Colours in Russia and Japan

The old Russian word krasny meant both red and beautiful. Red Square was named for its beauty, and the best corner of a peasant house was the red corner, where icons hung.

Red was the colour of the 1917 revolution and of the Soviet flag with its hammer and sickle. In the civil war that followed, the Reds fought the Whites.

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.

The ribbon of Saint George has black and orange stripes. It comes from a Tsarist military order and is worn each 9 May, Victory Day.

Russian has two basic words for blue: siniy for dark blue and goluboy for light blue. Speakers treat them as two colours, as English speakers treat red and pink.

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.

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.

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.

The flag is white, blue and red. It dates from the time of Peter the Great, was restored in 1991, and no meaning for the colours is fixed in law.

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.

Red 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.

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.

The onion domes of Orthodox churches are often gilded. Gold stands for the glory of heaven, and by tradition blue domes with stars mark churches of the Mother of God.