The Colors of Halloween
Photo Credit: Elizabeth Hansen
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November 4, 2011 • Elizabeth Hansen, Online Editor
Filed under Student Life
From glowing pumpkins sitting on porches to plastic bats beating lifeless wings through the air, Halloween is known for their symbolic colors of orange and black. Growing up dressing in costumes and indulging in candy corn, many of us have never actually stopped to think about how these colors came to be the staple of the creepy holiday.
Since Halloween was originally a festival to celebrate good harvests, the orange comes from the vivid colors that come alive in the fall. It is also believed that the orange came from pumpkins, which is a must for the holiday’s celebrations. The black comes from the negative connotations of darkness, death, and trick-or-treating at the end of the day. So that’s the real story, but what did students at Coronado believe?
Sophomore McKenna Green thinks, “They’re black because black is an evil color, and orange because pumpkins are orange!” Green’s thoughts were correct, matching up with the real stories to the holiday’s symbolic hues. Other Coronado students weren’t quite there yet though.
“I think that the Halloween colors are black and orange because pumpkins are orange and zombie guts are black,” Sophomore Brittney Dean said. Dean took a very unique approach to the situation, letting her fascination in the fantasy side of Halloween shine through in her speculations.
Freshmen Tyeisha Williams took a cheerier attitude when answering the question. “The colors are black and orange because black is a dark color, and orange is a bright color, so after you see black and you get all sad, you see orange and you’re happy again!” Williams speculated with a smile.
Sophomore David Kopper might not be as jubilant, but he certainly has a crazy imagination when it comes to the creation of the main colors. “Obviously, the colors are black and orange because when all the frightened men used to see ghost way back when one was not considered insane for such sightings, the ghosts were always translucent and white; which, when the men turned and ran the other direction, left a black after-image, leading to the choosing of black as the main Halloween color,” Kopper continued, “Orange, the much less important color as everyone knows, comes from the setting sun in the night sky just before the ghosts all show up for their annual ghostly masquerade dance party!” Even though his conjectures aren’t close to being correct, it is still a fun thought to consider.
Dark spiders hanging on cotton ball webs, bright pumpkins grinning as children pass, and plastic zombie hands guarding overflowing bowls of candy are just a few of the little things that we tend to overlook that makes the holiday what it is. So next time you’re out on the 31st, make sure to take in all the creativity around you, and remember why the colors of the holiday make it what it is.
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