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In Faith Formation 4.0, I argue that our environment forms and fashions us – explicitly and implicitly. Many often forget that COLOR is a language that communicates emotion and inspires action.

The Logo Company created the Color Emotion Guide and described the psychology of color in a January 13, 2013 blog post.  Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer (a social media post automator), uses it to explore how several social media companies have used it to subliminally reinforce their brands in his  April 25, 2013 blog “Why Facebook is Blue: The Science of Colors in Marketing.” These posts highlight a long tradition of intentionally using different hues and values to illicit our response.

Liturgically, churches have used color to mark seasons of the church year. Trinity Episcopal Church in Baton Rouge, LA offers a good description of religious connotations of color on their website:

• Green: Green is the color of vegetation, therefore it is the color of life. Green is the color for the Season of Epiphany and the Season After Pentecost. These two seasons are also called ‘Ordinary Time’ because the Sundays have no names, just ordinal numbers.
• Purple: In antiquity, purple dye was very expensive, so purple came to signify wealth, power, and royalty. Therefore purple is the color for the seasons ofAdvent and Lent, which celebrate the coming of the King (although Blue is often used for Advent in many churches).  Since as Christians we prepare for our King through reflection and repentance, purple has also become a penitential color.
• White – The New Testament consistently uses white to describe angels and the risen Lord.  In the ancient Church, people were given white robes as soon as they emerged from the waters of baptism. Therefore, white is the color for the seasons of Easter and Christmas.  White is the color for funerals, since it is the color of the Resurrection, for weddings, regardless of the season, and sometimes for secular holidays that are observed in the church.
• Red – Red is the color of blood, and therefore also of martyrdom.  Red is the color for any service that commemorates the death of a martyr.  It is also an alternative color for the last week of Lent, which is called Holy Week.  Red is the color for Pentecost Sunday and for ordinations and installations, because it is the color of fire and therefore also of the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:3).
• Gold – or ivory are alternatives to white.
• Blue – Blue is an alternative to purple during Advent.  Blue represents the Virgin Mary, because she is known as the Queen of Heaven and the sky is blue.  Some Protestant churches just use blue during Advent to avoid the penitential connotation of purple.
• Black – Black is the color of standard clerical dress, such as clergy clothing, cassocks, etc.  Before the advent of modern dyes, all dress clothes were black—just look at any photograph taken in the 19th century.  The main historical connotation of black is formality.  Because black is not worn as often today, it has survived as a formal color only at extremely solemn occasions, such as funerals.  For some people today, black immediately connotes a funeral.  Black is sometimes, but rarely, the color for funeral services, Good Friday, and All Souls Day (2 November).
• Rose – Rose (that is, a shade of pink) is sometimes used on the third Sunday in Advent and the fourth Sunday in Lent. The use of the color rose has a strange origin.  Long ago a custom was developed where some of the faithful were given roses on the fourth Sunday in Lent.  Some clergy then began to wear rose-colored vestments on that Sunday.  The effect was to give some relief to the solemnity of Lent, so this was a very popular custom.  Originally, Advent was a solemn fast in preparation for Christmas, so the custom was extended to the third Sunday in Advent to liven it up a little bit, too.  [Somewhere along the way the third candle of the Advent wreath turned pink as well].  Rose is an alternative color for the fourth Sunday in Lent (Laetare Sunday) and the third Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday).

The Color Emotion Guide demonstrates how the church’s color selections can also correspond to emotive messages.  Ordinary Time’s green conveys natural, organic, youthfulness, nurturing, education, adventure and calm. The qualities of Advent and Lenten Purple include spiritual, mysterious, magical, arcane, religiousness, evocative, sensual, well being, and loving. Pentecost red can inspire excitement, urgency, and danger.

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