Blue color in psychology: discover its meaning

If you could describe your life in colors, which ones would you use to draw it? Each color has a special and unique significance in our environment, from giving it that vital energy that excites us, to that peaceful tranquility that invites us to relax.

All the colorations are related to the different emotions that we can feel, so our brain associates a tonality with a specific mood, both in its expression in the environment, and in our representation subjective.

Now, if you could find a color that transmits calm to you, what would it be? Surely, you have chosen blue, because it reminds us of the peacefulness of the sea and the sky. Although this meaning goes unnoticed, since we are not aware of it, the impact it produces in our emotional sphere is still present and it is what causes us all those sensations.

• It may interest you: "Color theory: what colors make up the color wheel?"

But... Why the meaning of tranquility of the color blue? Where does it come from? If you want to find out, then do not miss the following article where we will talk about the color blue in psychology and its meaning.

The psychology of color and its influence on our psyche

The psychology of color is that discipline of psychology that studies the influence of color on human emotions. But where does this study come from? The answer is, from the visual perception that we have of the colors that are around us and the symbolic interpretation that our mind assigns to it. So, the use of colors on a day-to-day basis is conditioned by one's own state of mind.

So that there are colors that make us happy, irritate, make us sad, angry or can relax us. This is why art techniques can be used in psychological interventions, because sometimes people are not able to describe their emotions or their problematic situations, but they can give color to their conditions, as well as use them to do catharsis and to express emotions in the everyday life.

Blue color in psychology: discover its meaning

Let's remember the question at the beginning of this article, if you thought of a color that transmits calm, would it be blue? this color is one of those that most transmit tranquility and relaxation. Just like we mentioned before, because it reminds us of the peacefulness of the sky or the clear and undisturbed ocean. But it is also associated with intellectuality and intelligence, because its tonality is in the range of cold gradients, so it is easily related to logic.

However, did you know that the color blue has 110 different shades? And even more shocking, that these tones have different meanings according to psychology. Among the emotions that the color blue awakens in us are serenity and confidence, and is also associated with a taste for technology. Which we will see in more depth below.

1. The visual impact of blue

All humans possess within our eye cavities, photosensitive cells that are are responsible for perceiving the light waves refracted in objects or as we commonly know, the colors. So that later the brain gives its own interpretation. However, we only have 3 cones, one for each primary color (yellow, blue, and Red).

So it is one of the few colors to which we are more sensitive and we can perceive how it is reflected in nature. Although we must clarify that natural blue objects are not this color as such, but it is what we interpret in our brain. As is the case with the sea, which is actually colorless, but the reflection of the light makes it appear a beautiful bright blue of different shades.

2. Blue in different cultures

Just as it has many different hues, they also have different meanings in world cultures. Many cultures converge on a very similar concept in reference to blue, which is the spirituality, serenity and harmony, as it has a direct association with both heaven and with the sea.

For example, for ancient Chinese culture, shades of lighter blue are associated with healing, harmony and good fortune for a peaceful and prosperous life, as it is linked to the Wood element. While in the Muslim and Christian religion it is taken as a protective mantle from heaven. In the same way, the Egyptian and Hindu cultures took it as a sacred color that only the gods used.

However, not everything is so pure and serene. Well, in the same Chinese tradition, the strongest and most striking blue color is usually linked to perversions and evil. As in the Korean religion, where blue is the color of mourning.

4. The disappearance of blue in ancient times

We can have the idea that this color has been present since the beginning of our history, after all it is the characteristic color of the sky and the sea. But you will surely be surprised to learn that blue did not really exist in ancient times. Since the Greeks, the Romans and the ancient Asian civilization, this color went completely unnoticed.

Couldn't people see the color blue? According to historian and color expert Michel Pastoureau, this was not the case, they simply did not associate that color with anything. Since in Greek times, the most representative and used colors were white, black and red, only occasionally did they also use green and brown tones. The same happened in ancient Rome, where white, red and gold predominated. Just as in eastern cultures.

Only the ancient Egyptians had a slight knowledge of blue and its use can be appreciated in their hieroglyphs and some paintings on sarcophagi or statues. Also the barbarian, Celtic and Germanic cultures, so the use of this color was almost prohibited in ancient Rome, since they consider them as low class. Such was their repulsion to this color that they considered people with blue eyes to be an abomination.

It was not until approximately the twelfth and fourteenth centuries that according to Pastoureau, blue began to gain relevance, thanks to Christian influence and the new social order.

5. Blue as the color of tranquility

So how does blue manage to be considered as a color of tranquility? This is because it is associated with cold weather and therefore with the serenity, passivity and calm that this climate brings. Where we are usually more appeased and sheltered from the cold.

In the same way, in the world of marketing, taking into account its synonym of tranquility, they have used this color to express the confidence, quality and freshness of the products, the same feeling that the sea gives us.

6. Technology and communication

With the arrival of technological evolution, blue has been used almost as a flag of distinction, since it alludes to intelligence and wisdom, as well as to the novel and avant-garde. Everything that can be related to logic and creativity at mathematical levels.

In the same way it is used to represent communication, as a fun connection of the sea and the sky, which can connect people all over the world. That is why we can see it in communication applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Skype or Telegram.

7. Intellectuality of the color blue

Another part where we can find blue represented is in diplomatic and intellectual affairs. So it is common to find it in the logos of the UN, UNICEF or even on the flag of the European Union. This is due to the nature of knowledge that comes from the human mind and our ability to turn teachings into wisdoms to benefit others.

8. The illusion behind the blue

The meaning of the illusion, impression and fantasy that blue represents for some people (especially for artistic or fashion creations) comes from the idea of ​​the crystalline sea, which creates a mirage effect, just like the sky that transforms from a pure light blue to a dark one and rich. For this reason, it is also given the interpretation of immensity and eternity.

It is also a color that fuels creativity and achieving what is impossible. So we can take it as inspiration to create fantasy, fictional or futuristic works and paintings.

Another characteristic of blue is attributed to royalty, where those people belonging to the nobility were cataloged as ‘blue blood’ since his skin was so white that blue veins could be seen through his skin.

9. The dark side of blue

However, not all the meanings of blue are of prosperity and calm, but it also possesses darker meanings in some eastern and even western cultures, especially in Europe. For example, characteristics of sadness and restlessness are attributed to it, because it is a cold color. Another factor attributed to him is that of perversions, prostitution, bad language, black humor and emotional distancing.

Blue is a clear representation that we all have both positive and negative characteristics. The important thing is that we can live with these and maintain a healthy balance.