The power of color red

1. Red is color of sun, warmth, life. It calls for action and it has provable effect on metabolism: it increases blood pressure and speed up the pulse. Red has longest wavelength in spectra which can be seen with human eye. If wavelength is even longer, it can be sensed as a heat. In this case it is called infra red.

2. Color red is color of passion, seduction and lust. Ever heard about red light districts?

Redheads were considered very special through all known human history. Women with red heads are considered as more passionate, have more intimate partners and are in general more popular among men. Many ladies who colored their hair red reported after that simple act their life really changed and became more similar to this stereotype!

There was even a research in Germany made in 2006 which proved redheads have more sex than brunettes or blondes, but this stands only for ladies. Men with red hair were never popular...

One possible explanation is rarity of the gene for red hair. Only one percent of world population carry this gene. Men with this gene can look to risky to be considered as possible partners to women, but women with this gene can look like a trophy to men!

4. Red is extremely noticeable and thus very popular for logotypes. It is not a coincidence to find it as dominating color in so competitive and powerful brands as Coca Cola or Marlboro.

Now think about their main competitors! A lot of red, right?

Color red doesn't only make you excited. It triggers hunger as well and it is very hard to find a food oriented brand (to be honest Coca Cola and Marlboro are power players in this industry too) without red in its logotype. Red is widely used as food additive and it is almost a must in restaurants.

And talking about competition, we should not forget sport teams. You can find a lot of red here too!

5. Want to make a statement? Red is the most popular color on flags. 148 of 192 independent countries have red in their flag (white only 140). If we mix all flags together, red will again occupy the broadest area: more than 30 percent (blue being second in this category with only 21 percent).

Source of this statistics: http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/xf-csts.html

6. When we see color red, we know we have to be prepared for action. This is color or war and all sorts of danger. On traffic signs red is used for stop or prohibition.

There is very simple reason why is red used on semaphores: because of its wavelength red light is seen from longest distance and this can be very important if weather conditions (e.g. fog) are not ideal.

7. Color red is used to emphasize something. If we want to send important message, we can surround the most crucial points with red color to draw special attention of the reader to them.

Making closing balance of certain business is also very important task. Operating loss is usually colored red. For the situation when expenses exceed the income is usually said to be in red numbers.

This is not the only example of symbolic meaning of red color. Red shoes, less known fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen, is also telling about (ir)responsibility and price which has to be payed to earn a position in society.

And not forget about the poisoned apple for another immature girl: Snow White. The fatal half was not red by coincidence.

Red color of fruit tells us (well, it really screams): I am ripe, I am ready to spread my genes, eat me!

This is the reason for red color of cardinals' hats in Catholic Church: they are the most mature men in the organization, so they and nobody else can elect a new Pope!

10. Red is associated with anger, hatred, revenge and aggression. It is color of revolution and changes. Changes are not always for better but we all live in the world where we can't escape them.

This is only one of many reasons red is and will be the most complex and controversial color of all!