HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life: Localization of Colors Around the World

Segment 8 - Localization of Colors Around the World

Color is serious business.  Countless hours are spent thinking of which colors to decorate one’s home, office, studio, wardrobe, hair, store, business image, etc.  Millions of dollars are spent by advertisers to determine the perfect color or combination of colors for products, brands and images.  Even more millions are spent by the producers of colors (ie. paint manufactures, designers, artists) to develop the perfect color, shade, tint and hue to elicit the perfect emotions.  Color must first be understood as a human factor, and like words in a language, colors have a distinct meaning to different people and cultures... 

Is the key to selecting the most successful color combination directly proportional to the money spent researching, designing, developing and deploying a new color for a product, brand or image?  To some companies, the answer may be yes. Hundred of millions of dollars have been spent by consumer brand managers to reinvent or launch a new “look and feel” for their products. 

Not to minimize the efforts involved of literally thousands of color, marketing and psychology experts, who have tried to crack this ever so important nut, but maybe getting on a flight around the world might also be effective… because color is in the eye of the beholder (ok, the expression is beauty, but shouldn't this also apply to color ?). 

It won’t take very long to figure out that how one perceives or reacts to color is greatly influenced by the culture and country from where one is born, raised or lives.  I will explore the business implications of color and why localization is an important aspect, but first I want to develop a very basic premise relating to color and culture.  Localization of color is not merely a marketing analysis effort, but a cultural one.  Let’s first look at this from a personal perspective. 

Drawing reference to my earlier article, Segment 3: Translations in a Big Fat International Wedding, two of the most common questions I was often asked when preparing my international weddings were “What are your wedding colors?” and “What color dress/suit should guests wear or avoid?” Like many future brides, these are critical questions, but the answers are often dictated by culture, rather than personal preference.

White, Red, Black

In many Western cultures, white is a symbol of purity, peace, truth, glory, protection, innocence, youth, birth, winter, good, spirituality and divination.  It also symbolizes virginity and is traditionally worn in western weddings.  However, in many Asian cultures, white signifies aging and death. One will surely be hard pressed to find an Asian bride in all white, unless she is in mourning or at a funeral.

Red is an exciting color and symbolizes excitement, energy, passion, desire, strength, health, good fortune, vigor, power, heat, love, intensity and passion.  However, it can also elicit some negative connotations such as aggression, danger, fire, blood, war, violence, lust, and stress.

In Chinese cultures, the color represents luck and prosperity, and used for celebration and in many cultural ceremonies including weddings.  In India, red is considered a color of purity and is often worn in traditional wedding outfits.  But don’t go to a wedding in South Africa or Côte d’Ivoire wearing red, as it is the color of mourning in those countries.  In Russia, red refers to beautiful, so while you may still see white weddings in Russia, red is a favorite color for celebration…and battle.

For the ancient Romans, a red flag was a signal for battle. In India, red is also the symbol for a soldier. The Redshirts were the soldiers of the Italian leader Garibaldi, who unified Italy in the nineteenth century.  In the English War of the Roses, red was the color of the House of Lancaster, which defeated the House of York, symbolized by the color white [which also symbolizes surrendering or truce as in raising the white flag].

What about the color black?

Black is beautiful, right? The color can elicit a broad range of connotations  of  being dramatic, classy, committed, serious, powerful, sexual, sophisticated, formal, elegant, wealthly, stylish, mysterious, fearful, evil, anonymous, unhappy, sad, remorseful, cold, unconscious, satanic, and dark.  The color also has many negative connotations as expressed in many idiomic expressions: black humor, blacklist, blackmail, black market, black sheep, black magic.  In many Western cultures, black is used to represent death and mourning.  Black is associated with impurity in Ethiopia.  Thailand and some countries in the Middle East consider the color to symbolize bad luck or evil.  

With all this controversy about the color black, it is hard to believe that black is still one of the most common colors worn by guests to Western weddings, despite the death connotation.

So back to my international wedding…

What were my wedding colors?  The outfit I wore for the religious ceremony had two shades of brilliant pink, accented with gold. I also wore a royal blue, silver and gold accented gown for formal portraits, and for the receptions – a white French cut gown.

The color pink represents innocence, a youthful personality, freshness, purity, love, good health and a happy life. It can also be worn to symbolize a more flirtatious personality. 

What about gold and silver?  Gold is a precious metal, and is associated with wealth and prosperity.  Silver can reflect a glamorous and distinguished style. Silver, like gold, also symbolizes riches.  Many Asian cultures revere gold and proudly accessorize and accent wardrobe, homes, offices and business with its brilliance.

If you agree with my premise that localization of color is not a marketing analysis, but a cultural one. Then you can see why this insight can be a powerful factor in globalization and brand management.  Localization of color is a cultural matter that, when well understood, can help global brands succeed and avoid major pitfalls internationally. 

One more thing, can you guess how I answered the question posed by many of my Western guests: “Can we wear black to your wedding?”  Check back for the next segment for the answer...

… Stay tuned for the next Segment of HT Localization Presents Language Translations for Real Life Series, where we’ll take a deeper look at… Localization of Colors Around the World – A Business Perspective

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This article was written by Rachanee Thevenet, Co-Founder of HT Localization.  Rachanee is an Asian-American expat living in Spain with her family.  She loves all things international including food, art, literature, culture, languages and people.  

HT Localization, LLC. is a worldwide translation & localization agency providing a full range of professional language translation services, including social media localization, marketing translations, website translations, software localization, eLearning materials, documentation translations, etc.  With locations in the US, Spain, Zambia & Thailand, and coverage across all languages and most industries, HT Localization is well positioned to provide around the globe services for all translation needs.  

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