Colour in Politics

Politics generally is divided into two denominations - left wing and right wing. 

In the US, the left wing (Democrats etc) is generally given the colour blue, which is used to brand the parties and included in campaigns. The right wing (Republican etc) is red.

However in the UK, and most other countries the opposite is true. The Conservative party leans to the right and uses blue as their colour. Taking their colour inspiration from the Union Jack (red white and blue) they initially used Red, but after Labour adopted a similar shade, the Conservatives dropped the red and white and instead chose to represent themselves using blue. Blue logos invoke a sense of confidence, reliability and success.

The colour red is associated with left wing politics since the French revolution where British soldiers mutinied near the Thames and hoisted a red flag on some ships. The red mean to symbolize the martyrs blood of those who had been killed. The Labour party used a red flag as their emblem until 1986 when it was replaced with a rose. Red is also the colour for socialism - a belief that the Labour party was founded on.

Colour theory

Blue is a very cool colour, used to reflect relaxation and stability. On the other hand, red is the most emotionally intense colour. It can be used to show passion, love, fear and strength to name a few. It also raises blood pressure and and has very high visibility. The high visibility plus emotion invoking capabilities of the colour alongside its alignment with left wing politics makes it the perfect colour to use in my political print.