Политическая символика цветов: история и значение

Colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party

Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially. They represent the intersection of colour symbolism and political symbolism. Politicians making public appearances will often identify themselves by wearing rosettes, flowers, ties or ribbons in the colour of their political party. Parties in different countries with similar ideologies sometimes use similar colours. As an example the colour red symbolises left wing ideologies in many countries (leading to such terms as "Red Army" and "Red Scare"), while the colour blue is often used for conservatism, the colour yellow is most commonly associated with liberalism and right libertarianism, and Green politics is named after the ideology's political colour. The political associations of a given colour vary from country to country, and there are exceptions to the general trends,

Black is primarily associated with anarchism (see anarchist symbolism); black is a lack of colour, and anarchism is a lack of a state. It is used in contrast of national flags, to instead represent universal anarchism. During the Spanish Civil War the CNT used a diagonally half strip of black and red, with black representing anarchism and red representing the labour movement and the worker movement. The flag was quickly adopted by other anarchists, with the second colour used to distinguish specific anarchist philosophies: anarcho pacifism with white, green anarchism with green, anarcho syndicalism and anarcho communism with red, mutualism with orange, and anarcho capitalism with yellow, while black alone typically represents 'anarchism without adjectives'. During the golden age of piracy, the black flags of pirates such as Blackbeard and Calico Jack became popular symbols of piracy. The flags represented death and no quarter to those who did not surrender. The black flag of the jolly roger, used by Calico Jack, turned into a popular and recognizable symbol of pirates, particularly of pirates of the Americas. The skull and bones also became a hazardous symbol to display poisons such as cyanide, Zyklon B and other toxic substances. The black flag of piracy would later influence the symbols of anarchism, such as the symbols of the Makhnovshchina and the Kronstadt rebellion. The rise of internet piracy led to the symbols of the golden age of piracy becoming widely adopted, becoming the symbols of pirate sites such as the Pirate bay. Black becoming a colour to represent pirate parties. Black was also used by some anti racist and Black nationalist parties, such as the Black Panther Party in the United States and the Popular Unity in Brazil. Anti clerical parties in the late 19th and early 20th centuries sometimes used the colour black in reference to the officials of the Roman Catholic Church because the cassock is usually black. In Germany and Austria, black is the colour historically associated with Christian democratic parties, such as the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) and the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP); however, this is only customary, as the official colours of the CDU are usually either one of or a mix of different shades of yellow, orange or blue, depending on the regional branch of the party, with the nationwide party also using the red, black and gold from the German flag as official colours. The CSU uses a medium dark shade of blue as their official colour, as seen in their logo. In 2017, the ÖVP changed their official colour from black to turquoise, with some regional branches switching to turquoise as well, while others continue to use black, often in a mix with another colour, such as red, yellow, green or blue. In Italy, black is the colour of fascism because it was the official colour of the National Fascist Party. As a result, modern Italian parties would not use black as their political colour; however, it has been customary to use black to identify the neo fascist Italian Social Movement. In the Islamic world, black flags (often with a white shahadah) are sometimes used by jihadist groups. Black was the colour of the Abbasid caliphate. It is also commonly used by Shia Muslims, as it is also associated with mourning the death of Husayn ibn Ali. It is now known as the flag colour of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. In Malaysia, the People's Solidarity Secretariat (SSR), an umbrella youth organization launched the Black Flag Movement (#BenderaHitam) in 2021 as a resistance based protest against the then ruling Perikatan Nasional government. The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) also adapted the colour black as their official colour. In Russia, black was used for monarchism and nationalist movements, such as the Black Hundreds before their defeat. In India, black represents protest. In Tamil Nadu, black represents atheistic human rights rebels who follow Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. In Brazil, the far left, socialist and anti racist party Popular Unity has black as its official colour.

Brown has been associated with Nazism, and in particular the Nazi Party in Germany, because of the Sturmabteilung (SA), whose members were called "brownshirts". They were modeled on Benito Mussolini's blackshirts, and the colour of their shirts 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. Brown is sometimes used to describe the opposite of green parties, that is to describe parties that care little about pollution.

Buff was the colour of the Whig faction in British politics from the early 18th century until the middle of the 19th century. As such, it is sometimes used to represent the current political left (in opposition to blue, which represented the Tories and then the Conservatives and political right).

Grey is sometimes used by parties that represent the interests of pensioners and senior citizens, such as "The Greys" in Germany. Grey can also be used to refer to reactionary independence or secessionist movements, due to its association with the Confederate States of America. Grey is often used to represent independent politicians, however in the UK, white is used to represent independent politicians.

Magenta is a colour that started being used in the 21st century to replace yellow for some 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. In Germany although the official colour of the left wing party Die Linke is red, mass media uses magenta as the party colour to prevent confusion with the centre left Social Democratic Party whose party colour is also red.

Pink is sometimes used by social democratic parties, such as in France and Portugal. The more traditional colour of social democracy is red (because social democracy is descended from the democratic socialist movement), 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 capitalistic than socialism. In some European nations and the United States, pink is associated with homosexuality and the pink flag is used as a symbol in support of civil rights for LGBT people; it is commonly used to represent queer anarchism. This use originates in Nazi German policy of appending pink triangles to the clothing of homosexual prisoners. The Austrian liberal party NEOS uses pink as its main colour.

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 large parties and minor parties. Purple has been the colour of the international Pirate Party movement since the founding of the Swedish Pirate Party in 2006. Purple is often associated with feminism and when combined with black, is often used to represent anarcha feminism. In Albania, purple is the colour of the Socialist Party of Albania. In Australia, purple is used by the Australian Electoral Commission, the independent statutory authority responsible for the management of federal elections. While use of the colour purple by political parties is not prohibited in itself, it is strongly discouraged owing to the possibility of confusion and the risk of contravening laws against misleadingly branded election signage. In Brazil, purple is the colour associated with some progressive liberal movements such as Cidadania and Livres. This colour is chosen because those movements consider themselves to be mixing the best ideas of the left (associated with red) and the right (associated with blue)
In Canada, the People's Party of Canada is a right libertarian and right wing populist party whose colour has been purple since its founding and have changed their logo in 2021 to reflect that. The People's Alliance of New Brunswick are another right wing party that uses purple in Canada. Previously, purple was used by several municipal politicians, such as Naheed Nenshi and Lisa Helps, as a "nonpartisan" or "postpartisan" colour, due to its lack of association with any major party or ideological viewpoints. In the Dominican Republic, the Dominican Liberation Party logo is a yellow five pointed star on a purple background. It was originally a leftist party but today the party is seen gravitating towards a more centrist platform. In Europe, purple tends to be used for movements, parties and governments that are neither clearly right nor left. The colour is also used by the European federalist party Volt. It has been used to represent the Purple governments of Belgium and the Netherlands, formed by an alliance of red social democratic and blue liberal parties. In the Republic of Ireland, purple is the colour of the Social Democrats; in most other countries, social democrats use pink or red, but the use of purple has allowed the party to stand out visually from other left wing parties (such as Labour, Solidarity, People Before Profit and the Workers' Party, who all use shades of red and pink). Co leader Catherine Murphy used purple as her personal colour when she was an independent politician, prior to the party's foundation in 2015. In Italy, purple has been adopted by anti Silvio Berlusconi protesters (see Purple People) as an alternative from other colours and political parties. In Peru, the Purple Party is a liberal party which chose purple as its colour to represent centrism, between the blue of the right and red of the left. In Spain, purple is associated with leftist republicanism and with the Second Spanish Republic. The left wing to far left and republican Unidas Podemos coalition uses purple. In the United Kingdom, purple is most commonly associated with UKIP, a formerly prominent eurosceptic party which has since become extremely minor. Purple is also the official colour of two other British Eurosceptic parties, Veritas and the Christian Peoples Alliance. From these associations, among others, the colour purple has been linked with far right politics in the UK. However, it is also the colour of the centre left, pro European Co operative Party, a little known party with an electoral pact with the Labour Party. Purple is also unofficially used in the United States to denote a "swing state", swing district, or county. (i. e. one contested frequently between the Republican Party, whose unofficial colour is red; and the Democratic Party, whose unofficial colour is blue). Purple is also used by centrists to represent a combination of beliefs belonging to the Republicans and the Democrats. It has also been used to reference Purple America, noting that electoral differences nationwide are observed more on discrepancies instead of unity (see red states and blue states). In Turkey, the Peoples' Democratic Party is often represented with the colour purple. Considered on the left wing of the political spectrum and a merger of various socialist and pro Kurdish movements, the party places a strong emphasis on participatory and radical democracy, feminism, LGBT rights, minority rights, youth rights and egalitarianism.

Red is often associated with the left, especially socialism and communism. 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. In Europe and Latin America, red is also associated with parties of social democracy and often their allies within the labour movement, a symbol of common solidarity among leftists. Additionally, in parts of Latin America, red is also the traditional colour of liberal parties. It was the colour used, for example, in Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and Uruguay for liberal parties. In Brazil, red is used by the Workers' Party, supporters of Lula and communist parties. The association of red with Lulism and communism has become so prevalent in recent years that other parties that had red as a primary or secondary colour switched colours so as not to be associated with or confused with Lula, PT and the communist parties. In Canada, red is the colour of the Liberal Party of Canada. In China, red is the colour used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). In Hong Kong and Macau, red is used by the pro Beijing camp. In Malaysia, red was currently used to represent Pakatan Harapan and also the Socialist Party of Malaysia. Meanwhile, red is also used United Malays National Organization and Malaysian United Indigenous Party as part of the Malay Tricolour (the other being yellow and green). In Russia, red is used by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation. In the Soviet Union, red was the colour used by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In Spain, red is the official colour of both the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party and the Communist Party of Spain. Because the Socialists are a major party, and in order to avoid a clash of colours, the Communist United Left voluntarily uses dark red as its customary colour. In Taiwan, it is used by the Taiwan People's Communist Party and the wider united front in Taiwan, associated with Chinese communism and allegiance to the CCP. In Thailand, red is used by Pheu Thai Party and supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, hence the umbrella term "redshirts". In the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, red is also the colour of the labour movement and the Labour parties in those countries (spelled Labor in Australia). The use of red as a symbol is referenced in the British Labour Party's anthem, The Red Flag. In the heyday of the British Empire before 1960, maps, globes, and atlases typically used red or pink to designate the Empire or its Commonwealth; the practice inspired the All Red Route and the All Red Line This derived from the Redcoats traditionally worn by the British Army. As soon as a colony became independent, it needed its own distinctive colour and the practice died out. A key exception to the convention of red to mean the left wing of politics is the United States. Since about the year 2000, the mass media have associated red with the Republican Party, even though the Republican Party is a conservative party (see red states and blue states). Saffron was chosen because in Hinduism, the deep saffron colour is associated with sacrifice, religious abstinence, quest for light and salvation. Saffron or "Bhagwa" is the most sacred colour for the Hindus and is often worn by Sanyasis who have left their home in search of the ultimate truth.

In Australia, the colour teal, and the term "teal independents", have become associated with some of the centrist independent candidates supported by the Voices groups in Australia and campaigning on a platform emphasizing climate change action, tackling corruption in politics, and gender equality. Six such candidates won seats at the 2022 Australian federal election, ousting incumbent MPs from the Liberal Party of Australia. One theory about the colour teal in this context is that it symbolises a mixture of blue (the Liberal Party's colour) with green (representing environmental concerns). In Spain, because the colour green is connected to monarchism, environmental parties use teal In order to avoid clash of colours. They include the parties; Más Madrid, Más País and Equo. In the United Kingdom, teal is used by right wing populist Reform UK, because it is seen as a version of the conservative blue. In Canada, teal is used by the French Canadian nationalist Bloc Québécois. In Austria, teal is the main colour of the Austrian People's Party. The colour was changed from black to teal as a part of the party's rebranding campaign after the Sebastian Kurz corruption scandal and subsequent drop in the party's popularity.

White is today mainly linked to pacifism (as in the surrender flag). even those that did not support absolute monarchy (for example, the Finnish "Whites" who fought against the socialist "Reds" in the civil war following the independence of Finland). In some revolutions, red is used to represent the revolutionaries and white is used to represent the supporters of the old order, regardless of the ideologies or goals of the two sides. In Italy, a red cross on a white shield (scudo crociato) is the emblem of Catholic parties from the historical Christian Democracy party. In the politics of the United Kingdom, white represents independent politicians such as Martin Bell. The Yorkshire Party, a Devolutionist Political Party with elected representatives in Yorkshire, uses a stylised White Rose of York as its emblem.