Everything in this world has a color, and everyone in this world can see the same colors but in different meaning, it is all depends on cultures. Each culture has color associations, but there are some colors that have the same meaning in every culture. In my country, Saudi Arabia, pink color is a feminine and hopeful color, green is a life and natural color, and black has different meaning from death, formal, and happiness.
The first one is “pink color”, Pink is the color of love, sweetness, roses, and females. In some cultures such as the US, Arab countries and Saudi Arabia, pink is a feminine color. It is usually used by little and teen girls. In other cultures like Japan pink is not necessarily for females, but it could be used by anyone. However, in Saudi Arabia even in the advertisements they only use this color if the market for this product is girls. It is not common in Saudi Arabia for men to wear or use pink things, pink for men goes in and out of style, because pink is only for girls. In addition, a pink ribbon has been the symbol for Breast Cancer Awareness since the early nineties; pink is representing hope, happiness, romance and everything nice. Moreover; the Pink Panther is a famous cartoon character, and he has a big popularity over the years; Pink Panther is an example of how distinctive color can make a difference. In my culture it is very rude to wear pink on sad occasions. Furthermore, the older women do not prefer to wear pink; they think pink is just for little girls. For example, my mother wore pink in my wedding ceremony, but she did not feel comfortable with it because she believes pink is just for girls; however, she looked awesome in it. In the end there are synonyms for pink such as, blush, fuchsia, and rose.
The second “green color”, almost in every culture green provides a feeling of life, nature, growth, renewal, environment, and health; furthermore, green in traffic lights means you are allowed to go or you have permission to start driving. In my country green is the central color, the flag of Saudi Arabia is green and also the logo is green. Green also has close associations with Islam because green shows peace. In Saudi Arabia most hospital paint walls green because it makes the patients feel better and makes them relax. Moreover, around the entire world, every city tries to implant green grass on the empty places or around the houses, to make it look gorgeous and more acceptable. For example, when I flew back from Saudi Arabia to the USA, when I saw the green land, I felt more comfortable rather than feeling the fear of flight. So when we compare this color between different cultures, we find out that it is the color of life.
The third “black color”, black is the color’s king, because it could be worn in two different ways. First, in sad style, today almost all countries associate black color with death and mourning. People wear black on sad occasions, because black is supporting the meaning of sadness, unhappiness, seriousness, death and darkness; it usually has a negative feeling. For example, black is not colorful; this is why the people in my country wear black if someone passed away. Second black can be reformed as a formal dress color. People wear black in formal parties for class, and elegance; it also makes a body in a good shape. Furthermore, black could mean making money; in the US Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving Day, the biggest day of shopping in the United States. When everyone is shopping it means you make a lot of money; therefore Americans call it “Black Friday”, and this is one more example where black can stand for happiness.
In conclusion, color association is different in each culture, and every color has different meanings. The pink color in Saudi Arabia is just for little girls, green color is central color for Saudi Arabia because the flag is green and the green is peace, and black color has different associations in Saudi Arabia. The people see the color’s meaning as what they feel or what they learn in their culture.
