The colour orange

hibou_creations_the-colour-orange

To me, orange is my happy colour. It’s sweet (maybe I’m thinking of the actual orange fruit?) and fills me with calm. Sometimes it brings the feeling I have at the “magic hour” right when the sun is above the horizon. Whether in the morning or in the afternoon. I tend to wear more orange than red. As I read about this colour, it revealed a few things to me I didn’t know, for example the association with happiness and positive thinking.

Facts

Orange is a secondary colour (formed by mixing two primary colors, in this case red and yellow). It is actually situated between yellow and red. There are at least 6 different shades of orange. The colour orange is the only one in the colour spectrum named after an object, the appearance of the ripe orange fruit. Before this word was introduced to the English-speaking world, the colour orange was referred to as Geoluhread meaning ‘yellow-red’. The word orange derives from the Sanskrit naranga and the Persian narang. I find this fascinating and in fact, the Spanish word for orange is “naranja”.

Chakras

In the world of chakras, orange is the colour associated with the sacral chakra. The sacral chakra is the second of the seven main chakras and is located in the bowl of the pelvis, about three inches below the navel. It is our center of creative partnerships, sensuality and sexuality. The sacral chakra allows us to perceive and interpret our world through sensation and the feelings that sensation unearths within us. Interestingly, this chakra is also called the Muladhara chakra, which translates to “base”, “foundation” or “root support”.

Meaning, symbolism & cultures

Orange is energetic and creative. It urges you to get out into the world and create something amazing. Orange is the colour of youth, health, vitality and physical activity and is also associated with positive thinking. It’s a colour that offers emotional strength in difficult times. In Buddhism it’s associated with humility, renunciation, desirelessness. In China & Japan it’s associated with love, happiness, plenitude. In western cultures it’s the predominant colour of Halloween.

Wearing orange

Adding orange to your wardrobe can bring about a return of optimism and joyfulness as well as putting you back into the flow of life again, if you’re feeling sad or “stuck”. Wearing orange is fun and can make you feel quite playful. Because of this it’s recommended to avoid this colour if you want to be taken seriously.