Katana VentraIP

Political colour

Political colours are colours used to represent a political ideology, movement or party, either officially or unofficially.[1] 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 symbolizes 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.[2][3] The political associations of a given colour vary from country to country, and there are exceptions to the general trends,[2][3] for example red has historically been associated with Christianity, but over time gained association with leftist politics, while the United States differs from other countries in that conservatism is associated with red and liberalism with blue.[2][3] Mass media has driven a standardization of colour by political party, to simplify messaging, while historically the colour a candidate chose to identify with could have been chosen based on other factors such as family or regional variations.[4][5]

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.[10]

Anti-clerical

In 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.

Germany

In Italy, black is the colour of 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.[11]

fascism

In the , 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.[12] It is now known as the flag colour of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

Islamic world

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 .[13] The Malaysian United Democratic Alliance (MUDA) also adapted the colour black as their official colour.

ruling Perikatan Nasional government

In Russia, black was used for monarchism and nationalist movements, such as the before their defeat.[14]

Black Hundreds

In India, black represents protest. In , black represents atheistic human rights rebels who follow Periyar E. V. Ramasamy.[15]

Tamil Nadu

In Brazil, the far-left, socialist and anti-racist party has black as its official colour.

Popular Unity

Black is primarily associated with anarchism[6] (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.[6] Black is also used to a lesser extent to represent ideologies on the opposite end of the spectrum: fascism (see blackshirts and Schutzstaffel) and jihadism (see Black Standard).[2]


The colours black and red have been used by anarchists since at least the late 1800s when they were used on cockades by Italian anarchists in the 1874 Bologna insurrection, and in 1877 when anarchists entered the Italian town Letino carrying red and black flags to promote the First International.[7] 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.[8][9] 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.

The field of the flag of the is light blue, chosen to represent peace and hope. It has given rise to the term "bluewashing".[17]

United Nations

The colour blue, normally of a lighter shade, is . The flag of Israel features two blue horizontal stripes and a blue Star of David. See also tekhelet and Zionism.

of prime significance in Judaism

In the colour blue has been associated with conservatism and the right since pre-federation, taking influence from the United Kingdom. The major centre-right, conservative political party, called the Liberal Party of Australia, uses blue,[18] as did its predecessor party: United Australia.[19]

Australia

In , blue is heavily associated with the right-wing populist Freedom Party and with pan-Germanism. It is the Freedom Party's official colour, and its members are generally referred to as "blues" in the media and colloquial speech.[20] The blue cornflower was a national symbol of Germany in the 19th century, often associated with Prussia. It later became a symbol for Pan-German nationalists in Austria, such as Georg Ritter von Schönerer's Alldeutsche Vereinigung. In 1930s Austria the cornflower was also worn by members of the then illegal NSDAP, as a secret symbol and identifier.[21] After 1945, MPs of the Freedom Party wore cornflowers on their lapels at the openings of the Austrian parliament, until they switched to the more "Austrian" Edelweiß in 2017.[22]

Austria

In , blue is associated with the syncretic Peronist movement. The left-wing populist Frente de Todos uses sky blue alongside the Justicialist Party, the main party of the front. Federal Peronism, which represents the right-wing of the Peronist movement and the conservative Christian Democratic Party current, uses dark blue.

Argentina

In , blue is associated with liberalism, used both by the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats as the Reformist Movement.[23]

Belgium

In , blue is associated with mainstream centre-right, liberal and conservative parties opposed to populism, often associated with the left but also opposed with the populist reactionary right, like National Democratic Union, National Renewal Alliance, Progressive Party, Brazilian Social Democracy Party, Democratas and Brazil Union. The first major party which used blue was the far-right Brazilian Integralist Action, but their successors use Gold.

Brazil

In , the Conservative Party uses blue. However, in Canada, blue is also often used to represent Quebec, while red represents Canada - with no connection to right/left politics.[24] The Bloc Québécois, a federal party centred around Quebec nationalism, uses blue, as do major provincial parties in Quebec like the Parti Québécois and Coalition Avenir Québec.

Canada

In , blue is used by the conservative National party.

Honduras

In , blue is used by pro-Beijing camp, but also used by localists (for symbolizing Hong Kong independence).

Hong Kong

In , light blue is the colour associated with the Indian National Congress, a national centre-left party. Meanwhile, dark blue is associated with the Dalit Movement, represented by multiple parties: Republican Party of India (and its Athawale splinter), Bahujan Samaj Party, etc.

India

In the , blue is associated with the centre-right Fine Gael party, going back to the Blueshirts, a quasi-fascist uniformed group that merged into the party in 1932. "Blueshirt" is a common derogatory term for Fine Gael, and they often use blue in party materials.[25][26][27]

Republic of Ireland

In , blue is associated with liberal, centrist, and centre-left parties. Three centre-left parties in Japan with elected representatives use blue: the Constitutional Democratic Party, Democratic Party for the People, and the Social Democratic Party. Historically, blue was used by Japan Socialist Party.

Japan

In , blue was currently used to represent both Barisan Nasional (royal blue) and Perikatan Nasional (solid blue).

Malaysia

In , blue is an official colour of the ruling party, United Russia.

Russia

In , blue is usually associated with liberal political parties, the most popular being the Democratic Alliance, the largest opposition party. The colour blue was also used by the United Party, from which the Progressive Party (the most senior ancestor of the Democratic Alliance) split in 1959.[28]

South Africa

In , traditionally blue was used by conservative parties. Since 2013, blue has adopted by the liberal Democratic Party of Korea (previously used green and yellow), while conservative party change its colour from blue to red. This makes South Korea an exception to the general rule that blue represents conservative parties, along with the United States.

South Korea

Galician nationalism

In and historically in China, it is used by the Kuomintang and the wider Pan-Blue Coalition, a coalition generally associated with Chinese nationalism as well as conservatism.

Taiwan

In the , the colour blue has been associated with the liberal Democratic Party since around the 2000 presidential election, when most of the major television networks used the same colour scheme for the parties.[29][30] This makes the United States an exception to the general rule that blue represents conservative parties; the major conservative party in the United States, the Republican Party, uses red. In 2010, the Democratic party unveiled a blue official logo[31] (see red states and blue states).

United States

In , blue represents the Democratic Unity Roundtable, the large multi-ideological coalition of parties in opposition, probably as a counterpart to PSUV's red.

Venezuela

In most of , blue is used as a colour of anti-feminism and, more specifically, anti-abortion. This colour was used as a response to the feminist/pro-abortion green. This originated in Argentina.[32]

Latin America

Blue is usually associated with centre-right or conservative parties,[2] originating from its use by the Tories (predecessor of the Conservative Party) in the United Kingdom.[16] Blue is used by many international organizations of centre right and conservative parties, such as the International Democrat Union, the Democrat Union of Africa, the Asia Pacific Democrat Union, the Caribbean Democrat Union (together with red), the European Democrat Union, the European People's Party, the European Conservatives and Reformists Party.

Brown is sometimes used to describe the opposite of green parties, that is to describe parties that care little about pollution.

[39]

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.[33]


Brown has also been used to refer to the general far-right rather than exlusively Nazism and/or fascism. The French political term "red–green–brown alliance" denotes an alliance between leftists (red), Islamists (green), and the far right (brown).[34][35] Just like its National Socialist context, the colour brown was chosen to refer to the far-right on account of its association with the Nazi Sturmabteilung.[36][37] There have been slight variations of the red–green–brown alliance which have also used the colour brown to indicate the far-right. In Russia, for example, the metonym "red-brown" was coined to refer to a unification of communists (red) and the far-right (brown).[38]

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).[40]

Buff

is sometimes used by parties that represent the interests of pensioners and senior citizens, such as "The Greys" in Germany.

Grey

Grey can also be used to refer to either independence, neo-Confederate or secessionist movements, due to its association with the Confederate States of America.[41]

reactionary

Grey is often used to represent , however in the UK, white is used to represent independent politicians.[42]

independent politicians

The movement makes wide use of green in its symbolism, including the language's flag which is known as the Verda Flago (literally Green Flag)

Esperanto

Fern green is occasionally used by political organizations and groups who advocate the legalization of medicinal use of marijuana.

[44]

was used as a symbol by members of the Levellers in 17th-century Britain and for this reason, it is occasionally used to represent radical liberalism.[45]

Sea green

Green has sometimes also been linked to movements, such as the Populist Party, in the U.S. in the 1890s and the current-day Nordic Agrarian parties, as well as the National Party of Australia, a conservative party traditionally representing regional and agricultural interests.[46] The International Agrarian Bureau, though often known as the "Green International", did not formally endorse the colour, although a successor group, called the International Peasant Union, was represented by a clover.[47]

agrarian

In , a dark shade of green is used to represent right wing National Party of Australia, while a light shade of green is used to represent the Australian Greens.

Australia

In , in addition to its use by the Green Party, green, as the main colour of the Brazilian flag, is strongly associated with Brazilian nationalism and Brazilian people. The big tent, pro-democracy Brazilian Democratic Movement, the conservative Social Christian Party, the far-right nationalist Patriota and the populist, anti-corruption and pro-direct democracy Podemos all use different shades of green. In the past, green was also the colour of the Conservative Party of the Empire of Brazil

Brazil

In , in addition to its use by the Green Party of Canada, green has also been frequently used by right-wing and populist parties that are unaffiliated with the Conservative Party.[24] Examples include the Social Credit Party of Canada, Reform Party of Canada, Canadian Alliance, Wildrose Party in Alberta and the Saskatchewan Party. Green was also historically used as a secondary colour by the left-wing New Democratic Party, whose primary colour is orange.

Canada

In , a dark shade of green is used by the right-centre Conservative People's Party (Det Konservative Folkeparti).

Denmark

In , green has been used by the Iranian Green Movement, a political movement that arose after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office.

Iran

In , green is used mainly by centre-left parties, such as All India Trinamool Congress and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and by Islamic political parties, such as the Indian Union Muslim League.

India

and Irish Republican movements have used the colour green.[48] Sinn Fein, the SDLP, Fianna Fail and Aontú all use green as colour. Though the official colour of Ireland is blue, green is the colour of St. Patrick and thus took on a particular significance for Irish nationalists in the 19th century.

Irish Nationalist

[49]

In , Northern secessionist movements such as Lega Nord chose green as their political colour, advocating their Celtic origin.

Italy

In , the dominant Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) uses green as one of its official colours. Although the party has used the colour red more prominently in recent years. Other examples of right wing parties adopting the colour green in its branding include the Japan Innovation Party and the now defunct Party of Hope.

Japan

In , it is associated with the Green March of 1975.

Morocco

In , two centre-left social democratic parties use green: the Revolutionary Febrerista Party and the Progressive Democratic Party

Paraguay

In most of , green is associated with pro-choice movements, the colour started being used in Argentina as a symbol of third wave feminism and abortion rights, with a green scarf as a symbol.[52] However, green is also the colour of many christian democratic parties in the region which opposes abortion, like in Aruba, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela and Panama.

Latin America

In , green was used by various liberal parties for much of post-war history. When the Democratic Party of Korea was founded in 2014, it used blue instead.

South Korea

[53]

In , it is used by the Democratic Progressive Party and the wider Pan-Green Coalition, a coalition generally associated with Taiwan independence as well as progressive liberalism.

Taiwan

In the , it is used by the Green Party, which promotes green politics, specifically things like environmentalism.

United States

In , green is often used by minority parties such as the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians,[54] the Justice and Reconciliation Party[55] and the Party of Democratic Action of Sandžak[56] (Sandžak's Bosniaks). The Green–Left Front also uses green alongside red.[57]

Serbia

Green is the colour for both environmentalist[43] and Islamist political parties and movements (see green in Islam).[2]

In 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.

Germany

Magenta is a colour that started being used in the 21st century to replace yellow for some liberal and centrist parties and organizations in Europe.[58] It is not to be confused with the socialist or social democratic use of the colour pink.

Since 2004, orange has represented Post-Communist Democratic Revolutions in Eastern Europe such as the "" in Ukraine.[62] This gave the colour orange a certain association with radical anti-authoritarian politics in some countries and it has been used as such by groups and organizations in the Middle East, for example in Lebanon, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Bahrain and Israel.

Orange Revolution

In the colour is associated with the conservative Fidesz party, which has been in office for several years. Probably because of the country's history, that anti-immigrationism has become popular (see Trianon).

Hungary

In Israel, the colour orange has become the dominant colour of the right-wing, with an emphasis on the religious-right. This is when, from 2004, the colour became the leader of a protest against the disengagement plan, and became identified with the right-wing camp.

Orange is often used to represent the mutualist current in anarchist politics, as a middle ground between pro-market currents such as anarcho-capitalism (associated with the colour yellow of liberalism) and anti-capitalist currents such as anarcho-syndicalism and anarcho-communism (associated with the colour red of communism and socialism).

[63]

frequently uses orange for representation. It is the colour of the Humanist International, as well as the humanist parties in Argentina, Costa Rica and Chile, and other humanist organizations.[64]

Humanism

In Australia, orange is used to represent the party, a right-wing populist and national-conservative led by Pauline Hanson. It is also used to represent other populist parties, such as the Centre Alliance party.

One Nation

In Brazil, orange is the colour of the liberal and also is the colour of three parties associated with a socially conservative social democracy: Forward, Republican Party of the Social Order and Solidarity

New Party

In Canada, Orange is the official colour of the social-democratic . During Jack Layton's leadership green was used as their accent colour; The logo was a green maple leaf with orange "NDP" lettering. Currently light blue is used as their accent colour although it seldom appears and is not included in the logo (the current logo is an orange maple leaf with orange "NDP" lettering).[65]

New Democratic Party

In , since its adoption by the fans of APOEL FC, orange has been associated with fascist and ultranationalist politics.

Cyprus

The uses orange alongside the more traditional red.

Czech Social Democratic Party

In , orange is associated with liberal and centrist parties, like Center Union, Drassi and Recreate Greece

Greece

During the of 1642, orange was associated with parliamentarian Roundheads.

English Civil War

In , orange is not linked to Christian democratic movements (the Christian democratic party Partido Acción Nacional uses blue). Instead, it is linked to the centre-left secular party Movimiento Ciudadano.

Mexico

In New Zealand, the Electoral Commission rejected a proposed orange logo for being likely to confuse or mislead voters by being too similar to the colour used by the country's electoral agencies.[67]

[66]

In the , Northern Ireland and Scotland orange is associated with Unionism and the Orange Order.

Republic of Ireland

In , orange is often associated with conservative Afrikaner political movements. Orange was the official colour of the National Party which was the country's governing party from 1948 to 1994. Additionally, its successor, the New National Party, used the colour orange. It is the used by the Christian democratic and Afrikaner nationalist party Freedom Front Plus. Orange red is the official colour of the Independent Democrats, a social democratic political party in the Northern and Western Cape Provinces.

South Africa

In , orange is used by Citizens, a liberal party that opposes Catalan separatism. This is in contrast to the yellow used by Catalan separatism (see below).

Spain

In Thailand, orange is used by the banned , and currently used by the Move Forward Party, being associated with social democracy and progressivism.

Future Forward Party

In , orange is associated with Fujimorism and Fujimorist parties such as Popular Force and New Majority (Peru)

Peru

Orange is the traditional colour of the Christian democratic political ideology and most Christian democratic political parties, which are based on Catholic social teaching and/or neo-Calvinist theology. Christian democratic political parties came to prominence in Europe and the Americas after World War II.[59][60] Orange less frequently represents various kinds of populist parties. Such is the case in Austria, Germany, France, Portugal, Switzerland, Finland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Turkey.[61]

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 people;[69] 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.

LGBT

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.[68] In such cases, social democrats are usually the ones who give up red in favour 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.

Purple has been the colour of the international movement since the founding of the Swedish Pirate Party in 2006.

Pirate Party

Purple is often associated with and when combined with black, is often used to represent anarcha-feminism.

feminism

In , purple is the colour of the Socialist Party of Albania.

Albania

In , 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.[70]

Australia

In Brazil, purple is the colour associated with some 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)

progressive liberal

In , 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.[71]

Canada

In the , 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.

Dominican Republic

[72]

In the , purple is the colour of the Social Democrats;[73][74] 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.[75][76][77]

Republic of Ireland

In Italy, purple has been adopted by anti- protesters (see Purple People) as an alternative from other colours and political parties.

Silvio Berlusconi

In , 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.

Peru

In Spain, purple is associated with republicanism and with the Second Spanish Republic. The left-wing to far-left and republican Unidas Podemos coalition uses purple.

leftist

In the United Kingdom, purple is most commonly associated with , 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.

UKIP

Purple is also unofficially used in the United States to denote a "", 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).

swing state

In , 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.

Turkey

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.

In Europe and Latin America, red is also associated with parties of and often their allies within the labour movement, a symbol of common solidarity among leftists.

social democracy

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 , 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.

Workers' Party

In Canada, red is the colour of the .

Liberal Party of Canada

In , red is the colour used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

China

In and Macau, red is used by the pro-Beijing camp.

Hong Kong

In , 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).

Malaysia

In , 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.

Russia

In Spain, red is the official colour of both the 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.

Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

In , 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.

Taiwan

In Thailand, red is used by and supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra, hence the umbrella term "redshirts".

Pheu Thai Party

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 '' in Australia). The use of red as a symbol is referenced in the British Labour Party's anthem, The Red Flag.[79]

Labor Party

In the heyday of the before 1960, maps, globes, and atlases typically used red or pink to designate the Empire or its Commonwealth;[80] 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.

British Empire

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 , even though the Republican Party is a conservative party (see red states and blue states).[29] This use is possibly entrenched, as many political organizations (for example, the website RedState) now use the term.

Republican Party

Since the 2010s, some conservative parties such as the of Japan and the People Power Party of South Korea have also adopted red as their political colour.

Liberal Democratic Party

Red is often associated with the left, especially socialism and communism.[2] The oldest symbol of socialism (and by extension communism) is the red flag, which dates back to the French Revolution in the 18th century and the revolutions of 1848. Before this nascence, the colour red was generally associated with Christianity due to the symbolism and association of Christ's blood. The colour red was chosen to represent the blood of the workers who died in the struggle against capitalism.[78] All major socialist and communist alliances and organizations—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.

Saffron[edit]

Saffron is traditionally associated with Hinduism, Hindutva and the Hindu nationalist movement.[81] 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 "", 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.[82][83] Six such candidates won seats at the 2022 Australian federal election, ousting incumbent MPs from the Liberal Party of Australia.[84] One theory about the colour teal in this context is that it symbolizes a mixture of blue (the Liberal Party's colour) with green (representing environmental concerns).[85]

teal independents

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 País and Equo.

Más Madrid

In the United Kingdom, teal is used by right-wing populist , because it is seen as a version of the conservative blue.

Reform UK

In Canada, teal is used by the French-Canadian nationalist .

Bloc Québécois

In Austria, teal is the main colour of the . 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.

Austrian People's Party

Rosa pimpinellifolia

In Italy, a red cross on a white shield (scudo crociato) is the emblem of Catholic parties from the historical party.[87]

Christian Democracy

In the politics of the United Kingdom, white represents independent politicians such as .

Martin Bell

The , a Devolutionist Political Party with elected representatives in Yorkshire, uses a stylized White Rose of York as its emblem.

Yorkshire Party

White is today mainly linked to pacifism (as in the surrender flag).[2]

In Latin America, it is not unusual for left-wing parties to use yellow, as red was the traditional colour of liberals, especially in countries with prominent red-using liberal parties like Uruguay, Honduras, Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica.

social democratic

Yellow is also associated with Judaism and the , although this may be seen negatively (see also Yellow badge) and since 1945 the blue Star of David is preferred.

Jewish people

In East and Southeast Asia, yellow is used to represent . For instance, in Thailand yellow represents King Bhumibol and King Vajiralongkorn, apart from the colour of the royalists, known as the "yellowshirts". It was also the colour of the pro-monarchy Panchayat system in the Kingdom of Nepal.

monarchies

It is also a common colour to represent ; monks in Myanmar used it in the anti-government protests in 2007–2008.

Buddhism

was a political movement in France from 1902 until World War I, opposed to the "red socialism" of Marxism.

Yellow socialism

In Australia, yellow is used to represent the established in 2013.

United Australia Party

In , yellow, combined with green, is associated with right-wing populists and national conservatives movements against corruption, anti-Workers Party, anti-communists, supportive of impeachment of Dilma Rousseff[90] and later, with support of Jair Bolsonaro, like PSL and the Alliance for Brazil.[91] The association came because many of the protesters against Dilma wore the jersey of Brazil national football team, which is yellow with the numbers and some details in green, and because the protesters chanted that the Brazilian flag "will never be red" (in reference to the colours of the communism and Workers' Party) and "will always be green and yellow".

Brazil

In , yellow does not have any dominant political connotation, and so is commonly used by Elections Canada as a politically neutral colour and as a high-visibility colour to mark polling stations.

Canada

In , yellow represents the pro-democracy supporters.

Hong Kong

In , yellow represents the pro-democracy supporters.

Macau

In , yellow was formerly used by Bersih (The Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections).

Malaysia

In the , yellow is commonly associated with the centre to centre-left Liberal Party although other colours such as red and blue are used.

Philippines

In , yellow associated with historically Uri Party and former President Roh Moo-hyun supporters. Since 2015, Justice Party adopted the colour.

South Korea

Catalan independence movement

In the , the colour yellow was the official colour of the suffrage movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[92] In the 21st century, the Libertarian Party's official branding colours are gold-yellow, grey, and black.[93] The gold-yellow colour is prominent because of the historical association with classical liberalism and in reference to a gold-backed currency and free markets.

United States

In the , the colour yellow is predominantly used by the Scottish National Party, Liberal Democrats (UK) and Alliance Party of Northern Ireland. The use of political yellow dates back to David Lloyd George's publication of "Britain's Industrial Future" in the early to mid-1920s. Yellow denotes freedom, advancement, and novelty, with special importance on the freedom representing the desire of Independence for the SNP.[94]

United Kingdom

Yellow is the colour most strongly associated with liberalism and right-libertarianism.[2][3][88][89]

[95]

[97]

Notable national political colour schemes include:

Political uniform

List of political ideologies

List of political party symbols

NATO Military Symbols for Land Based Systems#Affiliation