Colours in Morocco and Japan
Pick two countries and read what each colour means in one beside the other.
| 🇲🇦 Morocco | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | The flag is red with a green five-pointed star. Red has been the colour of the ruling Alaouite dynasty since the seventeenth century. Politics and protestMarrakesh is called the Red City. Its walls and buildings are made of, or painted to match, the reddish clay of the plain around it. Nature and renewal | 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 |
| Green | Green is the colour of Islam. The roofs of mosques and of the shrines of saints, such as the Moulay Idriss shrine in Fes, are covered in green glazed tiles. Sacred and holy | Nothing recorded yet |
| Blue | The old town of Chefchaouen in the Rif mountains is washed in shades of blue. The reasons given vary: a Jewish custom, keeping houses cool, or keeping mosquitoes away. Protection and healingFes is known for pottery painted in cobalt blue on white, called Fassi blue. In Marrakesh a strong ultramarine is named Majorelle blue after the garden where it was used. Nature and renewal | 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 | A widow traditionally wears white through the mourning period set by Islamic law, four months and ten days. Black is not the usual colour of grief here. Mourning and death | 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.