Bravery And Courage – Colors play an important role in our everyday life. Colors are scattered in the Universe which connects to our senses and generates different stimuli. The relevance of color is so much that it is well thought out in marketing themes, corporate color, indoor interiors, and whatnot! Understanding how people perceive and respond to different colors is a prevalent challenge for the modern-era marketer.
Therefore, while there is little relevance given to color psychology it is an increasingly emerging field. Let me give you one example of how important colors are to us and every aspect of our society. What color comes to your mind when I say Mc Donalds? Red and Yellow right? How about Coca-Cola? Red right? So, color psychology and brand psychology are proof that colors play a vital role in our life!
While being brought up, children are told the stories of courage, bravery, kindness, and compassion. They are told fairytales about the bravery of Kings and Queens to familiarize them with these virtues. There is one problem though. While children are told stories about bravery and courage, they are never told the meaning of bravery and courage. Children perceive them in the context of certain actions but grow up not knowing the meaning of these two words which are used together and stay side by side. The origin of the word bravery is Italian. It stems from the word bravo which means bold, savage, or wild. While the origin of the word courage is the French word Coeur which translates to heart!
What Is Bravery?
Bravery is often considered synonymous with fearlessness while it is the action taken in the presence of fear while overcoming fear is considered an act of bravery. It is a personality trait. It is a quality. Bravery is therefore you are sticking up with your friend to face the bully in high school. Bravery is putting your hand in the jar of the spider because your friend dared you to despite you being terrified of a spider! (Please, do not give such dares to your friends. It is not funny!)
What Is Courage?
An act of courage is driven by an underlying cause. It is a conscious and profound choice that allows a person to make the right decisions despite the anticipated risk or foreseen difficulty or impending danger. While bravery does not require a cause, a courageous person knows the cause that is valuable and supported by his course of action which allows him to rise above the ‘what ifs’ and ‘red flags’, and dive in, headfirst!
Courage is grace under pressure! (Anonymous)
Color For Bravery And Courage
Have you noticed that often in the movies warriors or soldiers wear red attire? Red has a perplexed symbolism when it comes to color psychology. However, all representations are interlinked perhaps. Therefore, on the battlefield red indicates danger and white indicates peace. But red is the color of bravery! It signals danger and action. It signals a sense of resolve and to persist in the face of danger. It represents an adrenaline rush to generate a response befit for the situation and a drive to move ahead! Red is associated with passion and drive; therefore, it is associated with the quality of bravery!
The color red has vast symbolic representations when it comes to emotions. It represents heightened emotions such as anger, fervor, and passion. Conversely red also represents love and courage. Courage requires a cause and drive to persist in the decided direction. It requires insight to foresee the challenges and risks and still continue in that direction. Would it be of any surprise that the comic superhero Flash who is known for his speed and velocity is fully dressed in a red attire whit a gold thunderbolt on his chest?
Is Purple Also A Color Of Courage?
The mysterious, dense, and deeply captivating hue of Purple is the color of the galaxy. It represents enormity and vastness, mystery and mysticism, and some people associate this color with courage. While dominantly red represents both bravery and courage it is no surprise that purple is also said to be a color of courage. Due to the royalty of the purple shade, it is often associated with courage. A courageous person has a mysterious aura around them just like an enigma it is hard sometimes to understand their flamboyant personality which has charm and depth. The contradictions are contrasting and play a great role to make the person courageous and strong. Thus, purple is linked to courage!
Can you recall anything purple which reminds you of courage? Ironically, Courage the Cowardly Dog is pink! The dark and mysterious cartoon character from Teen Titans Ravan comes to my mind! Here are some fun facts you should know about this color:
- For the human eye, it is hard to distinguish purple color!
- One of the shades of purple is lavender which is used to treat epilepsy therefore, the color purple is used for epilepsy awareness. 26th March is epilepsy awareness day or purple day!
- The phrase born in purple is used to indicate that the child is born into a noble family.
- There is only one national flag across the globe that uses the color purple which is Dominica.
Conclusion
Color psychology is interesting. It creates a close understanding of people’s perceptions which is utilized to create different social awareness campaigns and branding. How a person perceives color is not universally constant but mostly majority perception counts and hence the meanings related to different colors are established. Because the majority of people consider red as the vibrant color of drive and emotions, it is safe to say that red is the color that represents bravery and courage. Therefore, the war is red because there is bloodshed, danger, and risk. The soldiers have red badges for bravery and courage. Furthermore, the high-risk countries are put on the red list during emigration. Let us know what you think about the color red in the comments!
