Green: Color Psychology, Symbolism and Meaning

Green is a secondary color. It is made by mixing equal parts of blue and yellow. It sits between yellow and blue on the visible spectrum. The hex code for color green is #00FF00.

The history of color green

Before the 16th century, green dyes were made out of the fern, plantain, buckthorn berries, but the color would rapidly fade. Synthetic green pigments and dyes were invented in the 18th century and they quickly replaced earlier mineral and vegetable ones. Color green was finally used in art to create specific emotions and not just to imitate nature. In the 20th century, color green became a political symbol in many European countries. Today it mostly stands for environmental movements around the world.

The psychology of color green

Green is a dominant color in nature which represents natural and forestial environments. Out of all the colors on the color wheel, green is regarded as the most restful and relaxing color for the human eye. Green symbolizes harmony, tranquility, peace. As a soothing, relaxing color, it enhances stability and endurance. It is most often associated with growth and renewal, and it promotes optimism, hopefulness, and balance.

It is found that green generates therapeutic and positive outcomes, such as fostering recovery from surgery, as well as that perceiving green leads to less mood disturbance and less perceived exertion. Being associated with a place where all the basic needs can be satisfied, such as finding food, water, shelter, color green provides a sense of security. Green has calming effects. People who are supposed to appear on a television show often wait in a holding area that is painted in green color. The idea is that green will help them relax and focus, and also reduce their anxiety.

Green enhances positive cognitive outcomes, such as improved memory, problem-solving, positive thinking. For example, one study showed that people were more likely to remember positive words that were written in green color and that words linked to success were in most cases associated with the color green.

The green personality type

Green personality type tends to be analytical, calm, logical, with a great thirst for knowledge. They are sometimes described as strategic thinkers and visionaries that are also born leaders. They like to be in charge and live their life on their own terms. Those traits sometimes make them appear as stubborn and even antisocial. They believe in science and base their decisions on facts. Additionally, their decisions always rule in favor of peacemaking.

Greens are reliable, smart, tactful and independent. They quickly adapt to new situations and don’t have any difficulty grasping ideas and concepts that are abstract. They are big nature lovers and are usually family-oriented. Greens are modest, down-to-earth, and generous. They don’t have a habit of hiding their emotions and negative thoughts. Their need for closeness makes them good friends and romantic partners. Their relationships are based on respect and loyalty. 

Negative characteristics of color green

Darker hues of green carry more negative connotations, while lighter shades mostly represent positive ones. Too much green or wrong shades of green can evoke the sense of stagnation and isolation. Green is sometimes associated with sickness, which is captured by the expression ’green around the gills’. Green is linked to envious and selfish persons. Green personality types  are sometimes viewed as immature and inexperienced. Green’s negative characteristics also include possessiveness, envy, greed. People who favor green can also be impatient and are often associated with boredom. They lack passion in romantic partnerships. Others can be frustrated by their lack of social interaction and interest, their tendency to overreact, and their high independence.

Color green in business

In a business context, green symbolizes money, transparency, prosperity. Picking out green color to represent a business would help with its growth and profitability. Besides, green color is one of the colors that is trusted and has a capacity to make people feel more secure. Larger quantities of green could also demonstrate that a company is concerned about environmental issues. Most businesses that rely on green as part of their commerce strategies are in the healthcare and food industry. They use green in order to promote a healthier lifestyle. Green is used by other industries as well, all of which are focused on promoting new and fresh products.

Color green in branding and marketing

Color green is one of the cool colors, which are considered restful. According to color  psychology, cool colors make people calmer and less anxious. Therefore, top name brands, that are known for incorporating color green into their color schemes, are usually associated with relaxation, reliability, high-quality products. Their green color is intended to promote calmness and comfort. They communicate the idea of peacefulness through different shades of green. Whether it is a lighter or darker hue, their green identities are a big reason why their customers keep coming back. Green brand has a cozy, welcoming feel to it.  

Information about green / #00FF00

In a RGB color space (made from three colored lights for red, green, and blue), hex #00FF00 is made of 0% red, 100% green and 0% blue. In a CMYK color space (also known as process color, or four color, and used in color printing), hex #00FF00 is made of 100% cyan, 0% magenta, 100% yellow and 0% black. Green has a hue angle of 120 degrees, a saturation of 100% and a lightness of 50%.

Color conversion

The hexadecimal color #00FF00 has RGB values of R: 0, G: 100, B: 0 and CMYK values of C: 1, M: 0, Y: 1, K:0.