- India:Sindoor and kumkum — the colour of marriage, festivity and the goddess.
- China:Luck, prosperity and joy. The colour of New Year banners and wedding dresses.
- United Kingdom:Stop! Used on road signs, pillar boxes and the cross of St. George.
- Egypt:Once associated with chaos and the desert.
Know
Around the World
Colours mean different things in different places. Tap a colour to read what it means here in India and elsewhere.
- India:Haldi (turmeric) — sacred, auspicious, used in pre-wedding ceremonies.
- China:Reserved historically for emperors. The colour of nobility.
- Japan:Courage and refinement. The chrysanthemum throne is golden.
- India:The top stripe of the national flag — courage and sacrifice. Worn by sadhus.
- Buddhism:The colour of monks' robes — humility and the middle path.
- India:The bottom stripe of the national flag — faith and the fertile land.
- Ireland:The shamrock and the spring. National colour.
- Islam:The colour of paradise; flag of many Muslim-majority countries.
- India:The skin of Krishna and Vishnu — the infinite, the cosmic.
- Greece:The Aegean Sea and the painted churches of Santorini.
- Worldwide:The most common "favourite colour" in global surveys.
- India:The middle stripe of the flag — peace and truth. Worn at funerals.
- West:Bridal dresses and weddings since the 19th century.
- Korea:Historically the colour of the common people's clothing.
- India:Kohl / kajal protects the eyes. Black thread wards off evil.
- West:Mourning and formality.
- Egypt:The fertile black soil left by the Nile flood — life, renewal.
- Rome:Tyrian purple — once worth its weight in silver, only emperors could wear it.
- India:The colour of the bougainvillea and the evening sky in monsoon.
Curriculum alignment
CambridgeGlobal Perspectives 3.4· Stage 3
Compare ways of life and values of people in different cultures.
NCASVA:Cn11.1.4· Grade 4 Visual Arts
Through observation, infer information about time, place and culture in which a work of art was created.