The Flames of Orange

Welcome the orange. The colour of fire. Fire the purifier! Wherein only the good remains and the evil gets destroyed. Here’s what I wrote in an earlier post:

While orange is everything bright and beautiful that India and Indians stand for what’s really worth talking about is the symbolism of orange. Most people know that orange has immense religious significance because most of the monks wear orange but most also don’t know why they wear orange.

Orange or Saffron, actually represents the colour of Agni or fire. And fire is sacred because it burns away all the impurities, dispels darkness and gets rid of ignorance. There couldn’t be a better representation of purity than with the colour orange. Orange flags, sometimes triangular, sometime forked, atop the perch of Hindu temples, are representative of this. The flames of orange.

In all its representations, the colour orange comes out as the shining symbol of the search for light, the light itself, the quest for knowledge and wisdom.

Besides it’s the colour of the setting sun, ripe tangerines, autumn leaves, the evening sky, and of the ubiquitous flower of worship in India – the thickset marigold. Get all of this in one colour – orange.

That’s what the Orange stands for. Brands have taken this to quite another level.

Orange combines the energy of Red with the caution of yellow, bringing about it’s own level of activity. In the corporate context Orange is used quite aptly for sports brands signifying energetic activity. Yet Orange comes with its contradictions – you get lovers and get haters. The caution to be applied here is to use it sparingly on larger canvases.

Where does Orange work best? When it stands for freshness, youth, activity, energy. Here are logos that bring that out. But better still (especially if you have greater interest in the psychology of colour in design) is the link I have taken it from. Do check it out while sipping on your O J in the morning!

Click on Orange for the awesome link for this: Orange

And there’s more:

A must see: a brilliant infographic that says it all.

(Refurbished and repurposed from an earlier post: The Flames of Orange

Do let me know what worked for you! And after the glory of orange, get ready for pristine White tomorrow!

Missed earlier posts in this series? Here they are

Heralding the Divine Nine

Heralding the Yellow

Bring in the Green

A Little Bit of Grey