The passion of red

The colour red stimulates us, exciting our senses and increasing our heartbeat. If you get really agitated they say you are “seeing red.”

As red produces a high level of activity and emotion it is often used to decorate areas of a house where there is a lot of movement. Is that why Trinidad and Tobago houses may have their outside staircases painted red? Red is the colour of fire and heat physically, and of passion and love emotionally.

Remember St Valentine’s Day? Taken further it signifies anger and aggression. Perhaps it not only reflects these traits but can be used to induce these emotions in people.

For example it is said that the car most likely to be stolen by car thieves, according to an American study, is red. As red evokes exuberance, speed and action, it is a common colour for sports cars.

The TT fans throughout the World Cup formed a huge “red army,” they followed in the historical footsteps of warriors through the ages who have worn red.

The Ancient Romans wore red cloaks to disguise the bleeding from any wounds they might have got in battle.

The British Army were for years known as the “redcoats” for their red attire worn as they ruled an empire of a quarter of the Earth’s surface.

The communist revolutionaries who eventually won civil wars in both Russia and China in the early 20th century flew the “red flag” as their symbol of the blood of the workers. Even today red is the colour of trade union protestors.

In astrology red is associated with Mars, the Roman god of war, after whom the “red planet” was named. As shown by its political connotations of left-wing radicalism, red is the colour of boldness.

It’s perhaps the hardest colour to miss or pass unnoticed, which is probably why it is used for emergency vehicles like fire-engines or as the stop sign on a traffic light or as the symbol for the rescue group, the Red Cross/Red Crescent.

Also a standout is the “red card” shown by referees to send-off footballers such as TT’s Avery John.

Red is truly a powerful colour. With a sea of red created recently in support of the Warriors, one should heed the warning of one Newsday employee who found that sometimes seeing so many red jerseys for each TT football matches kept her on edge all day and ended up physically draining her energy.

Perhaps it will be a relief to our senses for the time, that we may see the red jerseys and flags in TT now being stored away until 2010 — for the next World Cup in South Africa.