Political colour


Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially. Parties in different countries with similar ideologies sometimes use similar colours. For example, the colour red symbolises left-wing ideologies in many countries, while the colour orange symbolizes Christian democratic political ideology, and the colour yellow is most commonly associated with liberalism and right-libertarianism.
The political associations of a given colour vary from country to country, and there are exceptions to the general trends. For example, red has been previously associated to monarchy or the Church, and today it is also the colour associated with the conservative Republican Party in the United States.
Politicians making public appearances will often identify themselves by wearing rosettes, flowers or ties in the colour of their political party.

Black

is primarily associated with anarchism, fascism and jihadism. Black is also a color frequently associated with the Pirate Parties.
is usually associated with centre-right or conservative parties, originating from its use by the Tories in the United Kingdom.
has been associated with Nazism because of the Sturmabteilung, whose members were called "brownshirts". They were modeled on Benito Mussolini's blackshirts, and the colour was chosen because many brown uniforms intended for the colonial troops in Germany's African colonies were cheaply available after the end of World War I. In Europe and elsewhere, the colour brown is sometimes used to refer to fascists in general.
is the colour for both environmentalist and Islamic political parties and movements.
is a colour that tends to replace yellow for liberal and centrist parties and organisations in Europe. It is not to be confused with the socialist or social democratic use of the colour pink.

Orange

is the traditional colour of the Christian democratic political ideology and most Christian democratic political parties, which are based on Catholic social teaching and/or neo-Calvinist theology. Christian democratic political parties came to prominence in Europe and the Americas after World War II.
is sometimes used by social democratic parties, such as in France and Portugal. The more traditional colour of social democracy is red, but some countries have large social democratic parties alongside large socialist or communist parties, so that it would be confusing for them all to use red. In such cases, social democrats are usually the ones who give up red in favor of a different colour. Pink is often chosen because it is seen as a softer, less aggressive version of red, in the same way that social democracy is more centrist and less militant than socialism. This is also the origin of the colloquial term "pinko".
Although purple has some older associations with monarchism, it is the most prominent colour that is not traditionally connected to any major contemporary ideology. As such, it is sometimes used to represent a mix of different ideologies, or new protest movements that are critical of all previously-existing parties.
is traditionally associated with socialism and communism. The oldest symbol of socialism is the Red Flag, which dates back to the French Revolution in the 18th century and the revolutions of 1848. Before this nascence, the colour red was generally associated with monarchy or the Church due to the symbolism and association of Christ's blood. The colour red was chosen to represent the blood of the workers who died in the struggle against capitalism. All major socialist and communist alliances and organisations—including the First, Second, Third and Fourth Internationals—used red as their official colour. The association between the colour red and communism is particularly strong. Communists use red much more often and more extensively than other ideologies use their respective traditional colours.
has, in recent years, been associated with Euroscepticism as a result of several European parties that have proposed their respective nation's exit from the European Union.

White

is today mainly linked to pacifism and in politics of the United Kingdom to independent politicians such as Martin Bell.
used to be the colour most commonly associated with liberalism and right-libertarianism.
It is the customary colour of a few liberal and right-libertarian parties in Romania, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Notable national political colour schemes include: