauty is possibly related to the use of red roses as a love symbol. Both the Greeks and the Hebrews considered red a symbol of love, as well as sacrifice. Psychological research
has shown that men find women who are wearing red more attractive.
, in which a soldier in the American Civil War
discovers the meaning of courage. In Christianity, red is the liturgical color for the feast of martyr
s, representing the blood of those who suffered death for their faith. It is sometimes used as the liturgical color for Holy Week
including Palm Sunday
and Good Friday
, although this is a modern (20th century) development. It is also the liturgical color used to commemmorate the Holy Spirit (for this reason it is worn at Pentecost and during Confirmation Masses). Because of its association with martyrdom and the Spirit, it is also the color used to commemmorate the Apostles (except for the Apostle St. John, who was not martyred, where white is used), and as such, it is used to commemorate Bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles (for this reason, when Funeral Masses are held for Bishops, Cardinals, or Popes, instead of the white that would ordinarily be used, red is used). In Roman mythology
red is associated with the god of war, Mars. A Roman general receiving a triumph
had his entire body painted red in honor of his achievement. Red was also the traditional color of the uniforms worn by the British Army, and such British soldiers were often known as Redcoats
. The phrase "red-blooded" describes someone who is audacious, robust, or virile. In Edward de Bono's book Six Thinking Hats a red hat represents feelings and emotions.
Red catches people's attention, and can be used either in a negative way to indicate danger and emergency, or in a positive way in advertising to gain more viewers, or in nature, as a ripe fruit announces its readiness with its red color. Several studies have indicated that red carries the strongest reaction of all the colors, with the level of reaction decreasing gradually with orange, yellow, and white, respectively. Because of this, red is often used to catch people's attention in a variety of situations (see: penalty card
).
The port, or left, side of a sea-going vessel carries a red navigation light
, to warn other vessels approaching from that side to change course to avoid a collision.
Red light is scattered the least and therefore reaches the greatest distance among all colors of the visible spectrum. Therefore, it is used as the "stop" sign at traffic signals.
and the south
(both south in general and Southern China specifically). It carries a largely positive connotation, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer. In Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (where brides traditionally wear red dresses) and red paper is also frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other things. Special red packets
( in Mandarin or lai see in Cantonese) are specifically used during the Chinese New Year
to give monetary gifts. On the more negative side, obituaries
are traditionally written in red ink, and to write someone's name in red signals either cutting them out of your life, or that they have died. Red is also associated with both the feminine and the masculine (yin and yang
respectively), depending on the source.
In Japan, red is a traditional color for a heroic figure. In the Indian Sub-continent, red is the traditional color of bridal dresses, and is frequently represented in the media as a symbolic color for married women. The color is associated with purity, sexuality in marriage relationships through its connection to heat and fertility. It is also the color of wealth, beauty, and the goddess Lakshmi
.
In Central Africa, Ndembu warriors rub themselves with red during celebrations. Since their culture sees the color as a symbol of life and health, sick people are also painted with it. Like most Central African cultures, the Ndembu see red as ambivalent, better than black, but not as good as white. In other parts of Africa, however, red is a color of mourning, representing death. Because of the connection red bears with death in many parts of Africa, the Red Cross has changed its colors to green
and white in parts of the continent.
The early Ottoman
Turks led by the first Ottoman Sultan Osman I
, carried red banners symbolizing Sovereignty, Ghazis and Sufism
, until according to legend he saw a new Red flag in his dream inlaid with a Crescent
.
is especially well known for red teams. Numerous teams in various sports use red in their team colors.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings
are the oldest professional baseball team, dating back to 1869. The franchise soon relocated to Boston and is now the Atlanta Braves
, but its name survives as the origin for both the Cincinnati Reds
and Boston Red Sox
. During the 1950s when red was so strongly associated with communism
, the modern Cincinnati team was known as the "Redlegs" and the term was even used on baseball cards. After the red scare faded, the team was known as the Reds again. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
are also known for their color red, as well as the St. Louis Cardinals
and the Philadelphia Phillies
.
In the NHL
, red jerseys are worn by the Detroit Red Wings
, Washington Capitals
, Calgary Flames
, Carolina Hurricanes
, Chicago Blackhawks
, Colorado Avalanche
, Minnesota Wild
, Montreal Canadiens
, New York Rangers
, Ottawa Senators
, Phoenix Coyotes
, and the New Jersey Devils
.
In association football, teams that wear red as part of their kit include Manchester United
, Liverpool
, Arsenal
, AFC Ajax, Toronto FC
, Bayern Munich
, AC Milan
, Olympiacos and S.L. Benfica. In rugby union
, Ireland's Munster rugby
, New Zealand's Canterbury provincial team and Crusaders Super 14 rugby side wear red as a major color in their playing strips.
In the NFL, teams with a shade of the color red as the primary color of either the team's dark "home" jersey (or an alternate thereof) or its "throwback" jersey consist of the: Arizona Cardinals
, Atlanta Falcons
, Houston Texans
, Kansas City Chiefs
, New England Patriots
, New York Giants
, San Francisco 49ers
, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and Washington Redskins
.
The Cleveland Cavaliers
basketball team use a deeper shade of red called wine. Fellow National Basketball Association
team the Los Angeles Clippers
wear red uniforms on their road games, as do the Chicago Bulls
, Atlanta Hawks
, Portland Trail Blazers
, and as done by the Houston Comets
of the WNBA. A similar shade to the Cavaliers' tone, (known in this instance as claret) is used by English association football teams Aston Villa
, West Ham United
, and Burnley
.
Numerous national teams wear red, often through association with their national flags. These national sides include representative teams in various sports from Spain
(in soccer, nicknamed "The Red Fury"), England
, Wales
, Canada
, Denmark
, Tonga
, Chile
, Puerto Rico
, Russia
and Switzerland
.
In boxing
, red is often the color used on fighter's gloves. George Foreman
wore the same red trunks he used for his loss to Muhammad Ali
when he defeated Michael Moorer
20 years later to recuperate the title he lost to Ali. Boxers named or nicknamed "red" include Red Burman
, Ernie "Red" Lopez
and his brother Danny "Little Red" Lopez
.
Red is one of the most common colors used on national flags. The use of red has similar connotations from country to country: the blood, sacrifice, and courage of those who defended their country; the sun and the hope and warmth it brings; and the sacrifice of Christ's blood
(in some historically Christian nations) are a few examples. Red is the color of the flags of several countries which once belonged to the former British Empire. The British flag
bears the colors red, white and blue; it includes the cross of Saint George
, patron saint of England, and the saltire
of Saint Patrick
, patron saint of Ireland, both of which are red on white. The United States flag
bears the colors of Britain, the colors of the French tricolore
include red as part of the old Paris coat of arms, and other countries' flags, such as those of Australia
, New Zealand
and Fiji
, carry a small inset of the British flag in memory of their ties to that country. Former colonies of Spain, such as Mexico
, Colombia
, Ecuador
, Cuba
, Puerto Rico
, Peru
and Venezuela
, also feature red, one of the colors of the Spanish flag, on their own banners. Red flags are also used to symbolize storms, bad water conditions, and many other things. Navy flags are often Red and Yellow. Red is prominently featured in the flag of the United States Marine Corps
.
Red symbolizes the flag of Nepal
. This color represents the floral emblem
of Nepal, the rhododendron
.
Red, blue and white are also the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by the Slavic solidarity movement of the late nineteenth century. Initially these were the colors of the Russian flag; as the Slavic movement grew, they were adopted by other Slavic peoples including Slovaks
, Slovenes and Serbs
. The flags of the Czech Republic
and Poland
, which contain red use it for historic heraldic reasons (see Coat of arms of Poland
and Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
), not due to Pan-Slavic connotations.
Red, white, and black are the colors of Pan-Arabism
, and are used by many Arab countries.
Red, gold, green and black are the colors of Pan-Africanism
. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including South Africa, Ghana
, Senegal
, Mali
, Ethiopia
, Togo
, Guinea
, Benin
, and Zimbabwe
. The Pan-African colors
are borrowed from the flag of Ethiopia
, one of the oldest independent African countries. Rwanda, notably, removed red from its flag
after the Rwandan Genocide
, because Pan-Africanism was so strongly associated with the event and because of red's association with blood.
For other reasons, the flag of Japan
has a red circle in the middle. The flag of the Philippines
has a red trapezoid on the bottom signifying blood, courage, and valor [also, if the flag is inverted so that the red trapezoid is on top and the blue at the bottom, it indicates a state of war]. The flag of Singapore
has a red rectangle on the top. The field of the flag of Portugal
is green and red.
successors to the Mazdak
religion and proto-communists in the Middle Ages of the Middle East used red as their symbol for revolution. Even before Europe's Revolutions of 1848
, Socialist red was used as a color of European Revolution
aries, often in the form of the red flag
. It was also used by Garibaldi
's camicie rosse (redshirts) in the Italian Risorgimento, and taken up by Leftist
and generally revolutionary
groups, while the white
of legitimist Bourbon
partisans became associated with pre-World War I
conservative
s. This relates to the term "Blood of the workers", representing the suffering of the proletariat
. For instance the Civil War in Russia
and the Civil War in Finland were fought between the Red Army
and various White Armies.
The identification of Communism with Socialist red (with the red flag being the primary color of the flag of the Soviet Union) and the red star
being a Communist emblem
led to such Cold War
phrases as "the Red Menace" and "Red China
" (distinguished from Nationalist China
, "Blue China" or "Free China"). China's de-facto anthem under Mao Zedong
was "The East Is Red". Mao Zedong was sometimes referred to as a "red sun". The color was also associated with political vehicles such as the Red Guard
in China and the Red Guard
s during the Russian Revolution of 1917
as well as with left wing paramilitary terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction
in Germany and the Japanese Red Army
. Red remains associated with parties on the left of the political spectrum.
Social-democratic
political parties throughout the world, particularly in Europe
, are most commonly symbolized by the color red. Red is the color associated with the Popular Democratic Party
of Puerto Rico.
In the United States
, red is associated with the center-right Republican Party
and blue with the Democrats
– a reverse of the traditional European scheme. This convention is relatively recent: before the 2000 presidential election
, media outlets assigned red and blue (the colors of the American flag
) to both parties, sometimes alternating each election. The fixed usage became established in during the 39-day recount following the 2000 election, when coverage began discussing the contest in terms of "red states" versus "blue states".
, cherries
, tomato
es, pepper
s and pomegranate
s are often colored by forms of carotenoids, red pigments that were originally developed to assist photosynthesis
. Meat gets its color from the iron found in the myoglobin
and hemoglobin in the muscles and residual blood.
Color
Color or colour is the visual perceptual property corresponding in humans to the categories called red, green, blue and others. Color derives from the spectrum of light interacting in the eye with the spectral sensitivities of the light receptors...
s evoked by light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
consisting predominantly of the longest wavelength
Wavelength
In physics, the wavelength of a sinusoidal wave is the spatial period of the wave—the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.It is usually determined by considering the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same phase, such as crests, troughs, or zero crossings, and is a...
s of light discernible by the human eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm
Nanometre
A nanometre is a unit of length in the metric system, equal to one billionth of a metre. The name combines the SI prefix nano- with the parent unit name metre .The nanometre is often used to express dimensions on the atomic scale: the diameter...
. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
(below red), and cannot be seen by the naked eye
Naked eye
The naked eye is a figure of speech referring to human visual perception unaided by a magnifying or light-collecting optical device, such as a telescope or microscope. Vision corrected to normal acuity using corrective lenses is considered "naked"...
. Red is used as one of the additive primary color
Primary color
Primary colors are sets of colors that can be combined to make a useful range of colors. For human applications, three primary colors are usually used, since human color vision is trichromatic....
s of light, complementary to cyan
Cyan
Cyan from , transliterated: kýanos, meaning "dark blue substance") may be used as the name of any of a number of colors in the blue/green range of the spectrum. In reference to the visible spectrum cyan is used to refer to the color obtained by mixing equal amounts of green and blue light or the...
, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the subtractive primary colors of RYB color space but not CMYK color space. Sometimes certain shades of red are even used to symbolize anger, or aggression.
Etymology and definitions
The word red comes from the Old English rēad. Further back, the word can be traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root reudh-. In SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g. rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
s), and ripe fruits (e.g. apples, cherries). Fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy
Ruddy
Ruddy is a reddish-rosy crimson colour, closer to red than to rose.A brownish shade of ruddy called ruddy brown is often referred to simply as ruddy when referring to animals....
" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
in the mid-19th century, red was used to describe revolutionary movements.
In science
Colorimetry, color science, photography
Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of approximately 630–700 nm. Longer wavelengths than this are called infrared, or below red and cannot be seen by human eyes. Red's wavelength has been an important factor in laser technologies as red lasers, used in early compact discCompact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
technologies, are being replaced by blue lasers, as red's longer wavelength causes the laser's recordings to take up more space on the disc than blue lasers. A main theory for why primates developed sensitivity to red, is that it allowed ripe fruit to be distinguished from unripe fruit and inedible vegetation. This further drove other adaptations to take advantage of this new ability, such as red faces. Red light is also used to preserve night vision
Adaptation (eye)
In ocular physiology, adaptation is the ability of the eye to adjust to various levels of darkness and light.-Efficacy:The human eye can function from very dark to very bright levels of light; its sensing capabilities reach across nine orders of magnitude. This means that the brightest and the...
in low-light or night
Night
Night or nighttime is the period of time when the sun is below the horizon. This occurs after dusk. The opposite of night is day...
-time situations, as the rod cell
Rod cell
Rod cells, or rods, are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye that can function in less intense light than can the other type of visual photoreceptor, cone cells. Named for their cylindrical shape, rods are concentrated at the outer edges of the retina and are used in peripheral vision. On...
s in the human eye are not sensitive to red. Red is one of the three additive primary colors of light, complementary to cyan, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the three subtractive primary colors of RYB color space but not CMYK color space.
One common use of red as an additive primary color is in the RGB color model
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
. Because red is not by itself standardized, color mixtures based on red are not exact specifications of color either. The United States government sets certain specifications for what paints to use when red is stated in a design. In order for computers to produce exact colors, the color red needs to be defined in terms of an absolute color space
Absolute color space
In color science, there are two meanings of the term absolute color space:* A color space in which the perceptual difference between colors is directly related to distances between colors as represented by points in the color space....
, such as sRGB. color correction (so that a standardized red is produced that is not in fact full intensity of only the red colorant).
Red illumination was (and sometimes still is) used as a safelight
Safelight
A safelight is a light source suitable for use in a photographic darkroom. It provides illumination only from parts of the visible spectrum to which the photographic material in use is nearly or completely insensitive.- Design :...
while working in a darkroom
Darkroom
A darkroom is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials, including photographic film and photographic paper. Darkrooms have been created and used since the inception of photography in the early 19th century...
, as it does not expose most photographic paper and some films. Though many more modern darkrooms use an amber
Amber (color)
Amber is an orange-yellow color that got its name from the material known as amber. Due to this, amber can refer not to one but to a series of shades of orange, since the natural material varies from nearly yellow when newer to orange or reddish-orange when older.-Amber:Amber is a pure chroma color...
safelight, red illumination is closely associated with the darkroom in the public mind.
Lasers
LaserLaser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
s emitting in the red region of the spectrum have been available since the invention of the Ruby laser
Ruby laser
A ruby laser is a solid-state laser that uses a synthetic ruby crystal as its gain medium. The first working laser was a ruby laser made by Theodore H. "Ted" Maiman at Hughes Research Laboratories on May 16, 1960....
in 1960. In 1962 the red Helium-neon laser
Helium-neon laser
A helium–neon laser or HeNe laser, is a type of gas laser whose gain medium consists of a mixture of helium and neon inside of a small bore capillary tube, usually excited by a DC electrical discharge.- History of HeNe laser development:...
was invented, and these two types of lasers were widely used in many scientific applications including Holography
Holography
Holography is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed so that when an imaging system is placed in the reconstructed beam, an image of the object will be seen even when the object is no longer present...
and education. Red Helium-Neon lasers were used commercially in LaserDisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
players. The use of red laser diode
Laser diode
The laser diode is a laser where the active medium is a semiconductor similar to that found in a light-emitting diode. The most common type of laser diode is formed from a p-n junction and powered by injected electric current...
s became widespread with the commercial success of modern DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
players, which use a 660nm laser diode technology. Today, red and red-orange laser diodes are widely available to the public in the form of extremely inexpensive laser pointer
Laser pointer
A laser pointer or laser pen is a small portable device with a power source and a laser emitting a very narrow coherent low-powered beam of visible light, intended to be used to highlight something of interest by illuminating it with a small bright spot of colored light...
s. Portable, high powered versions of these are also available for various applications. More recently, 671nm DPSS lasers have been introduced to the market for all-DPSS laser display systems, Particle image velocimetry
Particle image velocimetry
Particle image velocimetry is an optical method of flow visualization used in education and research. It is used to obtain instantaneous velocity measurements and related properties in fluids...
, Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy
Raman spectroscopy is a spectroscopic technique used to study vibrational, rotational, and other low-frequency modes in a system.It relies on inelastic scattering, or Raman scattering, of monochromatic light, usually from a laser in the visible, near infrared, or near ultraviolet range...
, and holography.
In nature
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
is called the Red Planet because of the reddish color imparted to its surface by the abundant iron oxide
Iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
present there. Astronomical objects which are moving away from the observer exhibit a red shift
Redshift
In physics , redshift happens when light seen coming from an object is proportionally increased in wavelength, or shifted to the red end of the spectrum...
. Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's surface displays a Great Red Spot, an oval-shaped gigantic storm south of the planet's equator
Equator
An equator is the intersection of a sphere's surface with the plane perpendicular to the sphere's axis of rotation and containing the sphere's center of mass....
. Many elements exhibit a red color when burned; calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
, for example, produces a brick-red when combusted.
Blood
Blood is a specialized bodily fluid in animals that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells....
is red due to the presence of oxygenated hemoglobin
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein in the red blood cells of all vertebrates, with the exception of the fish family Channichthyidae, as well as the tissues of some invertebrates...
. When used about animal coloration red usually refers to a brownish, reddish-brown or ginger color. In this sense it is used to describe coat colors of reddish-brown cattle and dogs, and in the names of various animal species or breeds such as red fox, red squirrel, red deer, Robin Redbreast, Red Grouse, Red Knot, Redstart, Redwing, Red Setter, Red Devon cattle etc. The usage for animal color appears similar to that for red ochre, red hair and Red Indian. When used for flowers, red often refers to purplish (red deadnettle, red clover, red helleborine) or pink (red campion, red valerian) colors.
Red is associated dominance in a number of animal species. For example, in mandrill
Mandrill
The mandrill is a primate of the Old World monkey family, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the drill. Both the mandrill and the drill were once classified as baboons in genus Papio, but recent research has determined they should be separated into their own genus, Mandrillus...
s red coloration of the face is greatest in alpha males, increasingly less prominent in lower ranking subordinates, and directly correlated with levels of testosterone
Testosterone
Testosterone is a steroid hormone from the androgen group and is found in mammals, reptiles, birds, and other vertebrates. In mammals, testosterone is primarily secreted in the testes of males and the ovaries of females, although small amounts are also secreted by the adrenal glands...
. Red can also affect the perception of dominance by others, leading to significant differences in mortality, reproductive success
Reproductive success
Reproductive success is defined as the passing of genes onto the next generation in a way that they too can pass those genes on. In practice, this is often a tally of the number of offspring produced by an individual. A more correct definition, which incorporates inclusive fitness, is the...
and parental investment
Parental investment
In evolutionary biology, parental investment is any parental expenditure that benefits one offspring at a cost to parents' ability to invest in other components of fitness...
between individuals displaying red and those not. In humans, wearing red has been linked with increased performance in competitions, including professional sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
and multiplayer video games. Controlled tests have demonstrated that wearing red does not increase performance or levels of testosterone during exercise, so the effect is likely to be produced by perceived rather than actual performance. Judges of tae kwon do have been shown to favor competitors wearing red protective gear over blue, and, when asked, a significant majority of people say that red abstract shapes are more "dominant", "aggressive" and "likely to win a physical competition" than blue. In contrast to its positive effect in physical competition and dominance behavior, exposure to red decreases performance in cognitive tasks and elicits aversion in psychological tests where subjects are placed in an "achievement" context (e.g. taking an IQ test).
Sin, guilt, pain, passion, blood, and anger
Red is used as a symbol of guilt, sin, passion and anger, often as connected with blood or sex. A Biblical example is found in Isaiah: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow." Also, The Scarlet LetterThe Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
, an 1850 American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and the former Elizabeth Clarke Manning. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials...
, features a woman in a Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
community who is punished for adultery with ostracism, her sin represented by a red letter 'A' sewn into her clothes. This all comes from a general Hebrew view inherited by Christianity which associates red with the blood of murder, as well as with guilt in general. Often, things will be in red to scare. Another popular example of this is in the phrase "caught red-handed", meaning either caught in an act of crime
In flagrante delicto
In flagrante delicto or sometimes simply in flagrante is a legal term used to indicate that a criminal has been caught in the act of committing an offence...
or caught with the blood of murder still on one's hands. At one point, red was associated with prostitutes, or now, with brothels (red-light districts). In Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, red represents wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
. In Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
is usually depicted as colored red and/or wearing a red costume in both iconography and popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. Statistics have shown that red cars are more likely to be involved in accidents.
The color red is associated with lust, passion, love, beauty, and danger as well. The association with love and beauty is possibly related to the use of red roses as a love symbol. Both the Greeks and the Hebrews considered red a symbol of love, as well as sacrifice. Psychological research
Psychological research methods
A wide range of research methods are used in psychology. These methods vary by the sources of information that are drawn on, how that information is sampled, and the types of instruments that are used in data collection...
has shown that men find women who are wearing red more attractive.
Courage and sacrifice
Red is used as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, as in blood spilt in sacrifice or courage in the face of lethal danger. Examples of this are found in the flags of many nations including the United States, as well as in the novel The Red Badge of CourageThe Red Badge of Courage
The Red Badge of Courage is a war novel by American author Stephen Crane . Taking place during the American Civil War, the story is about a young private of the Union Army, Henry Fleming, who flees from the field of battle. Overcome with shame, he longs for a wound—a "red badge of courage"—to...
, in which a soldier in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
discovers the meaning of courage. In Christianity, red is the liturgical color for the feast of martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
s, representing the blood of those who suffered death for their faith. It is sometimes used as the liturgical color for Holy Week
Holy Week
Holy Week in Christianity is the last week of Lent and the week before Easter...
including Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels. ....
and Good Friday
Good Friday
Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...
, although this is a modern (20th century) development. It is also the liturgical color used to commemmorate the Holy Spirit (for this reason it is worn at Pentecost and during Confirmation Masses). Because of its association with martyrdom and the Spirit, it is also the color used to commemmorate the Apostles (except for the Apostle St. John, who was not martyred, where white is used), and as such, it is used to commemorate Bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles (for this reason, when Funeral Masses are held for Bishops, Cardinals, or Popes, instead of the white that would ordinarily be used, red is used). In Roman mythology
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
red is associated with the god of war, Mars. A Roman general receiving a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
had his entire body painted red in honor of his achievement. Red was also the traditional color of the uniforms worn by the British Army, and such British soldiers were often known as Redcoats
Red coat (British army)
Red coat or Redcoat is a historical term used to refer to soldiers of the British Army because of the red uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the uniform of most British soldiers, , included a madder red coat or coatee...
. The phrase "red-blooded" describes someone who is audacious, robust, or virile. In Edward de Bono's book Six Thinking Hats a red hat represents feelings and emotions.
Warning
Penalty card
A penalty card is used in many sports as a means of warning, reprimanding or penalising a player, coach or team official. Penalty cards are most commonly used by referees or umpires to indicate that a player has committed an offense. The referee will hold the card above his or her head while...
).
The port, or left, side of a sea-going vessel carries a red navigation light
Navigation light
A navigation light is a colored source of illumination on an aircraft, spacecraft, or waterborne vessel, used to signal a craft's position, heading, and status...
, to warn other vessels approaching from that side to change course to avoid a collision.
Red light is scattered the least and therefore reaches the greatest distance among all colors of the visible spectrum. Therefore, it is used as the "stop" sign at traffic signals.
Red in different cultures and traditions
In China, red is the symbol of fireFire (classical element)
Fire has been an important part of all cultures and religions from pre-history to modern day and was vital to the development of civilization. It has been regarded in many different contexts throughout history, but especially as a metaphysical constant of the world.-Greek and Roman tradition:Fire...
and the south
South
South is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.South is one of the four cardinal directions or compass points. It is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to east and west.By convention, the bottom side of a map is south....
(both south in general and Southern China specifically). It carries a largely positive connotation, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer. In Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (where brides traditionally wear red dresses) and red paper is also frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other things. Special red packets
Red envelope
In Chinese and other Asian societies, a red envelope or red packet is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions.-Usage:Red envelopes are mainly presented at social and family gatherings such as...
( in Mandarin or lai see in Cantonese) are specifically used during the Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...
to give monetary gifts. On the more negative side, obituaries
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
are traditionally written in red ink, and to write someone's name in red signals either cutting them out of your life, or that they have died. Red is also associated with both the feminine and the masculine (yin and yang
Yin and yang
In Asian philosophy, the concept of yin yang , which is often referred to in the West as "yin and yang", is used to describe how polar opposites or seemingly contrary forces are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, and how they give rise to each other in turn. Opposites thus only...
respectively), depending on the source.
In Japan, red is a traditional color for a heroic figure. In the Indian Sub-continent, red is the traditional color of bridal dresses, and is frequently represented in the media as a symbolic color for married women. The color is associated with purity, sexuality in marriage relationships through its connection to heat and fertility. It is also the color of wealth, beauty, and the goddess Lakshmi
Lakshmi
Lakshmi or Lakumi is the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity , light, wisdom, fortune, fertility, generosity and courage; and the embodiment of beauty, grace and charm. Representations of Lakshmi are also found in Jain monuments...
.
In Central Africa, Ndembu warriors rub themselves with red during celebrations. Since their culture sees the color as a symbol of life and health, sick people are also painted with it. Like most Central African cultures, the Ndembu see red as ambivalent, better than black, but not as good as white. In other parts of Africa, however, red is a color of mourning, representing death. Because of the connection red bears with death in many parts of Africa, the Red Cross has changed its colors to green
Green
Green is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 520–570 nanometres. In the subtractive color system, it is not a primary color, but is created out of a mixture of yellow and blue, or yellow and cyan; it is considered...
and white in parts of the continent.
The early Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
Turks led by the first Ottoman Sultan Osman I
Osman I
Osman I or Othman I or El-Gazi Sultan Osman Ghazi, or Osman Bey or I. Osman, Osman Gazi Han), nicknamed "Kara" for his courage, was the leader of the Ottoman Turks, and the founder of the dynasty that established and ruled the Ottoman Empire...
, carried red banners symbolizing Sovereignty, Ghazis and Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, until according to legend he saw a new Red flag in his dream inlaid with a Crescent
Crescent
In art and symbolism, a crescent is generally the shape produced when a circular disk has a segment of another circle removed from its edge, so that what remains is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs of different diameters which intersect at two points .In astronomy, a crescent...
.
In sports
Teams throughout the world wear red on their uniforms. Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
is especially well known for red teams. Numerous teams in various sports use red in their team colors.
The Cincinnati Red Stockings
Cincinnati Red Stockings
The Cincinnati Red Stockings of were baseball's first fully professional team, with ten salaried players. The Cincinnati Base Ball Club formed in 1866 and fielded competitive teams in the National Association of Base Ball Players 1867–1870, a time of a transition that ambitious Cincinnati,...
are the oldest professional baseball team, dating back to 1869. The franchise soon relocated to Boston and is now the Atlanta Braves
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
, but its name survives as the origin for both the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds
The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....
and Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
. During the 1950s when red was so strongly associated with communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, the modern Cincinnati team was known as the "Redlegs" and the term was even used on baseball cards. After the red scare faded, the team was known as the Reds again. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
are also known for their color red, as well as the St. Louis Cardinals
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
and the Philadelphia Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are a Major League Baseball team. They are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of professional American sports, dating to 1883. The Phillies are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League...
.
In the NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
, red jerseys are worn by the Detroit Red Wings
Detroit Red Wings
The Detroit Red Wings are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League , and are one of the Original Six teams of the NHL, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, New York...
, Washington Capitals
Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Since their founding in 1974, "The Caps" have won one conference championship to reach the 1998 Stanley Cup...
, Calgary Flames
Calgary Flames
The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is the third major-professional ice hockey team to represent the city of Calgary, following the...
, Carolina Hurricanes
Carolina Hurricanes
The Carolina Hurricanes are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. They are members of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League , and play their home games at the 18,680-seat RBC Center...
, Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks
The Chicago Blackhawks are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They have won four Stanley Cup championships since their founding in 1926, most recently coming in 2009-10...
, Colorado Avalanche
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver, Colorado, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1995–96 and 2000–01. The franchise...
, Minnesota Wild
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League ....
, Montreal Canadiens
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ...
, New York Rangers
New York Rangers
The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the borough of Manhattan in New York, New York, USA. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . Playing their home games at Madison Square Garden, the Rangers are one of the...
, Ottawa Senators
Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
, Phoenix Coyotes
Phoenix Coyotes
The Phoenix Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in Glendale, Arizona. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League . They play their home games at Jobing.com Arena....
, and the New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey, United States. They are members of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
In association football, teams that wear red as part of their kit include Manchester United
Manchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
, Liverpool
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
, AFC Ajax, Toronto FC
Toronto FC
Toronto FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada....
, Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich
FC Bayern Munich , is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional football team, which is the most successful football club in Germany, having won 22 national titles and 15 cups....
, AC Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
, Olympiacos and S.L. Benfica. In rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
, Ireland's Munster rugby
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...
, New Zealand's Canterbury provincial team and Crusaders Super 14 rugby side wear red as a major color in their playing strips.
In the NFL, teams with a shade of the color red as the primary color of either the team's dark "home" jersey (or an alternate thereof) or its "throwback" jersey consist of the: Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Houston Texans
Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The team is currently a member of the Southern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
, Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...
, New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
and Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
.
The Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They began playing in the National Basketball Association in 1970 as an expansion team...
basketball team use a deeper shade of red called wine. Fellow National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
team the Los Angeles Clippers
Los Angeles Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California, United States. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association...
wear red uniforms on their road games, as do the Chicago Bulls
Chicago Bulls
The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center...
, Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta Hawks
The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are part of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association .-The first years:...
, Portland Trail Blazers
Portland Trail Blazers
The Portland Trail Blazers, commonly known as the Blazers, are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. They play in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The Trail Blazers originally played their home games in the...
, and as done by the Houston Comets
Houston Comets
The Houston Comets were a Women's National Basketball Association team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the best original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and...
of the WNBA. A similar shade to the Cavaliers' tone, (known in this instance as claret) is used by English association football teams Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
, West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
, and Burnley
Burnley F.C.
Burnley Football Club are a professional English Football League club based in Burnley, Lancashire. Nicknamed the Clarets, due to the dominant colour of their home shirts, they were founder members of the Football League in 1888...
.
Numerous national teams wear red, often through association with their national flags. These national sides include representative teams in various sports from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(in soccer, nicknamed "The Red Fury"), England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
In boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, red is often the color used on fighter's gloves. George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
wore the same red trunks he used for his loss to Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
when he defeated Michael Moorer
Michael Moorer
Michael Lee Moorer is a retired American boxer who is a former light heavyweight and heavyweight World Champion.-Biography:Moorer is a native of Monessen, Pennsylvania, which is in Southwestern Pennsylvania.-Professional career:...
20 years later to recuperate the title he lost to Ali. Boxers named or nicknamed "red" include Red Burman
Red Burman
For the judge who shares the same birth-name, see Clarence H. Burns.James Clarence 'Red' Burman was an American boxer in the Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight divisions...
, Ernie "Red" Lopez
Ernie Lopez
Ernie "Indian Red" Lopez , was an American professional boxer. He twice fought for the world welterweight boxing title, losing title bouts to José Nápoles in 1970 and 1973...
and his brother Danny "Little Red" Lopez
Danny Lopez
Danny Lopez is a former American boxer from Fort Duchesne, Utah. He was world Featherweight champion, and a very popular fighter both in television and Southern California, during the 1970s. His nickname is Little Red.-Background:...
.
On flags
Blood of Christ
The Blood of Christ in Christian theology refers to the physical blood actually shed by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and the salvation which Christianity teaches was accomplished thereby; and the sacramental blood present in the Eucharist, which is considered by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and...
(in some historically Christian nations) are a few examples. Red is the color of the flags of several countries which once belonged to the former British Empire. The British flag
Union Flag
The Union Flag, also known as the Union Jack, is the flag of the United Kingdom. It retains an official or semi-official status in some Commonwealth Realms; for example, it is known as the Royal Union Flag in Canada. It is also used as an official flag in some of the smaller British overseas...
bears the colors red, white and blue; it includes the cross of Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
, patron saint of England, and the saltire
Saltire
A saltire, or Saint Andrew's Cross, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross or letter ex . Saint Andrew is said to have been martyred on such a cross....
of Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick's Flag
Saint Patrick's Cross is a red saltire on a white field. In heraldic language, it may be blazoned Argent, a saltire gules. Saint Patrick's Flag is a flag composed of Saint Patrick's Saltire....
, patron saint of Ireland, both of which are red on white. The United States flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
bears the colors of Britain, the colors of the French tricolore
Flag of France
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
include red as part of the old Paris coat of arms, and other countries' flags, such as those of Australia
Flag of Australia
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton , and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter...
, New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand
The flag of New Zealand is a defaced Blue Ensign with the Union Flag in the canton, and four red stars with white borders to the right. The stars represent the constellation of Crux, the Southern Cross....
and Fiji
Flag of Fiji
Prior to ceding the country to British rule in 1874, the government of Fiji adopted a national flag featuring blue and white vertical stripes, with in the centre a red shield depicting a white dove. This flag ceased to be used when the colonial era began and Fiji relinquished its independence...
, carry a small inset of the British flag in memory of their ties to that country. Former colonies of Spain, such as Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
and Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, also feature red, one of the colors of the Spanish flag, on their own banners. Red flags are also used to symbolize storms, bad water conditions, and many other things. Navy flags are often Red and Yellow. Red is prominently featured in the flag of the United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
.
Red symbolizes the flag of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. This color represents the floral emblem
Floral emblem
In a number of countries, plants have been chosen as symbols to represent specific geographic areas. Some countries have a country-wide floral emblem; others in addition have symbols representing subdivisions. Different processes have been used to adopt these symbols - some are conferred by...
of Nepal, the rhododendron
Rhododendron
Rhododendron is a genus of over 1 000 species of woody plants in the heath family, most with showy flowers...
.
Red, blue and white are also the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by the Slavic solidarity movement of the late nineteenth century. Initially these were the colors of the Russian flag; as the Slavic movement grew, they were adopted by other Slavic peoples including Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
, Slovenes and Serbs
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
. The flags of the Czech Republic
Flag of the Czech Republic
The national flag of the Czech Republic is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovak flag while the Slovak Republic adopted its own flag....
and Poland
Flag of Poland
The flag of Poland consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width, the upper one white and the lower one red. The two colors are defined in the Polish constitution as the national colors. A variant of the flag with the national coat of arms in the middle of the white stripe is legally reserved...
, which contain red use it for historic heraldic reasons (see Coat of arms of Poland
Coat of arms of Poland
The White Eagle is the national coat of arms of Poland. It is a stylized white eagle with a golden beak and talons, and wearing a golden crown, in a red shield.- Legal basis :...
and Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
Coat of arms of the Czech Republic
The coat of arms of the Czech Republic displays the three historical regions—the Czech lands—which make up the nation:The arms of Bohemia show a silver double-tailed lion on a red background1. The Bohemian Lion is repeated in the lower-left-hand side of the coat of arms...
), not due to Pan-Slavic connotations.
Red, white, and black are the colors of Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism
Pan-Arabism is an ideology espousing the unification--or, sometimes, close cooperation and solidarity against perceived enemies of the Arabs--of the countries of the Arab world, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Arabian Sea. It is closely connected to Arab nationalism, which asserts that the Arabs...
, and are used by many Arab countries.
Red, gold, green and black are the colors of Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism
Pan-Africanism is a movement that seeks to unify African people or people living in Africa, into a "one African community". Differing types of Pan-Africanism seek different levels of economic, racial, social, or political unity...
. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including South Africa, Ghana
Ghana
Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
, Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, Mali
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
, Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, Togo
Togo
Togo, officially the Togolese Republic , is a country in West Africa bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, on which the capital Lomé is located. Togo covers an area of approximately with a population of approximately...
, Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
, Benin
Benin
Benin , officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It borders Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east and Burkina Faso and Niger to the north. Its small southern coastline on the Bight of Benin is where a majority of the population is located...
, and Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
. The Pan-African colors
Pan-African colours
Two different sets of three colours are referred to as the Pan-African colours: the red, green and gold first used in the flag of Ethiopia and Eritrea before the countries broke apart; and the red, green and black adopted by the American-based Universal Negro Improvement Association and African...
are borrowed from the flag of Ethiopia
Flag of Ethiopia
The flag of Ethiopia is a flag that was adopted on February 6, 1996. It conforms to the specifications set forth in article 3 of the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia. The three traditional colours date back to Emperor Menelik and were first used in a flag in 1897...
, one of the oldest independent African countries. Rwanda, notably, removed red from its flag
Flag of Rwanda
The flag of Rwanda was adopted on October 25, 2001.The flag has four colours: blue, green, and two forms of yellow . The blue band represents happiness and peace, the yellow band symbolizes economic development, and the green band symbolizes the hope of prosperity...
after the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
, because Pan-Africanism was so strongly associated with the event and because of red's association with blood.
For other reasons, the flag of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
has a red circle in the middle. The flag of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
has a red trapezoid on the bottom signifying blood, courage, and valor [also, if the flag is inverted so that the red trapezoid is on top and the blue at the bottom, it indicates a state of war]. The flag of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
has a red rectangle on the top. The field of the flag of Portugal
Flag of Portugal
The flag of Portugal is the national flag of the Portuguese Republic. It is a rectangular bicolour with a field unevenly divided into green on the hoist, and red on the fly. The lesser version of the national coat of arms is centered over the colour boundary at equal distance from the upper and...
is green and red.
Use by political movements
As early as the 9th century, the KhurramitesKhurramites
The Khurramites were an Iranian religious and political movement with its roots in the movement founded by Mazdak. An alternative name for the movement is the Muḥammira "Red-Wearing Ones" , a reference to their symbolic red dress.-Origins and History:The sect was founded by the Persian cleric...
successors to the Mazdak
Mazdak
Mazdak was a proto-socialist Persian reformer and religious activist who gained influence under the reign of the Sassanian Shahanshah Kavadh I...
religion and proto-communists in the Middle Ages of the Middle East used red as their symbol for revolution. Even before Europe's Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe in 1848. It was the first Europe-wide collapse of traditional authority, but within a year reactionary...
, Socialist red was used as a color of European Revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...
aries, often in the form of the red flag
Red flag
In politics, a red flag is a symbol of Socialism, or Communism, or sometimes left-wing politics in general. It has been associated with left-wing politics since the French Revolution. Socialists adopted the symbol during the Revolutions of 1848 and it became a symbol of communism as a result of its...
. It was also used by Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Giuseppe Garibaldi was an Italian military and political figure. In his twenties, he joined the Carbonari Italian patriot revolutionaries, and fled Italy after a failed insurrection. Garibaldi took part in the War of the Farrapos and the Uruguayan Civil War leading the Italian Legion, and...
's camicie rosse (redshirts) in the Italian Risorgimento, and taken up by Leftist
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
and generally revolutionary
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
groups, while the white
White
White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...
of legitimist Bourbon
House of Bourbon
The House of Bourbon is a European royal house, a branch of the Capetian dynasty . Bourbon kings first ruled Navarre and France in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Bourbon dynasty also held thrones in Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Parma...
partisans became associated with pre-World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
s. This relates to the term "Blood of the workers", representing the suffering of the proletariat
Proletariat
The proletariat is a term used to identify a lower social class, usually the working class; a member of such a class is proletarian...
. For instance the Civil War in Russia
Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...
and the Civil War in Finland were fought between the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
and various White Armies.
The identification of Communism with Socialist red (with the red flag being the primary color of the flag of the Soviet Union) and the red star
Red star
A red star, five-pointed and filled, is an important ideological and religious symbol which has been used for various purposes, such as: state emblems, flags, monuments, ornaments, and logos.- Symbol of communism :...
being a Communist emblem
Emblem
An emblem is a pictorial image, abstract or representational, that epitomizes a concept — e.g., a moral truth, or an allegory — or that represents a person, such as a king or saint.-Distinction: emblem and symbol:...
led to such Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
phrases as "the Red Menace" and "Red China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
" (distinguished from Nationalist China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
, "Blue China" or "Free China"). China's de-facto anthem under Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...
was "The East Is Red". Mao Zedong was sometimes referred to as a "red sun". The color was also associated with political vehicles such as the Red Guard
Red Guards (China)
Red Guards were a mass movement of civilians, mostly students and other young people in the People's Republic of China , who were mobilized by Mao Zedong in 1966 and 1967, during the Cultural Revolution.-Origins:...
in China and the Red Guard
Red Guards (Russia)
In the context of the history of Russia and Soviet Union, Red Guards were paramilitary formations consisting of workers and partially of soldiers and sailors formed in the time frame of the Russian Revolution of 1917...
s during the Russian Revolution of 1917
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution is the collective term for a series of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which destroyed the Tsarist autocracy and led to the creation of the Soviet Union. The Tsar was deposed and replaced by a provisional government in the first revolution of February 1917...
as well as with left wing paramilitary terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction
The radicalized were, like many in the New Left, influenced by:* Sociological developments, pressure within the educational system in and outside Europe and the U.S...
in Germany and the Japanese Red Army
Japanese Red Army
The was a Communist terrorist group founded by Fusako Shigenobu early in 1971 in Lebanon. It sometimes called itself Arab-JRA after the Lod airport massacre...
. Red remains associated with parties on the left of the political spectrum.
Social-democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
political parties throughout the world, particularly in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, are most commonly symbolized by the color red. Red is the color associated with the Popular Democratic Party
Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico
The Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico is a political party that supports Puerto Rico's right to self-determination and sovereignty, through the enhancement of Puerto Rico's current status as a commonwealth....
of Puerto Rico.
In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, red is associated with the center-right Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and blue with the Democrats
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
– a reverse of the traditional European scheme. This convention is relatively recent: before the 2000 presidential election
United States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
, media outlets assigned red and blue (the colors of the American flag
Flag of the United States
The national flag of the United States of America consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the canton bearing fifty small, white, five-pointed stars arranged in nine offset horizontal rows of six stars alternating with rows...
) to both parties, sometimes alternating each election. The fixed usage became established in during the 39-day recount following the 2000 election, when coverage began discussing the contest in terms of "red states" versus "blue states".
Food and drink
Most red foods derive from one of two sources. Plants like apples, strawberriesGarden Strawberry
The garden strawberry, Fragaria × ananassa, is a hybrid species that is cultivated worldwide for its fruit, the strawberry. The fruit is widely appreciated for its characteristic aroma, bright red color, juicy texture, and sweetness...
, cherries
Cherry
The cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus, and is a fleshy stone fruit. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium....
, tomato
Tomato
The word "tomato" may refer to the plant or the edible, typically red, fruit which it bears. Originating in South America, the tomato was spread around the world following the Spanish colonization of the Americas, and its many varieties are now widely grown, often in greenhouses in cooler...
es, pepper
Capsicum
Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family, Solanaceae. Its species are native to the Americas where they have been cultivated for thousands of years, but they are now also cultivated worldwide, used as spices, vegetables, and medicines - and have become are a key element in...
s and pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s are often colored by forms of carotenoids, red pigments that were originally developed to assist photosynthesis
Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is a chemical process that converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds, especially sugars, using the energy from sunlight. Photosynthesis occurs in plants, algae, and many species of bacteria, but not in archaea. Photosynthetic organisms are called photoautotrophs, since they can...
. Meat gets its color from the iron found in the myoglobin
Myoglobin
Myoglobin is an iron- and oxygen-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of vertebrates in general and in almost all mammals. It is related to hemoglobin, which is the iron- and oxygen-binding protein in blood, specifically in the red blood cells. The only time myoglobin is found in the...
and hemoglobin in the muscles and residual blood.
Business
Red is associated with a number of worldwide companies and brands, which use the color prominently on their logos and advertisement. Some include:- Air FranceAir FranceAir France , stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the French flag carrier headquartered in Tremblay-en-France, , and is one of the world's largest airlines. It is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global airline alliance...
- Air IndiaAir IndiaAir India is the flag carrier airline of India. It is part of the government of India owned Air India Limited . The airline operates a fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft serving Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. Its corporate office is located at the Air India Building at Nariman...
- Air CanadaAir CanadaAir Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
- Air ChinaAir ChinaAir China is the flag carrier and one of the major airlines of the People's Republic of China. Based in Beijing Capital International Airport, Air China is the world's 10th largest airline by fleet size. The airline ranked behind its main competitors China Southern Airlines and China Eastern...
- American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
- APC by Schneider Electric
- AviancaAviancaAvianca S.A. is the flag carrier airline of Colombia since December 5, 1919 when it was initially registered under the name SCADTA. It is headquartered in Bogotá, D.C. with its hub at the El Dorado International Airport...
- Avis Rent a Car SystemAvis Rent A Car SystemAvis Rent a Car System, LLC is a car rental company headquartered in Parsippany-Troy Hills Township, New Jersey, United States. Avis, Budget Rent a Car and Budget Truck Rental are all units of Avis Budget Group....
- Baker's Supermarkets
- Buca di BeppoBuca di BeppoBuca di Beppo is a restaurant specializing in immigrant Southern Italian food. The name roughly translates as "Joe's Basement"...
- BudweiserBudweiserBudweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...
- Burger KingBurger KingBurger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
- Castle CementCastle CementHanson Cement is a cement production company located in the United Kingdom It was called Castle Cement until 2009, when it was rebranded. The company is now owned by HeidelbergCement...
- Circle KCircle KCircle K is an international chain of convenience stores, founded in 1951, in El Paso, Texas, United States. It is owned and operated by the Canadian-based Alimentation Couche-Tard.-Overview:...
- Coca Cola
- CoorsCoors Brewing CompanyThe Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
- CVS Pharmacy
- Delta Air LinesDelta Air LinesDelta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline based in the United States and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline operates an extensive domestic and international network serving all continents except Antarctica. Delta and its subsidiaries operate over 4,000 flights every day...
- DHLDHLDHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
- DillonsDillonsDillons is a grocery supermarket chain based in Hutchinson, Kansas, and is a division of The Kroger Company. Other banners under Dillon Stores Division include Gerbes in Missouri, Baker's in Omaha, Nebraska and a Food 4 Less store in Fremont, Nebraska...
- Dixie-NarcoDixie-NarcoDixie-Narco is a major manufacturer of soda vending machines located in Williston, South Carolina. Their main competitors are Royal Vendors and Vendo...
- ExxonExxonExxon is a chain of gas stations as well as a brand of motor fuel and related products by ExxonMobil. From 1972 to 1999, Exxon was the corporate name of the company previously known as Standard Oil Company of New Jersey or Jersey Standard....
- Fred MeyerFred MeyerFred Meyer, Inc., is a chain of hypermarkets founded in 1922 in Portland, Oregon, by Fred G. Meyer. The company was one of the pioneers of one-stop shopping, eventually combining a complete grocery supermarket with a drugstore, clothing store, shoe store, fine jewelers, home decor store, home...
- Fry's ElectronicsFry's ElectronicsFry's Electronics is a big-box store and retailer of software, consumer electronics, computer hardware, with in store computer repair and custom computer building services and household appliances with a chain of superstores headquartered in Silicon Valley...
- Fry's Food and DrugFry's Food and DrugFry's Food & Drug Stores, Inc., is a chain of supermarkets that has a major presence in the state of Arizona. Fry's also operates under the banner of Fry's Marketplace, a chain of multi-department stores. Fry's is a division of The Kroger Company....
- Genie CompanyThe Genie CompanyThe Genie Company is a brand of a Garage door openers company and a subsidiary of Overhead Door Corporation. It was founded in 1923, and known as the Alliance Manufacturing Company, the company produced a broad line of consumer, industrial and military products. In May 1954, the Alliance...
- IberiaIberia AirlinesIberia Líneas Aéreas de España, S.A., commonly known as Iberia, is the flag carrier airline of Spain. Based in Madrid, it operates an international network of services from its main bases of Madrid-Barajas Airport and Barcelona El Prat Airport....
- Japan AirlinesJapan Airlinesis an airline headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo, Japan. It is the flag carrier of Japan and its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport and Tokyo International Airport , as well as Nagoya's Chūbu Centrair International Airport and Osaka's Kansai International Airport...
- JayC Food StoresJayC Food Stores-History:JayC was founded in 1862 by Swiss immigrant Jonathan Groub, who with his wife Elizabeth opened the chain's first store on South Chestnut Street in the city of Seymour. The success of the business allowed them to move to larger premises in 1871 and add a wholesale department...
- King Soopers & City MarketKing Soopers & City MarketKing Soopers and City Market are two supermarket brands of Kroger in the Rocky Mountains of the United States. Though they were originally separate, Kroger now manages them together.-King Soopers:...
- K-Mart
- K-Mart Australia
- Kodak
- LG Corp
- Marlboro
- Marriott InternationalMarriott InternationalMarriott International, Inc. is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. Marriott, Jr...
- Marsh SupermarketsMarsh SupermarketsMarsh Supermarkets is a retail food chain headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with stores throughout Central Indiana and parts of Ohio. Its parent company is Sun Capital Partners, headquarterd in Boca Raton, Florida.-History:...
- MattelMattelMattel, Inc. is the world's largest toy company based on revenue. The products it produces include Fisher Price, Barbie dolls, Hot Wheels and Matchbox toys, Masters of the Universe, American Girl dolls, board games, and, in the early 1980s, video game consoles. The company's name is derived from...
- McDonald'sMcDonald'sMcDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
- Motorola MobilityMotorola MobilityMotorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. , formerly the Mobile Devices division of Motorola Inc. until January 2011, is a communications corporation headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s...
- Owen's MarketOwen's MarketOwen's Market is a small chain of grocery stores located in northern Indiana in the United States, owned by the Kroger corporation. As of late 2006 there were five Owen's Market locations in the Indiana communities of Huntington, Ligonier and Warsaw....
- Pay Less Food MarketsPay Less Food MarketsPay Less Super Markets is a chain of supermarkets located in the central Indiana towns of Anderson, Lafayette and West Lafayette.-History:The company was founded by H.J. Contos in 1947 in Anderson, Indiana. In 1960, a second store was opened in Lafayette, Indiana. Contos died in 1961, and the...
- Pepsi Cola
- Pizza HutPizza HutPizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
- Pueblo SupermarketsPueblo Supermarkets-History:The brainchild of brothers Harold Toppel and George Toppel, Pueblo began as a single store operation on Roosevelt Avenue in the Puerto Nuevo section of San Juan, Puerto Rico...
- RedboxRedboxRedbox is an American company that specializes in the rental of DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and video games via automated retail kiosks. As of the end of June 2011, Redbox had over 33,000 kiosks in over 27,800 locations....
- Red DevilRed Devil, Inc.Red Devil is a manufacturer of caulking, glazing, sealants and related surface preparation tools for glaziers, painters and masons. They are a privately-owned family business with manufacturing facilities in Pryor, Oklahoma. The company is currently headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.-History:The...
- Red Roof InnRed Roof InnRed Roof Inn is an economy hotel chain in the United States. Red Roof Inn properties are often distinguished by the large dark-red shingle roof that gives them their name. There are over 340 Red Roof Inns, primarily in the Midwest, Southern, and Eastern United States...
- RevlonRevlonRevlon is an American cosmetics, skin care, fragrance, and personal care company founded in 1932.-History:Revlon was founded in the midst of the Great Depression, 1932, by Charles Revson and his brother Joseph, along with a chemist, Charles Lachman, who contributed the "L" in the Revlon name...
- Safeway Supermarkets
- Sally Beauty SupplySally Beauty SupplySally Beauty Holdings, Inc. is an international speciality retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies with revenues of more than $2.6 billion annually....
- Schindler GroupSchindler Groupthumb|200px|Schindler Test Tower in Ebikon, Lucerne, SwitzerlandSchindler was founded in Switzerland in 1874 and is the largest manufacturer of escalators and the second largest manufacturer of elevators world wide. Schindler produces, installs, maintains and modernizes elevators and escalators in...
- Scott's Food & PharmacyScott's Food & PharmacyScott's Food & Pharmacy is a supermarket chain with eighteen stores in the Fort Wayne, Indiana market. The company was once a wholly owned subsidiary of SuperValu, but was acquired by The Kroger Co. in 2007.-History:...
- Shell
- Smith's Food and DrugSmith's Food and DrugSmith's Food and Drug, commonly known as Smith's, is a chain of supermarkets in the Intermountain West and Southwest regions of the United States. Smith's operates 132 stores in Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. Smith's utilizes a combination food and drug center...
- TAM
- TAM ParaguayTAM MercosurTAM Airlines, also known as Transportes Aéreos del Mercosur S.A., formerly known as TAM Mercosur and LAP , is the flag carrier and the national airline of Paraguay with its headquarters in Asunción, Paraguay...
- Target
- TelevicentroTelevicentro (Canal 2)Televicentro is a nationwide terrestrial television channel from Nicaragua owned by Televicentro de Nicaragua, S.A.- History :Televicentro de Nicaragua, S.A. was founded in December 1965 by Octavio Sacasa Sarria, first broadcast in March, 1966. It was the second television channel in Nicaragua,...
- TescoTescoTesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...
- TexacoTexacoTexaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
- Verizon
- Virgin GroupVirgin GroupVirgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...
- WalgreensWalgreensWalgreen Co. , doing business as Walgreens , is the largest drugstore chain in the United States of America. As of August 31st, the company operates 8,210 locations across all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1901, and has since expanded...
- WinstonWinston (cigarette)Winston cigarettes are manufactured by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company or its newer incarnation as RJR Nabisco and/or its affiliates.The brand was introduced in 1954, and became the best-selling brand of cigarettes in the United States...
In film
Many movie titles have included the color's name in them, such as:- RedRed (2002 film)Red is a 2002 Tamil film directed by Ram Sathya and produced by S. S. Chakravarthy. The film stars Ajith Kumar and Priya Gill, while Manivannan, Salim Ghouse and Raghuvaran play pivotal roles. The film's score and soundtrack are composed by Deva...
, a Tamil movie from 2002 - RedRed (2008 film)Red is a 2008 thriller film about a couple of kids who kill a dog named 'Red' during an attempted robbery. The dog's owner finds out who they are, and tries to bring them to justice by informing the authorities. However, this amounts to nothing, so he decides to dish out his own brand of...
, an American movie from 2008 - RedRed (2010 film)RED is a 2010 American action comedy film loosely inspired by the three-issue comic book series of the same name created by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner, and published by the DC Comics imprint Homage...
, an action comedy from 2010, starring Bruce WillisBruce WillisWalter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles... - Red Riding Hood
- Red Dog (film)Red Dog (film)Red Dog is a 2011 Australian family film directed by Kriv Stenders. The film is based on a true story from the novel Red Dog. At the 2011 Inside Film Awards Red Dog was nominated in nine categories and won seven, including Best Feature Film.-Cast:...
, 2011 Australian film - Reds
- The Woman in RedThe Woman in Red (1935 film)The Woman in Red is a 1935 film directed by Robert Florey and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Raymond.- Plot :Shelby Barret is a stable hand who rides show horses for snobbish wealthy widow Mrs. Nicholas, called Nicko. She meets Johnny Wyatt, the destitute son of a once-wealthy Long Island...
, a 1935 American film - The Woman in Red, a 1984 American comedy film
External links
- Seeing Red - slideshow by Life magazine