Colours in Thailand and Japan

In the street protests of the late 2000s, supporters of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra wore red shirts, and their royalist opponents wore yellow.

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.

Theravada Buddhist monks wear robes in shades from saffron orange to ochre. Many Thai men ordain for a short time, so the robe is a familiar sight in most families.

Each day of the week has a colour, and Monday's is yellow. King Bhumibol and King Vajiralongkorn were both born on a Monday, so yellow is worn to honour the monarchy.

Light blue is the colour of Friday and of Queen Sirikit, the Queen Mother, who was born on a Friday. Her birthday, 12 August, has long been kept as Mother's Day, when people wear it.

The flag is called the Trairong, the tricolour. Its red stands for the nation, white for religion and the wide blue band in the middle for the monarchy.

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 is traditionally the colour a widow wears in mourning, so some people avoid it at happy events. It is also Saturday's colour in the weekday scheme.

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.

Pink is Tuesday's colour. When King Bhumibol left hospital in 2007 in a pink blazer, pink shirts sold out as people wore them to wish him good health.

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.

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.

Black is worn at funerals. After King Bhumibol died in 2016 much of the country dressed in black or white for a year of mourning.

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.