When we are angry, we see red, when we are desperate, we see black. And when we are doing well, we experience rosy times. Colors have a strong influence on us, but we usually only perceive them unconsciously. “Good to know” asks a color researcher for more details.
The film “Die Macht der Farben” (Christian Friedl author and director) was broadcast on October 2 on“Gut zu wissen“, the knowledge magazine of Bayerischer Rundfunk and is available in the BR media library until October 1, 2026.
Alpine hike to the nature of colors
We spent a day hiking in the Bavarian Alps to discover the nature of colors.
The color of the middle, the balancing green.
This is the home of human color. Green is the symbolic color of the natural, growing and living. In all Romance languages, “green” is derived from the Latin “virdis”, which also stands for strength, growth and life.
All the shades of green in nature are in perfect harmony with each other and their surroundings
The green spectrum is our largest color space, comprising more than half of all visible hues. The colors of plant nature form the basis for the development of our visual perception system. All the photoreceptors in our retina register the middle range of visible light. Green is the middle ground, the color of balance and equilibrium.
Confrontation with the lifeless gray
Rocks and rocky landscapes are among the oldest evidence of the earth’s history. Most hard stones such as granite, slate and basalt appear lifeless and gray. Pressure and heat erased the traces of life when they were formed. Soft stones such as marble, sandstone and limestone, on the other hand, usually appear much lighter, more colorful and more lively. But the ravages of time gnaw at them, as they are attacked by the weather and acid rain.
We encounter stone gray not only in nature, but also in our urban areas, where it gives paths, roads and squares a firm footing or lends stability to walls and buildings. Grey is a color for eternity that defies all fashions and short-lived trends. The color appears so timeless, consistent and natural, as if it had always been there. What is gray does not age, but is already old.
Encounter with a striking red
Of all the colors, blood red not only attracts the most attention, but also the strongest emotions. The enormous success of flowering plants, which have co-evolved with the animal world, is based on the power of their colors, with which they were able to persuade animals to spread their seeds over ever greater distances. The pollinators received healthy nutrients as a reward, which soon became the basis of life for many new species. Both flowers and fruits only reach their greatest nutritional value and their most enticing colors when the seeds have developed to the point where they can begin to be transmitted.
The view from the summit into the blue distance
For us, the blue sky forms the familiar background to the earth’s surface, which extends as a landscape to the horizon. Blue has the character of a light color that opens up spaces for us and poses no danger due to its immateriality. There is therefore no other color that we intuitively trust more. The unattainable blue eludes any touch and therefore also our manipulation. This can also be seen in the use of symbols, where blue often stands for security, correctness and truth. Wherever companies, people and the media seek to gain our trust, blue is the perfect backdrop.
