Colours in Poland and Japan
Pick two countries and read what each colour means in one beside the other.
| 🇵🇱 Poland | 🇯🇵 Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Red | The flag is white over red. The colours come from the national arms, a white eagle on a red shield, and were made official in 1831. Politics and protestCrimson was the colour of the Polish nobility. Only nobles could wear it, and karmazyn, crimson man, came to mean a noble of old family. Royalty and powerThe logo of Solidarity, the free trade union founded in the Gdansk shipyard in 1980, is its name in red letters that look like a crowd carrying a flag. 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 |
| Orange | Amber washed up on the Baltic shore is called the gold of the north. Gdansk has been a centre for working it since the Middle Ages. Nature and renewal | Nothing recorded yet |
| Blue | Nothing recorded yet | 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 | The white of the flag stands for the white eagle of the arms. The national football team is known as the Bialo-Czerwoni, the White and Reds. Politics and protest | 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 | After Russian troops fired on crowds in Warsaw in 1861, women across Poland put on black dresses and black jewellery as a sign of national mourning. It lasted for years. Mourning and death, Politics and protestThe Black Madonna of Czestochowa is an icon of Mary and the child Jesus with darkened faces. It is the most revered image in the country, and pilgrims walk for days to see it. Sacred and holy | 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.