What is the colour of happiness?

In western countries, red is for danger. Red is the colour of blood, the colour of fire and the colour of passion. It is the colour used for stop signs and traffic lights. It is also the colour of Mars, the Roman god of war. Red is the colour of anger - 'I saw red!' - and redheads are believed to have fiery tempers. But in China, red is the colour of happiness.

Colours mean different things to different cultures. In the West, black is the colour of mourning, and white is traditionally worn by brides; in China and India, the colour of mourning is white. In Europe, royalty is said to be 'blue-blooded', in Malaysia, royal blood is white.

Compass colours

Among the Pueblo Indians in the United States, colours are associated with the points of the compass. East is linked with white, north with yellow, west with blue, and south with red. The Cherokees associate abstract properties as well as direction with colours: success comes from the east and is red, the north is blue and means trouble, the black west is death, and the happy south is white.

For Westerners, blue is generally a happy colour (unless you have 'the blues'); it is associated with heaven, fidelity and peace. But the strongest curse of the Yezidis of the Caucasus and Armenia, who detest blue, is: 'May you die in blue garments!'