This week’s post on the subject of hope is based on colour – part of the research I’m doing for the “Gifts of Hope” range is conveying hope without words. Lets face it not everyone reads well, there are times when we feel so overwhelmed all the positive affirmations and scripture readings that normally lift us up don’t and sometimes we are simply too ill in body or mind to want to read. I’ve set up an Inspirations for Hope Board over on Pinterest to help me collect my ideas together and colour is definitely coming through as a key are to look at.
Rainbows
‘Glory Window’, one of the largest horizontally mounted stained glass pieces in the world ~ Chapel of Thanksgiving, Dallas TX
The obvious colour symbol that signifies hope is the rainbow – they appear as the symbol of hope at the end of the story of Noah’s Ark – God’s promise not to flood the earth again. We all love to see rainbows and there are many groups and organisations seeking to bring hope which have rainbows at their core. The image to the side of this paragraph radiates life, light and joy for example. And how often do we stop in our tracks to admire a rainbow in the sky?
This chapel window is awesome and is like a continuous spiral rainbow reaching skyward, towards a beautiful bright, white light. It says hope to me in so many ways – movement, journey, adventure, end reward etc
And the Rest???
I’ve been researching colours and their meanings and picked out those where words that seem to offer hope were amongst those listed. I was surprised at some of the colour meanings and have missed out those which had largely negative connotations.
The meanings have been taken from belief systems, heraldry and modern theories of colour psychology.
Surprisingly green is identified in heraldry as the prime colour for hope and was the only word I could find linked specifically to hope.
Silver didn’t fare well as its apparently reflective and can be seen as “wishy washy” and neither did black – which is more understandable.
I’m really surprised about silver – as a little girl silver shoes were my great hope! The closest I’ve come to owning a pair are my silver grey crocs that actually look like real shoes and are brilliant for days when the feet do their own thing as they are wonderfully scuff proof…….. so maybe I should have popped silver in there – what do you think?
I’d be interested in your responses to the colour meaning wheel I’ve created. Which colours mean hope to you? Have I missed a colour you find particularly hopeful?
If you could complete the poll below I’d really appreciate it!
