Colours in Ethiopia and Japan
Pick two countries and read what each colour means in one beside the other.
| 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | The red band of the flag is read as the blood shed in defending the country. Ethiopia was never colonised, and its green, yellow and red were taken up by many new African states. Politics and protest | The torii gates of Shinto shrines are often painted vermilion, a bright orange-red. The colour is held to keep evil away, and the long tunnels of gates at Fushimi Inari are the best known. Sacred and holy, Protection and healing |
| Yellow | Yellow daisies called adey abeba cover the highlands at the end of the rains in September. Children give bunches of them at Enkutatash, the New Year. Festival and celebration, Nature and renewalThe yellow band of the flag stands for peace and hope. The three colours have flown together since the 1890s, in the reign of Menelik II. Politics and protest | Nothing recorded yet |
| Green | The green band at the top of the flag stands for the land and its fertility. Green, yellow and red are also the colours of sashes and umbrellas at Orthodox church festivals. Nature and renewal, Politics and protest | Nothing recorded yet |
| Blue | The blue disc at the centre of the flag, added in 1996, stands for peace. The star on it is for the unity and equality of the country's peoples. Politics and protest | Indigo dyeing, called aizome, clothed ordinary people in deep blue through the Edo period. The men's national football team plays in blue and is nicknamed Samurai Blue. Festival and celebration |
| Purple and violet | Nothing recorded yet | Purple dye from the murasaki plant was costly and hard to make. In the court rank system set up under Prince Shotoku, the highest officials wore purple caps. Royalty and power |
| Pink and magenta | Nothing recorded yet | Pale pink is the colour of cherry blossom. In spring people picnic under the trees for hanami, flower viewing, and the short bloom is a common image for how brief life is. Nature and renewal, Festival and celebration |
| White | Orthodox Christians go to church wrapped in the netela, a thin white cotton shawl. At Timkat, the feast of Epiphany, crowds in white follow the priests to the water. Sacred and holy, Purity and peace | A bride at a Shinto wedding may wear the shiromuku, a kimono that is white from head to foot. White is also the colour of the paper streamers that mark sacred places. Weddings and marriage, Purity and peaceRed and white together, called kohaku, mark happy occasions. Curtains at ceremonies are striped red and white, and the New Year's Eve song contest sets a Red team against a White team. Festival and celebration |
| Black | Nothing recorded yet | Mourners wear plain black, called mofuku, to funerals, and men add a black tie. Condolence money goes in an envelope tied with black and white cord. Mourning and death |
Customs vary by region, faith, generation and family. Each note links to its source on the country's own page.