Red color is a symbol of love or red color in the interior. The colors are scarlet and red among various nations, in psychology and advertising. Fiery color – fiery relationships.

The color red symbolizes many things, from love and blood to courage and sacrifice. It also plays its important role in nature. Such coloring among animals and plants usually warns others of danger and encourages strangers to keep their distance. But people, on the contrary, most often find red plants and animals extremely attractive and try to decorate their homes with their presence. Here's a selection of 25 of the cutest ones.
25. Strawberry poison frog

Native to Central America from Nicaragua to Costa Rica and Panama, this frog is a small animal with a very bright color. This species usually lives in damp lowlands and foothill forests, but sometimes large colonies can be found in such unsettled places as artificial plantations.

The northern cardinal is a North American bird of the cardinal family of the passerine order. This red-feathered bird lives in the forests, gardens, scrub steppes, and swamps of Southern Canada and the eastern United States. Males are bright red, while females are dull red with an olive tint. The bird received its name for the color of its plumage, similar in color to the traditional cloaks of Catholic cardinals.

13. Eastern red-spotted newt

This is a variety of the eastern newt, widespread in the west. North America. It lives in small lakes, ponds and rivers near forests with high humidity. This little lizard only seems fragile and defenseless in appearance. In fact, if necessary, it allocates poisonous substance tetrodotoxin, which protects it during proximity to predatory fish and crabs. These newts are often kept at home.

12. Red Velvet Ant

Red velvet ant, German wasp or cow killer - all these names are about the same insect living in the eastern United States. This wasp is the largest of the velvety ants in America and reaches up to 2 cm in size. And although in fact the German wasp cannot kill a cow, its females bite painfully enough to exclaim in their hearts that such a bite could kill a bull.

11. Brazilian moon snake

Scientifically known as Oxyrhopus Melanogenys, this reptile is a smooth-toothed snake species from the northern South America. Its most noticeable feature is its bright red color, and its maximum dimensions are up to 68 cm in length.

10. Red Scorpio Fish

Lives in Pacific Ocean near Japan and is distinguished by the rich red color of its scales and fins. This fish grows up to 76 cm in length, it has large wide pectoral fins, and there is no swim bladder, which only adds to her eccentric appearance.

9. Tomato frog

Native to Madagascar, this frog is a large, red-bodied frog that swells up when in danger. When a predator tries to grab a bloated frog, its skin secretes small quantity a thick substance that glues the opponent's eyes and mouth together. A hungry animal has to release its prey in order to see again.

8. Blood Red Glider

This is a medium-sized butterfly, and it belongs to the Nymphalidae family, which lives in Central America. Dorsal part This amazing insect is blood red in color, while the color of the ventral side varies from olive to grayish or brown.

7. Red squirrel

Also known as the Eurasian red squirrel, this rodent is one of the tree squirrels found throughout most of the Eurasian continent. The red squirrel lives in coniferous forests, and in temperate broadleaf groves climatic zones Europe and Siberia. The squirrel's fur changes color depending on the time of year and habitat, but red color is usually the most common.

6. Red-headed cardinal beetle

Common to Great Britain, this beetle is medium in size (about 2 cm in length). The bright insect loves forest edges, where there is plenty of food for it in the form of small insects. The red color of the beetle repels more large predators, for which bright color is a signal that potential prey may be poisonous.

5. Cherry shrimp

This variety freshwater shrimp from Taiwan has become a popular aquarium pet. The natural color of an ordinary shrimp is green-brown, but it is the red shrimp that is the most common inhabitant of artificial ornamental ponds because of its attractive appearance. The shrimp is omnivorous and reaches up to 4 cm in size.

4. Scarlet Macaw

This parrot lives in humid tropical forests evergreen South America, and is a large bird with bright multi-colored plumage. The Scarlet Macaw or Macaw is a Neotropical parrot that has been severely damaged by humans and nearly went extinct due to uncontrolled fishing and trade. Now this bird is protected by law.

3. Flat-headed lizard Mwanza agama

Also known by the popular nickname "spiderman lizard" for its red and blue coloration, this agama lives in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. Bright lizard prefers to hide in semi-deserts and bask on sunlit rocks.

1. Red-veined darter

Visible light is only a small portion of the spectrum electromagnetic radiation. In addition to it, this spectrum includes radio and microwaves, infrared and ultraviolet radiation, as well as X-rays and gamma rays. And only the visible spectrum is captured by our eyes, only this we interpret as colors! In reality, the blue color differs from, for example, red solely in the frequency of vibrations electromagnetic waves. At the same time, radio waves have a frequency too low for us to see, and gamma rays have a frequency too high. We've got the basics figured out. Now let me present to your attention some interesting facts about light and the various colors and shades in nature.

Visible light spectrum

Passing through a prism, white light is “split” and forms a spectrum

Essentially, light is invisible energy that travels through space at a tremendous speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second. For us to be able to see it, light must pass through tiny particles of dust, smoke or water vapor (clouds or fog). In addition, our vision can catch rays of light if they fall on any hard object(on clothes, a wall, a tree or even the Moon), are reflected from it and fall on our retina.

Isaac Newton first noticed that when a light ray passes through a prism, it is refracted, forming a spectrum of colors that are always arranged in the same order: from red to violet.

The retina of our eye consists of two types of light-sensitive cells, they are called rods and cones. The rods are responsible for detecting the intensity and brightness of light, while the cones perceive color and sharpness. Cones, in turn, are divided into three more types. Each of them has maximum sensitivity to the red, green or blue part of the spectrum. These colors are considered primary; and when they are combined, secondary ones are formed, such as yellow, blue or violet. A similar principle is used to form thousands of other shades that we see every day.

This is interesting: If we imagine the entire electromagnetic spectrum as the distance between New York and San Francisco (about 4 thousand kilometers), then visible light will take only 40 meters from this distance. Now imagine how many things there are in the world that people cannot see!

Light and darkness

Light and darkness are inseparable

At the end of the 18th century, the German scientist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe discovered that if you look through a prism at a dark object located on a light background, a colored glow will be observed around it. Its right half represents transitions between white, yellow, red and black, the left half - between blue, cyan, white and black. When these two sections are superimposed on each other, an inverted spectrum is formed.

Color is a contrast between dark and light. On one side of the spectrum we see warm shades (yellow and red, which turn into black and white), on the other, on the contrary, cold shades (blue and indigo, giving way first to white and then to black).

You have probably noticed more than once that the sun sinking below the horizon takes on a reddish hue, and the color of the sky changes from blue to orange. These changes are due to the fact that when our star is low above the horizon, its rays pass through denser atmospheric layers. When bright light is dimmed by passing through a medium of high optical density, we perceive it as red.

If you look in the opposite direction, you will notice that the blue sky takes on a dark blue or even purple. These tones are at the opposite end of the spectrum to red.

Colored shadows

In fact, all the shadows are the same - gray!

If you look at a window for a few seconds during the day and then close your eyes, you will briefly see its negative image - a light frame and a dark middle. The situation is similar with other brightly lit colored objects. Each color has its own “negative” shade: red has blue, green has purple, blue has yellow. When you close your eyes, darkness “appears” in front of them instead of light. The afterimage of the images you saw remains, but the colors are replaced by the opposite ones.

If you point two at a vase different sources lights that are close to each other, it will cast two shadows. If one source emits blue, its shadow will also appear blue, and the other will appear yellow. In fact, both shadows are the same, gray. The fact that they seem different to us is a consequence of an optical illusion.

What color do objects actually have?

Objects do not have such a constant characteristic as color

The color of objects we see is determined by lighting conditions. Let's say you have a green T-shirt. At least in daylight it appears green to you. But what happens if, for example, you find yourself in a room with red lighting? What color will it be then? It would seem that when red and green merge, yellow is obtained, but in this case clarification is necessary. We has red lighting and green dye on your T-shirt. It's funny, but green dye is a product of mixing blue pigment with yellow. But they do not reflect the color red. This will make your T-shirt appear black! In an unlit room, when you look at it, you will also see a black color. Basically, the entire room will appear black to you simply because the objects in it are not illuminated.

Let's move on to another example. First, try answering the question: “What color is a banana actually?” It would seem that the question couldn’t be simpler. But consider that when a banana is illuminated with white light, which includes all the colors of the visible spectrum, you see yellow simply because it is reflected, while all other shades are absorbed by the surface of the fruit. That is, a banana can have any color, but definitely not yellow. Moreover, purely theoretically, a banana is blue, because this color is the “opposite” of yellow!

It is difficult to realize that objects, in fact, do not have such a characteristic as color. And all the variety of shades that we observe is simply the interpretation of electromagnetic radiation by our brain.

Pink doesn't exist!

Primary colors alternate with additional ones

Look at the color wheel. You will see that additional colors in it alternate with the main ones. Moreover, any additional shade is formed by mixing the primary colors adjacent to it. Yellow is the result of the fusion of red and green, blue is green plus blue, and pink is blue plus red.

At the same time, there is no pink color in the rainbow! Do you know why? The fact is that it simply does not exist in nature! There is yellow, there is blue, but there is no pink, since red and blue colors located at opposite ends of the spectrum we see. Therefore they cannot intersect. Pink- the personification of everything that we cannot see in this world.

Vantablack

Incredibly, this black object is actually three-dimensional!

Girls know that wearing black clothes helps them look slimmer and adds elegance and sophistication to their appearance. But have you heard of vantablack - a substance made of carbon nanotubes, which is the blackest substance known to science? It may sound strange, but vantablack is almost impossible to see, because it absorbs no more than 0.035% of the light falling on it.

This is interesting: Do you know how the human eye reacts to vantablack? Thanks practically complete absence reflected light, people perceive it not as an extremely black object, but as... nothing. Like falling into an abyss or, for example, into black hole, like absolute two-dimensional blackness. Yes, yes, you won’t even understand that there is a three-dimensional object in front of you!

English scientists created vantablack in July 2014. This substance has many potential applications. So, they plan to use it to create ultra-sensitive telescopes or stealth aircraft. Vantablack is also interesting to the sculptor Anish Kapoor, who believes that this substance will look very impressive if used as paint to depict bottomless outer space.

People see shades differently

Colorblind people may see red as blue or green.

Did you know that the red dress on that pretty girl over there can appear blue or, for example, green to someone? And which of them is right?

There are millions of people in the world who see the world in different colors due to a disease called color blindness. Some colorblind people cannot distinguish the color red, others cannot distinguish blue or green.

This is interesting: Amazingly, even your significant other perceives this world differently! The fact is that in women, in the retina more cells, perceiving colors. Therefore, they seem brighter to them than to men.

Prohibited colors

I wonder why Belarus and Ukraine used prohibited color combinations to create their flags? :)

Red, yellow, green and blue colors in various combinations help describe all other shades of the visible spectrum. For example, purple can be called red-blue, light green – yellow-green, orange – red-yellow, and turquoise – green-blue. But what would you call a red-green or blue-yellow color, just not mixed, but consisting simultaneously of two tones that compensate each other in our eyes? Probably not, because such shades simply do not exist. By the way, they are also called “forbidden”.

How do we perceive colors? The cones in our retina distinguish between red, green and blue tones based on their wavelengths, which in some cases can overlap. That is, when “green” waves are superimposed on “red” ones, a person can see either yellow, green, or red. Everything is determined by slight differences in wavelength. But a color cannot be both green and red or, for example, blue and yellow.

In 1983, English scientists Hewitt Crane and Thomas Piantanida did the seemingly impossible! After hundreds unsuccessful attempts they managed to recreate those same nameless colors. Scientists made images consisting of alternating red and green stripes(as well as yellow and blue).

This is interesting: When the experiment participants looked at these pictures for some time, the lines between the colors were erased, and they themselves mixed, forming new, previously unknown shades that simply cannot be described.

How animals see in nature

Dogs don't see red

You've probably heard more than once that all dogs are colorblind. But this statement is not entirely true. There are three types of cones in the human retina, but dogs have one less. Therefore, in the world they see, there is no place for the color red.

This is interesting: Squids generally have one type of cone cell and see only shades of blue. Snakes do not perceive the colors that we see well. But they see perfectly in the infrared range inaccessible to us. Bees distinguish shades of blue and yellow, as well as colors in the ultraviolet range. But the most amazing creatures butterflies should be recognized. Some species have five types of color receptors: three the same as ours, plus two additional ones. Therefore, butterflies can see a wide range of colors that are not perceived by humans!

The human body emits light

The human body actually glows, albeit very faintly

Scientists from Kyoto University have discovered that people emit light. True, it is 1000 times less powerful than the one we can see with the naked eye. They explain this by the presence of by-products of our metabolism - free radicals emitting energy. The researchers also concluded that the peak of human glow occurs at approximately 16-00.

Even people with a very rich imagination cannot imagine some “non-existent” colors. And there are incredibly many of them, because we see only one hundred thousandth part of the spectrum. We hope you now have something to think about before going to bed!

Visible light is only a small part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. In addition to it, this spectrum includes radio and microwaves, infrared and ultraviolet radiation, as well as x-rays and gamma rays. And only the visible spectrum is captured by our eyes, only this we interpret as colors!

In reality, the blue color differs from, for example, red solely in the frequency of oscillations of electromagnetic waves. At the same time, radio waves have a frequency too low for us to see, and gamma rays have a frequency too high. We've got the basics figured out. Now let me present to your attention some interesting facts about light and the various colors and shades in nature.

Visible light spectrum

Passing through a prism, white light is “split” and forms a spectrum

Essentially, light is invisible energy that travels through space at a tremendous speed of 300 thousand kilometers per second. For us to be able to see it, light must pass through tiny particles of dust, smoke or water vapor (clouds or fog). In addition, our vision can catch rays of light if they fall on any solid object (clothing, wall, tree or even the Moon), are reflected from it and hit our retina.

Isaac Newton first noticed that when a light ray passes through a prism, it is refracted, forming a spectrum of colors that are always arranged in the same order: from red to violet.

Light and darkness

Light and darkness are inseparable

If you look in the opposite direction, you will notice that the blue sky takes on a dark blue or even purple color. These tones are at the opposite end of the spectrum to red.

Colored shadows

In fact, all the shadows are the same - gray!

If you shine two different light sources close to each other on a vase, it will cast two shadows. If one source emits blue, its shadow will also appear blue, and the other will appear yellow. In fact, both shadows are the same, gray. The fact that they seem different to us is a consequence of an optical illusion.

What color do objects actually have?

Objects do not have such a constant characteristic as color

Pink doesn't exist!

Primary colors alternate with additional ones

At the same time, there is no pink color in the rainbow! Do you know why? The fact is that it simply does not exist in nature! There is yellow, there is blue, but there is no pink, since red and blue colors are located at opposite ends of the spectrum we see. Therefore they cannot intersect. Pink color is the personification of everything that we cannot see in this world.

Vantablack

Incredibly, this black object is actually three-dimensional!

Girls know that wearing black clothes helps them look slimmer and adds elegance and sophistication to their appearance. But have you heard of vantablack, a substance made from carbon nanotubes that is the blackest substance known to science? It may sound strange, but vantablack is almost impossible to see, because it absorbs no more than 0.035% of the light falling on it.

People see shades differently

Colorblind people may see red as blue or green.

Did you know that the red dress on that pretty girl over there can appear blue or, for example, green to someone? And which of them is right?

There are millions of people in the world who see the world in different colors due to a disease called color blindness. Some colorblind people cannot distinguish between the color red, others - blue or green.

Prohibited colors

I wonder why Belarus and Ukraine used prohibited color combinations to create their flags? :)

Red, yellow, green and blue colors in various combinations help describe all other shades of the visible spectrum. For example, purple can be called red-blue, light green - yellow-green, orange - red-yellow, and turquoise - green-blue. But what would you call red-green or blue-yellow color, only not mixed, but consisting simultaneously of two tones that compensate each other in our eyes? Probably not, because such shades simply do not exist. By the way, they are also called “forbidden”.

In 1983, English scientists Hewitt Crane and Thomas Piantanida did the seemingly impossible! After hundreds of unsuccessful attempts, they managed to recreate those same nameless colors. Scientists made images consisting of alternating red and green stripes (as well as yellow and blue).

How animals see in nature

Dogs don't see red

The human body emits light

The human body actually glows, albeit very faintly

Scientists from Kyoto University have discovered that people emit light. True, it is 1000 times less powerful than the one we can see with the naked eye. They explain this by the presence of by-products of our metabolism - free radicals that emit energy. The researchers also concluded that the peak of human glow occurs at approximately 16-00.

We all know the technique of memorizing the colors of the rainbow from school. Something like a nursery rhyme sits deep in our memory: “ TO every O hunter and wants h nah, G de With goes f adhan." The first letter of each word means a color, and the order of the words is the sequence of these colors in the rainbow: To red, O range, and yellow, h green, G blue, With blue, f purple
Rainbows occur because sunlight is refracted and reflected by water droplets floating in the atmosphere. These droplets deflect and reflect light differently different colors(wavelengths): red is less, violet is more. As a result, white sunlight is decomposed into a spectrum, the colors of which smoothly transition into each other through many intermediate shades. Rainbow is the most clear example what visible white light is made of

However, from the point of view of the physics of light, no colors exist in nature, but there are certain wavelengths that an object reflects. This combination (superposition) of reflected waves hits the retina of the human eye and is perceived by it as the color of an object. For example, green birch leaf means that its surface absorbs all wavelengths of the solar spectrum, except for the wavelength of the green part of the spectrum and the wavelengths of those colors that determine its hue. Or brown school board Our eye perceives blue, red and yellow wavelengths of varying intensities as reflected wavelengths.

White, which is a mixture of all colors sunlight, means that the surface of an object reflects almost all wavelengths, and black reflects almost nothing. Therefore, we cannot talk about “pure” white or “pure” black colors, since complete absorption of radiation or its complete reflection in nature is practically impossible.

But artists cannot paint with wavelengths. They use real paints, and even a fairly limited set (they won’t carry more than 10,000 tones and shades with them on an easel). Just like in a printing house, an endless amount of paints cannot be stored. The science of color mixing is one of the fundamental ones for those who work with images, including airbrushing. A huge number of tables and guides have been compiled for obtaining the desired colors and their shades. For example, these*:

The human eye is the most versatile “device” for mixing. Studies have shown that it is most sensitive to only three primary colors: blue, red-orange and green. Information received from excited cells of the eye is transmitted along nerve pathways to the cerebral cortex, where complex processing and correction of the received data occurs. As a result, a person perceives what he sees as a single color picture. It has been established that the eye perceives a huge number of intermediate shades of color and colors obtained from mixing light different lengths waves In total there are up to 15,000 color tones and shades.
If the retina loses the ability to distinguish any color, then the person also loses it. For example, there are people who are unable to distinguish green from red.

Based on this feature of human color perception, the RGB color model was created ( Red red, Green green, Blue blue) for printing full-color images, including photographs.

The color gray and its shades stand a little apart here. Gray is obtained by combining three primary colors - red, green and blue - in equal concentrations. Depending on the brightness of these colors, the shade of gray varies from black (0% brightness) to white (100% brightness).

Thus, all colors found in nature can be created by mixing the three primary colors and changing their intensity.

*Tables taken from open access on the Internet.

Man lives in a colorful world, filled with hundreds of colors and thousands of their shades. But red is not just one of many colors, it can be called the main, the most significant. And in terms of the power of its impact on a person, it surpasses all other colors. It is not for nothing that the concepts of “beauty” and “paint”, that is, color in general, are associated with its name. And scientists believe that our distant ancestors were the first to highlight the color red in the colorful palette of the world, although there are not so many natural objects of this shade.

It would seem that color is simply the coloring of objects, but in fact it is energy, light radiation of a certain wavelength. And how light energy color affects physiological processes in our body. Studying this amazing fact It started with red as the most potent color.

Red color has the most longer length waves from all colors of the visible spectrum - 780 nm. Only more infrared radiation, which we perceive as heat. And red is also called hot, not only because of the strength of the radiation, but also because of the specific effect on the human body.

Warming, exciting and fierce color

Research on the effects of red color on the human body was carried out throughout the 20th century, both in our country and abroad.

The well-known Russian expert in the field of color B. A. Bazyma writes that numerous data have proven that shades of red have a strong influence on the vegetative nervous system, and through it many people are employed internal organs. First of all we're talking about O cardiovascular system, it is not without reason that since ancient times the color red has been associated with blood.

If a person is placed in a red room for some time, then he will:

blood pressure rises;
heart rate and breathing increase;
then he feels hot, as if the color around him actually warms him up.

Red color also activates the production of saliva, and the person begins to feel hungry. But under the influence of this color, a person does not enjoy food, but eats a lot, greedily and quickly, in a hurry to finish the meal and leave, because red encourages activity. That is why the owners of some restaurants devote a lot of space to red in the interior.

The red color also activates processes associated with reproductive activity, which is why women's red underwear excites men so much.

Red in medicine

The energy of red color has long been used in medicine, as written about in ancient medical treatises. But for a long time doctors were skeptical of this information, considering the advice of healers of the past to be quackery. And only numerous studies conducted since the middle of the last century have proven the following.

Red-orange radiation actually has a beneficial effect on the body in cases of measles, scarlet fever and some skin diseases.
Red radiation, not to mention infrared, is successfully used to treat neuralgia.
This color helps very well in the treatment of children who are anemic, weakened and apathetic.
Red and orange are essential for normal mental and physical development children.

Psychology of red

Despite the centuries-old practice of using red color for medicinal purposes, in modern medicine it is still wide application I didn't receive it. But they have been using it for a long time and successfully. But this color has so much great strength effects on the psyche that it should be used with caution.

Psychological influence of red

The emotional sphere, more precisely, the processes of excitation and inhibition, primarily reacts to color effects. “Hot” colors, red-orange shades excite our nervous system, but their effect is not limited to this.

Red is the most exciting of all the colors in the spectrum. In this case, the level of excitement may be such that it begins to manifest itself as excessive irritability, short temper and even aggression. Therefore, psychologists advise not to overuse the color red in your environment, for example, in the interior of residential premises and offices.
Red tones, increases activity and performance. But this is experienced as a strong, relatively short-term surge. Activity under the influence of this color quickly causes a feeling of fatigue and irritation. It is not suitable for long-term productive activity.
Red is one of the brightest and most noticeable colors and is often perceived as a warning of danger. Perhaps the association of this color with fire played a role here. Even modern word“red” comes from the Old Russian “kres” - fire. And the original name of the color was translated as “fiery”, “bright”, “shining”.

It should be noted that psychological impact colors has nothing to do with cultural traditions; it is characteristic of all people, regardless of nationality. Even higher animals demonstrate the same psychophysiological reactions to the color red as humans.

If you like red

It speaks not so much about our taste as about our mood, character and needs.

Red color is chosen by energetic people who strive for active work and have the ability to lead.
This color is preferred by people who are strong-willed, purposeful and ready to overcome any obstacles on the way to their goal. Therefore, they are often characterized by such qualities as selfishness, self-confidence and cruelty.
The color red is associated with sexuality and, when chosen by men, it indicates their need to demonstrate masculinity and emphasize their sexual role.
The same can be said about a woman. By choosing red, she emphasizes her need to dominate sexual partner. A woman puts on red lingerie and goes hunting. She is a predator who perceives the man she likes as legitimate prey. But her activity in sexual relationships, emancipation and openness often attract strong men.

Symbolism of red

Our attitude to color is largely connected with cultural traditions and symbolism that has formed over many centuries. But since each generation gave birth to its own symbols, the meanings of red in modern culture varied and contradictory.

Our world also recognizes the ancient symbolism of this color, which is associated with blood, aggression and struggle.
And at the same time, red is a symbol of sexual energy, love and vitality. That is why the bride of the ancient Slavs wore a red dress. These meanings also go back to the ancients cultural traditions and are characteristic of all peoples.
In Christian culture, red is a symbol of the sacred sacrifice, the blood of Christ, shed by him in the name of saving people. And at the same time, red is the color of the Day of Judgment and a symbol of retribution for sins.
This is the oldest color of power and strength. It is used in this meaning in European heraldry.
Red color is a warning of danger and possible threat.

If you take a close look at the world around you, you will understand that in our environment, as well as in living nature, the color red is quite rare. Flashing in a crowd or among a stream of cars, it immediately attracts attention. And this is not surprising, because red is a very strong color, oversaturated with energy, so people use it infrequently, in doses, intuitively understanding its aggressive effect on the psyche.