Life in the Fast Lane

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Our perceptions of colors affect and influence us on scores of levels — sub-consciously, emotionally, mentally, and even in symbolism. In part 2 of our series on what colors mean to us, we cover blue, the color of our broad open skies and magnificent seas. Be sure to check out part 1 of this series if you missed it, What the Color Red Means.

Photo Muha

The Soothing Color
As the color of our sky and oceans in nature, blue is one of our most favorite colors. It causes the opposite reaction as red, being the essence peacefulness, tranquility, and calmness.

Blue waters of Maldives. Photo Nattu

Blue waters at Centrum Saar, Saarbrucken. Photo Wolfgang Staudt

Fahranleger Wittenbergen. Photo Elbfoto

Blue is often associated with depth and stability. It can mean relaxation, sadness, peace, and solitude, and symbolizes trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth, and heaven.

Light blue is associated with health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness, while dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness.

The color is considered beneficial to the mind and body — it slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. In heraldry, blue is used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

Blue can also be cold and depressing, but studies have shown that people are more productive in blue rooms.

Paradise at Maratua Island. Photo Riza

Photo Jon Lawrinson

Photo Rayced

Taquile Island (Titicaca Lake, PERÚ) Photo David and Katarina

Mono Lake. Photo Lexdenn

Blue Lake Superior. Photo Spisharam

Using Blue
Blue is frequently used to promote products and services related to cleanliness and purity — cleaning liquids and water purification filters — air and sky for airlines, airports, and air conditioners, or water and sea such as bottled waters and ocean voyages.

As opposed to emotionally warm colors like red, orange, and yellow; blue is linked to consciousness and intellect. Use blue to suggest precision when promoting high-tech products.

Blue causes the body to produce calming chemicals, so it’s often used in bedrooms.

Dark blue is associated with depth, expertise, and stability, so it’s a preferred color for corporate America.

Colors that are traditionally considered masculine colors or that appeal most strongly to or are more closely associated with men can be good choices for marketing messages, Web sites, and interior designs targeting men.

Avoid using blue when promoting food and cooking, because it suppresses the appetite.

When used together with warm colors like yellow or red, blue can create high-impact, vibrant designs, such as a blue-yellow-red color scheme for a superhero.

Blue is commonly used on internet browsers to color a link that has not been clicked on, changing to yellow, orange, or purple when it has been.

Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty.

Weightlifters do their best in blue gyms, as studies have shown they’re are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms.

Photo FR Antunes

Blue reflections. Photo FR Antunes

Blue reflections. Photo Miyukiutada

Blue reflections on the Arctic Sea. Photo Wili Hybrid

Photo Lexdenn

Prague in blue reflection. Photo Jurek D

Blue Hole, Palau. Photo Jenny Huang

Port d’Alcudia harbor. Photo Tygerlyl

Blue morning sea in Bowa. Photo Miyukiutada

Blue boat on South Male’ Atoll. Photo Wili Hybrid

Atlantic Ocean at Morrazo, Galicia, Spain. Photo Paulo Brandao

Khezr Beach, Hormoz Island, Persian Gulf, Iran. Photo Hamed Saber

Amoreira, Portugal. Photo Gustty

Sun Moon Lake. Photo Enid Yu

View of Isolabella from Taormina in Sicily. Photo Daveness 98

Blue harbor. Photo Thai Jasmine

Blue Mountain, Carbon County, near Palmerton. For many years, extensive zinc-smelting operations severely degraded the local environment, destroying vegetation and helping to create soil erosion. The zinc smelters are no longer in operation — the area is now the site of an ambitious Superfund project, and the vegetation and soil are recovering. Photo Nicholas T

Animals
When an animal’s coat is described as “blue,” it usually refers to a shade of grey that takes on a bluish tint, a diluted variant of a pure black coat. The description is used for a variety of animals, including dog coats, some rat coats, cat coats, some chicken breeds, and some horse coat colors.

Peacock. Photo Daniel Fluck

Peacock. Photo Hamed Saber

Peacock. Photo Aussiegall

Blue parrots. Photo A Magill

Blue parrot. Photo Mr. Usaji

Bluejay. Photo Chefranden

Blue Heron. Photo Mike Baird

Warbler in “the blue hour,” the hour between daylight and darkness
when the light becomes almost magical. Photo Noel Zia Lee

Photo Willgame

Photo Notsogoodphotography

Blue Oranda fish. Photo Kim Beckmann

Dolphin’s dance. Photo Kalandraka

Blue poison frog. Photo J Pockele

Iguana in Bali. Photo Riza

Relations in Food
Although blue is one of the most popular colors, it’s one of the least appetizing. Studies reveal that it slows human metabolism and suppresses the appetite.

Blueberries. Photo Lisa Norwood

Food researchers say that when humans searched for food, they learned to avoid toxic or spoiled objects, which were often blue, black, or purple.

Blue food is rare in nature, with the most notable being blueberries.

Photo Scarleth White

Photo Notsogoodphotography

In Costa Rica, it’s said when you can see a ring around the moon at night, called a “luna de agua,” it foretells 3 to 4 straight days of slow but steady rain, called a “temporala.” Photo Thombo2

Pelican skies. Photo Sir Mervs

Crowded cable line. Photo Neona

Photo Lexdenn

Differences Between the Sexes
Blue is a masculine color, traditionally used for boys. According to studies, blue is highly accepted among males. However, there are no hard-set rules about what colors are masculine, feminine or gender-neutral.

Blue is a favorite color for both men and women, but males have a much stronger preference for blue than women. It may be the calming effect that makes it a popular color for both sexes, or it could be the association of some shades of blue with authority figures, intelligence, and stability.

In a 1964 Color and Gender report, women favored blue-green — turquoise, a mix of the 2 cool colors of blue and green — more than men. This same study found that “76% of women preferred cool colors.”

Male top 3 favorite colors: Blue, Green, and Black (2 cool and one neutral color)
Female top 3 favorite colors: Blue, Green, and Purple (all cool colors)

Studies have found that that blue was favored overwhelmingly by men and women on the Web.

Color research done over the years indicates that the favorite colors of men and women do differ, some of which may be attributed to cultural use of color and conditioning.

Color research done over the years indicates that the favorite colors of men and women do differ, some of which may be attributed to cultural use of color and conditioning.

Since colors come in many tints and shades, one might love a rich, royal blue but strongly dislike a pale sky blue, so a preference for the color blue doesn’t mean that every shade of blue is universally appealing.

Blue Daisy. Photo Luza

Blue Iris. Photo Noel Zia lee

Blue Lotus flower. Photo Tanakawho

Photo Josef Stuefer

Blue rose. Photo Tanakawho

Sunflower blues. Photo Longhorndave

Blue water lilies. Photo Krikit

Feng Shui
In feng shui, we associate blue with the clear sky and healing, refreshing waters. Blue belongs to the feng shui Water element of North. A harmonious feng shui Water element will bring a refreshing energy of calm, ease, purity and freshness. Water is also the ancient symbol of abundance, hence a potent Feng Shui cure.

The color ranges from gentle aqua blue to the blue-green of the ocean, and the deep indigo blue of the crown chakra.

Gentle blue is a great feng shui choice for study, especially as a ceiling color. Several studies have shown that children performed better under blue colored ceilings than white.

Light blue is also the feng shui color of harmonious expansion and gentle growth, while darker blue evokes the feng shui energy of deep calm and serenity. Placing some deep blue elements into your bedroom is said to promote better sleep.

Deep blue should be used sparingly in the feng shui areas of South, Northwest and West areas of your space, and freely in the North, East (Health & Family) and Southeast (Wealth & Abundance).

Allegedly, one of the most calming feng shui color combinations is blue and white, as it brings the energy of unlimited sky and happiness.

Blue spiral staircase. Photo Extranoise

Blue wall of Jubilee Hills Checkpost. Photo Sukanto Debnath

Photo FR Antunes

Walking into the blue. Photo Helmet13

Photo Tanakawho

Blue umbrellas along the Alexandria, Virginia, US. Photo Andertho

Valencia in blue. Photo Ka13

Blue Street in Xaouen, Morocco. Photo Bachmont

Blue street in Bundi, Rajasthan. Photo Orange Tuesday

Blue animal figurines on the roof of a temple in Beijing. Photo Cheesy42

Blue tanks. Photo Escariao

Window to another world. Photo Angela7dreams

Photo 00dann

Construction equipment. Photo on1site

Science
Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a blue aura is one who is oriented toward spirituality. People with blue auras are said to be interested in social service work and to be in occupations such as social worker, counselor, teacher, writer, and psychologist.

Planet Earth. Photo Woodley Wonderworks

In the metaphysics of the “New Age Prophetess,” Alice Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into 7 different metaphysical psychological types, the “first ray” of “will-power” is represented by the color blue. People who have this metaphysical psychological type are said to be “on the Blue Ray.”

Cloak and Dagger Cuckoo Bee on Bog Sage. Photo Aussiegall

Common or Blue Hauhechel (Polyommatus Icarus) butterfly. Photo Hape Gera

Blue dragonfly. Photo Krikit

Photo Linh Ngan

Blue in Culture
In fashion, dark clothing for males such as dark blue business suits have become far more popular since about 1995, as opposed to the pastel colored business suits worn in the 1970′s by major leaders in institutions such as the US Congress.

Dark blue represents knowledge, power, integrity, and seriousness. In Western civilization, those in the upper classes in high places of political or economic power often wear dark blue suits.

In law enforcement, police normally wear dark blue, or sometimes medium blue uniforms.

In the bandana code of the gay leather subculture, wearing a medium blue bandana means the person is into the fetish of having sex with someone wearing a police uniform.

In the U.S. flag, white stands for purity and innocence. Red represents valor and hardiness, while blue signifies justice, perseverance, and vigilance. The stars represent the heavens and all the good that people strive for, while the stripes emulate the sun’s rays.

In Thailand, blue is associated with Friday on the Thai solar calendar. Anyone may wear blue on Fridays and anyone born on a Friday may adopt blue as their color.

Blue ice. Photo CTD 2005

Ice arch near the Upsala glacier, El Calafate, Argentina. Photo Angela7dreams

Ice breakage near Upsala glacier, El Calafate, Argentina. Photo Angela7dreams

Ice boulders on the shore of Lake Superior, Duluth, Manitoba. Photo Clairity

Language of Blue
In the English language, blue implies speed in “a blue streak” and loyalty in being “true blue.” Actual automobile values are found in a “blue book,” and a blue ribbon represents the award of excellence.

Blue may refer to the feeling of sadness, as in “he was feeling blue.” This is because blue was related to rain, or storms, and in Greek mythology, the god Zeus would make rain when he was sad (crying), and a storm when he was angry.

The phrase “feeling blue” is also linked to a custom among many old deepwater sailing ships — if the ship lost the captain or any of the officers during its voyage, she would fly blue flags and have a blue band painted along her entire hull when returning to home port.

The modern English word blue comes from the Middle English, bleu or blwe, which came from an Old French word bleu of Germanic origin — Frankish or possibly Old High German blao, “shining.”

Blue Dancer. Photo Hoyasmeg

Blue fractals. Photo Fabio Pinheiro

One man’s trash … Photo Iboy Daniel

Blue electronic waterfall. Photo Curly Exposure

Blue feather. Photo Tanakawho

Source: Wikipedia

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Natures Amazing Colors – What Red Means

Tags:blue color colors colour features nature psychology science

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