Imagine explaining to someone from another culture that the sky is blue—and they look at you as if you had just claimed that the sky is made of cheese. Welcome to the wonderful world of color words!
Colors are not universal – they are cultural
Colors are everywhere – but not every language sees them the same way. While we easily distinguish between “blue,” “green,” and “turquoise” in English, there are languages that have only one word for all of them. Others, on the other hand, make distinctions that would never occur to us.
Want an example? In Japan, there is the word “ao,” which was traditionally used for both blue and green. Traffic lights? The green phase is often referred to as “ao shingō” – meaning “blue light.” Sounds confusing? It is. But it shows that colors are not just what we see – they are also what we say.
And it gets even more exciting: there are millions of different wavelengths – but of course not the corresponding number of color names.
So our language filters what we name – and thus also what we consciously perceive.
How many colors do humans need?
Linguists have asked themselves: is there a system behind color words? The answer: yes, and it’s pretty clever.
The famous theory by Berlin and Kay (1969) states that languages develop color words in a specific order:
- Black & white (or dark & light)
- Red
- Green or yellow
- Blue
- Brown
- After that: purple, pink, orange, gray, etc.
This means that if a language only has three color words, they are almost certainly black, white, and red. Why red? Because it stands out—blood, berries, sunsets. Red is evolutionarily important.
And today? Berlin & Kay’s theory is still being discussed—it is considered a milestone in linguistic research, even though modern studies show that cultural influences are stronger than originally thought. Nevertheless, their basic idea remains fascinating: language structures our perception.
Colors are more than words
Colors influence how we think, feel, and act. In Western cultures, green often stands for “go,” nature, safety. In other cultures, however, it can also be associated with illness or death. Gray seems neutral or serious to us – in China, it can symbolize mourning. And red? It can mean anything from love to danger to happiness – depending on where you are.
And what about LTS?
Now we’re getting specific: the colors red, green, and gray are not only culturally interesting – they are also the colors of LTS. And that fits perfectly:
- Red: the color of energy, attention – but also warning. It challenges us to take a closer look.
- Green: Symbol of growth, balance, and progress. It stands for solutions that lead
- Grey: the color of neutrality, technology, and clarity. It connects without imposing itself.
Three colors, three meanings—and a system that shows that even though every language sees colors differently, they all speak to us.
We CARE. We CREATE. We DELIVER.
Picture: CANVA
