Do you want to know all the secrets of coral colour? In this article we are going to reveal all of them to you.
If you are a designer, painter, illustrator, publicist, interior decorator or simply want to know more about the colour coral, here you will find everything you need to know about it, its symbolism, its uses in advertising, the emotions it is usually associated with and much more.
What is the colour coral? What is the colour of coral?
Coral, a bold and vibrant colour, is named after the marine animals known as corals or polyps.
It is a colour that is both stimulating and relaxing at the same time, which is why it is widely used in interior decoration.
It is the result of combining various amounts of orange, pink and red. Depending on these quantities, we will obtain different shades of coral ranging from “coral pink” to “coral red“, each with its own particular characteristics.
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of coral? Probably beaches or tropical paradises.
This mysterious colour has a rich history associated with exotic travel, sailing and exploration.
Considered a lucky colour for many centuries, Victorians used coral jewellery as a protective talisman. Other cultures, such as the Chinese, thought coral was believed to promote longevity and prosperity.
If you are looking for an attractive colour for your website or social media photos, coral is a safe bet, as it is a colour that looks very vivid on the screen and conveys a very positive feeling.
More sophisticated than orange, less feminine than pink and less aggressive than red, coral strikes a wonderful balance between the different warm tones of the colour spectrum.
All these characteristics make it a versatile colour choice. As coral combines a number of warm colours, it is enveloping and comforting, when combined with cooler, bolder tones, such as cobalt blue or teal, to offset its warm character.
If you want your brand to convey warmth, enthusiasm and positive energy, coral is a colour that you should take into account and that will help you, without any doubt, so that your business or company does not go unnoticed.
Coral colour in the colour spectrum
On the traditional colour wheel, coral is not usually present. This is because coral is a mix of two colours that do appear on the colour wheel: orange and pink. Coral appears more often in contemporary colour wheels, between orange and red or orange and pink.
Historically, coral used to appear on the wheel closest to red or purple, with just a light dose of pink or yellow to brighten it up.
In 16th-century colour books, coral often appears more red or orange than pink. However, contemporary coral tends to be softer and brighter, falling somewhere between orange and pink.
The colour family of coral varies, depending on whether it is red coral, orange coral or pink coral. Most modern viewers consider coral to be an orange-pink shade, which places it in the orange colour family, on the softer side of the spectrum.
What does coral go with?
The shade of coral you choose will determine what its complementary colour is, as coral pink is not the same as coral orange.
Coral red or the more intense coral pink goes perfectly with teal green, teal blue or turquoise because the complementary colour to red is green.
The purest and most vivid blues, such as sky blue or aqua blue, complement orange corals.
Coral and blue combinations evoke warm, tropical climates with beaches and crystal clear waters.
The colour coral in fashion
For the past few years, the colour coral has been a fashion trend. Both men and women use this colour in combination with white and green tones. Different shades of coral and different garments that are still successful in today’s looks.
RGB codes for the coral colour
If you work in web design, application development or any other profession related to the digital world,
You should know that coral is both relaxing and stimulating, with a mysterious and exotic touch, making it ideal for themes such as travel, beauty and lifestyle.
Orangey-pink coral #ED7464 is soothing and feminine and goes perfectly with a wide variety of colours.
The #FF7F50 provides a more vibrant orange coral that conveys optimism and vitality, while #FF4040 is a bright shade of red coral, bringing extra energy and vibrancy to your colour palette.
Meaning and symbolism of the colour coral
Colours have the ability to convey different emotions and sensations to each person.
Of course, the psychology of colours is not an exact science, as each person has a different way of interpreting the world, and the colour that provokes an emotion for one person is totally indifferent to others.
The meanings of each colour also vary depending on the culture.
These are some of the meanings and sensations that are associated with the colour coral.
Protection
In the Renaissance, coral amulets were worn to protect against harm. For optimal protection, many wore coral jewellery around their necks. Some paintings even included images of the infant Jesus wearing coral jewellery, so it has also been considered a sacred colour.
Spirituality
Coral also has links to spirituality and is an important colour in both Hinduism and Buddhism. In Hindu philosophy, the red hue of coral represents the Muladhara chakra. This colour is associated with the roots and the earth, and also represents the place where the Kundalini energy sits in the spine.
Intuition
Intuition is a sixth sense, the ability to be open to life and to perceive those details that escape reason and logic. Coral is associated with this sixth sense, this openness to the experience of life, which is why it is so appreciated in different spiritual currents.
Personality associated with the colour coral
Each colour is associated with different personality traits. Coral, a warm colour, is associated with closeness, assertiveness, openness to experience, extroversion.
A person whose favourite colour is coral is often bold and adventurous but at the same time calm, patient, self-confident, a person who knows when to make decisions and when to let go.
They are usually balanced people, who transmit harmony and well-being to all beings around them.
The cheerful and positive character of people who identify with the colour coral makes people always want to be around them.
History of the colour coral
Coral as a precious material has a long history. The oldest red coral jewellery dates back to 3000 BC, to the Mesopotamian civilisation.
Coral first appeared as a name for a pinkish-red colour in English in the early 16th century.
Coral jewellery, named after the colourful skeletons formed by the reef-dwelling polyps, was worn by the ancient Egyptians and Romans. The latter believed that they gave the wearer the power to resist evil and temptation.
The association of coral with protection lasted until the Renaissance. Many paintings from this period depict the infant Jesus with a coral amulet, for example.
Later, coral jewellery became fashionable in the Victorian era, when the romanticism of tropical exploration was at its height.
It was also popular during the 1920s, when artisans incorporated the material into Art Deco jewellery. It became popular again during the hippie years of the 1960s and 1970s. In general, coral is still fashionable as a colour of adornment.
In the 1970s, a taste for all things orange and pink led to the constant use of coral tones in interior design, fashion and beauty.
The stars of the disco era popularised coral-coloured cosmetics, with lips, eyes and nails adorned in shades of orangey-pink.
Today, coral remains a popular colour for beauty products. It’s believed to give the wearer a warm, flattering glow, mimicking a natural, healthy flush.
The use of coral in marketing, advertising and social media
If you’re in marketing or advertising, you can’t overlook the potential of the colour coral to evoke different emotions in your audience.
Coral is an adaptable and versatile colour choice for marketing to a wide range of genders and age groups.
Also, the colour coral is positive as it is associated with holidays and leisure.
Take advantage of coral’s carefree personality in social posts or email campaigns with a positive and optimistic message.
It’s evocative, enveloping and immediately transports you to the tropics and paradise beaches, which helps convey positive energy to your audience before they read your message.
Red corals have a stronger, more assertive energy. Make them appropriate for business by pairing them with cooler colours on the spectrum, such as navy blue or teal.
Coral pink is a soft, elegant colour choice for cosmetics or lifestyle advertising. More contemporary than pure pink, coral is feminine without being too feminine.
A final tip: because coral conveys relaxation, it may be unsuitable for messages that require urgent action, such as flash sales or limited-time offers.
For these cases, we recommend that you opt for stronger shades of coral such as coral red to inject more strength and urgency into the design, or combine it with an energising shade such as bright orange or navy blue.
If you want to convey confidence, warmth, closeness and positivity right from the start, coral is the colour you’re looking for.
Add it to your advertising campaigns and you’ll discover the potential it has to immediately grab attention and connect with your audience.
Pantone’s colour of the year 2019
Pantone is a company dedicated to the identification, comparison and classification of colours for use in the graphic arts of all kinds.
The colour system, called “Pantone”, is known worldwide and is especially important in the world of printing.
In 2019, Pantone chose coral as the colour of the year because of the vitality and energy it conveys.
PANTONE 16-1546 is the code for LIving Coral, the exact shade of coral that was chosen.
What is a coral?
By their appearance, many people think of corals as some kind of marine plant, but what is coral?
The coral refers to a group of hundreds or thousands of polyps, a type of multicellular organism that we could classify as “animals” since they do not manufacture their own food, as plants do, but obtain it directly from the water, trapping it with their tiny tentacles.
Not all coral polyps feed on the same thing. Some catch small fish or plankton, while others only eat algae.
In the case of stony or hard corals, these conglomerates of polyps grow, die and endlessly repeat the cycle over time, gradually laying the calcareous foundations of coral reefs and shaping the familiar corals that reside there.
Because of this cycle of growth, death and regeneration among individual polyps, many coral colonies can live for a very long time.
Want to know more about the details of other colours? Check out our articles on colour psychology where we explain the meaning, symbolism and uses of the main colours.
