A "European Anarchist" attempts to destroy the Statue of Liberty in this 1919 political cartoon.

The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1921, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker (socialist) revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare was focused on national and foreign communists influencing society, infiltrating the federal government, or both.

First Red Scare (1919–1921)[link]

The first Red Scare began following the Bolshevik Russian Revolution of 1917 and the intensely patriotic years of World War I as anarchist and left-wing social agitation aggravated national, social, and political tensions. Political scientist, and former member of the Communist Party, Murray B. Levin wrote that the "Red Scare" was "a nation-wide anti-radical hysteria provoked by a mounting fear and anxiety that a Bolshevik revolution in America was imminent—a revolution that would change Church, home, marriage, civility, and the American way of Life."^[1] Newspapers exacerbated those political fears into xenophobia—because varieties of radical anarchism were perceived as answers to poverty. The advocates often were recent European immigrants (cf. hyphenated-Americans). Moreover, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) backed several labor strikes in 1916 and 1917 that the press portrayed as radical threats to American society inspired by left-wing, foreign agents provocateur. Thus, the press misrepresented legitimate labor strikes as "crimes against society", "conspiracies against the government", and "Plots to establish Communism".^[2]

In April 1919, authorities discovered a plot for mailing 36 bombs to prominent members of the U.S. political and economic establishment: J. P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller, Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, and immigration officials. On June 2, 1919, in eight cities, eight bombs simultaneously exploded. One target was the Washington, D.C., house of U.S. Attorney General Palmer, where the explosion killed the bomber, who evidence indicated was an Italian-American radical from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Afterwards, Palmer ordered the U.S. Justice Department to launch the Palmer Raids (1919–21).^[3]

Yet, in 1918, before the bombings, President Woodrow Wilson had pressured the Congress to legislate the anti-immigrant, anti-anarchist Sedition Act of 1918 to protect wartime morale by deporting putatively undesirable political people. Law professor David D. Cole reports that President Wilson’s "federal government consistently targeted alien radicals, deporting them ... for their speech or associations, making little effort to distinguish true threats from ideological dissidents.” ^[3]

Initially, the press praised the raids; the Washington Post said, "There is no time to waste on hairsplitting over [the] infringement of liberty", and The New York Times said the injuries inflicted upon the arrested were "souvenirs of the new attitude of aggressiveness which had been assumed by the Federal agents against Reds and suspected-Reds."^[4] In the event, the Palmer Raids were criticised as unconstitutional by twelve publicly-prominent lawyers, including (future Supreme Court Justice) Felix Frankfurter, who published A Report on the Illegal Practices of The United States Department of Justice, documenting systematic violations of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution via Palmer-authorised “illegal acts” and “wanton violence”. Defensively, Palmer then warned that a government-deposing left-wing revolution would begin on 1 May 1920 — May Day, the International Workers’ Day. When it failed to happen, he was ridiculed and lost much credibility. Strengthening the legal criticism of Palmer was that fewer than 600 deportations were substantiated with evidence, out of the thousands of resident aliens illegally arrested and deported. In July 1920, Palmer’s promising Democratic Party bid for the U.S. presidency failed.^[5] Wall Street was bombed on September 1, 1920 near Federal Hall and the JP Morgan Bank. Although both anarchists and Communists were suspected as being responsible for the bombing, ultimately no individuals were indicted for the bombing in which 38 died and 141 were injured.^[6]

In 1919–20, several states enacted "criminal syndicalism" laws out-lawing advocacy of violence in effecting and securing social change. The restrictions included free speech limitations.^[7]

Passage of these laws, in turn, provoked aggressive police investigation of the accused persons, their jailing, and deportation for being suspected of being either communist or left-wing. Regardless of ideological gradation, the Red Scare did not distinguish between communism, socialism, or social democracy.^[8]

Second Red Scare (1947–1957)[link]

Senator Joseph McCarthy, namesake of McCarthyism

The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939–45), and was popularly known as "McCarthyism" after its most famous supporter and namesake, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with increased popular fear of communist espionage consequent to a Soviet Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade (1948–49), the Chinese Civil War, the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union given by several high-ranking U.S. government officials, and the Korean War.

Internal causes of anti-communist fear[link]

The events of the late 1940s—the trial of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the Iron Curtain (1945–1991) around Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapon—surprised the American public, influencing popular opinion about U.S. national security, that, in turn, connected to fear of the Soviet Union hydrogen-bombing the United States, and fear of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA). In Canada, the 1946 Kellock-Taschereau Commission investigated espionage after top secret documents concerning RDX, radar and other weapons were handed over to the Soviets by a domestic spy-ring.^[9] At the House Un-American Activities Committee, former CPUSA members and NKVD spies, Elizabeth Bentley and Whittaker Chambers, testified that Soviet spies and communist sympathizers had penetrated the U.S. government before, during and after World War II. Other U.S. citizen spies confessed, some with pride, to their acts of espionage in situations where the statute of limitations on prosecuting them had run out. In 1949, anti–communist fear, and fear of American traitors, was aggravated by the Chinese Communists winning the Chinese Civil War against the Western-sponsored Kuomintang, their founding of the People's Republic of China, and later Chinese intervention in the Korean War (1950–53) against U.S. ally South Korea.

History[link]

By the 1930s, communism had become an attractive economic ideology among some in the United States, particularly among labor leaders and the intelligentsia. At its zenith in 1939, the CPUSA had some 50,000 members.^[10] In 1940, soon after World War II began in Europe, the U.S. Congress legislated the Alien Registration Act (aka the Smith Act, 18 USC §2385) making it a crime to "knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become a member of or to affiliate with any such association"—and required Federal registration of all foreign nationals. Although principally deployed against communists, the Smith Act was also used against right-wing political threats such as the German-American Bund, and the perceived racial disloyalty of the Japanese-American population, (cf. hyphenated-Americans).

In 1941, after Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the CPUSA’s official position became pro-war, opposing labor strikes in the weapons industry and supporting the U.S. war effort against the Axis Powers. With the slogan "Communism is Twentieth-Century Americanism", the chairman, Earl Browder, advertised the CPUSA’s integration to the political mainstream.^[11] In contrast, the Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party opposed U.S. participation in the war and supported labor strikes, even in the war-effort industry. For this reason, James P. Cannon and other SWP leaders were convicted per the Smith Act.

In March 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9835, creating the “Federal Employees Loyalty Program” establishing political-loyalty review boards who determined the “Americanism” of Federal Government employees, and recommended termination of those who had confessed to spying for the Soviet Union, as well as some suspected of being "Un-American". The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HUAC) and the committees of Senator Joseph McCarthy (R., Wisc.) conducted character investigations of “American communists” (actual and alleged), and their roles in (real and imaginary) espionage, propaganda, and subversion favoring the Soviet Union — in the process revealing the extraordinary breadth of the Soviet spy network in infiltrating the federal government; the process also launched the successful political career of Richard Nixon, and Robert F. Kennedy,^[12] as well as that of Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy, a freshman Senator who died soon thereafter, realized little political gain from the process.

Senator McCarran introduced the McCarran Internal Security Act of 1950 that was passed by the U.S. Congress and which modified a great deal of law to restrict civil liberties in the name of security. President Truman declared the act a "mockery of the Bill of Rights" and a "long step toward totalitarianism" because it represented a government restriction on the freedom of opinion. He vetoed the act but his veto was overturned by Congress.^[13] Much of the bill eventually was repealed.

The Second Red Scare profoundly altered the temper of American society. Its later characterization as anti-intellectual may be seen as contributory to the popularity of anti-communist espionage (My Son John, 1950) and science fiction movies (The Thing From Another World, 1951) with stories and themes of the infiltration, subversion, invasion, and destruction of American society by un–American thought and inhuman beings. Even a baseball team, the Cincinnati Reds, temporarily renamed themselves the “Cincinnati Redlegs” to avoid the money-losing and career-ruining connotations inherent in being ball-playing “Reds” (communists).

In 1995, the American government revealed details of the Venona Project indicating intelligence gathering by Americans for the Soviet Union from 1940 through 1980.^[14][15]

See also[link]

• American social policy during the Second Red Scare
• Foley Square trial
• History of Soviet espionage in the United States
• Hollywood blacklist
• Jencks Act
• Jencks v. United States
• Kellock–Taschereau Commission
• Lavender scare
• Subversive Activities Control Board
• The Red Decade
• Venona project
• Espionage Act of 1917
• Eugene Debs and Debs v. United States
• The Cold War
• The Reagan Doctrine
• US intervention in Latin America
• Church Committee
• Propaganda in the United States and Government propaganda in the United States
• Psychological Operations (United States)
• Pentagon military analyst program
• War on Drugs
• War on Terror
• Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007
• Patriot Act

References and notes[link]

Notes[link]

References and further reading[link]

Red
— Spectral coordinates —
Wavelength		~620–740[1][2] nm
Frequency		~480–400 THz
— Common connotations —
Aggression, anger, love, negativity, passion, socialism, communism, Valentine's Day, heat, fire, beauty, hunger, leadership, masculinity, injury, danger, blood, Christmas, volcanoes, conservatism (US), error, courage, stop, failure, drug intolerance, wrong way, death, Christianity, war
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#FF0000
sRGBB	(r, g, b)	(255, 0, 0)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths discernible by the human eye, in the wavelength range of roughly 630–740 nm.^[2] Longer wavelengths just past this range are called infrared (below red) and cannot be seen by the naked eye although they can be sensed as heat. In some cultures, certain shades of red are used to symbolize anger or aggression.

It is the color of blood when it is exposed to sunlight. In western countries, it is most commonly referred to as a color of evil, love, and sometimes, though rarely, happiness.

Etymology and definitions[link]

The word red comes from the Old English rēad.^[3] The word can be further traced to the Proto-Germanic rauthaz and the Proto-Indo European root reudh-. In Sanskrit, the word rudhira means red or blood. In the English language, the word red is associated with the color of blood, certain flowers (e.g., roses), and ripe fruits (e.g., apples, cherries). Fire is also strongly connected, as is the sun and the sky at sunset. Healthy, light-skinned people are sometimes said to have a "ruddy" complexion (as opposed to appearing pale). After the rise of socialism in the mid-19th century, red was used to symbolize and describe revolutionary movements.^[4]

In science[link]

Red blood cell agar

Colorimetry, color science, photography[link]

Red is any of a number of similar colors evoked by light, consisting predominantly of the longest wavelengths of light discernible by the human eye in the wavelength range of approximately 630–700 nm.^[2] Longer wavelengths just past this range are called infrared, or below red, and cannot be seen by human eyes, although they can be sensed as heat.^[5] Red's wavelength has been an important factor in laser technologies; red lasers, used in early compact disc technologies, are being replaced by blue lasers, as red's longer wavelength causes the laser's recordings to take up more space on the disc than would blue-laser recordings.^[6] A main theory for why primates developed sensitivity to red is that it allowed ripe fruit to be distinguished from unripe fruit and inedible vegetation.^[7] This further drove other adaptations taking advantage of this new ability, such as red faces.^[8] Red light is also used to preserve night vision in low-light or night time situations, as the rod cells in the human eye are not sensitive to red.^[9][10] Red is one of the three additive primary colors of light, complementary to cyan, in RGB color systems. Red is also one of the three subtractive primary colors of RYB color space, but not of CMYK color space.^[11]

One common use of red as an additive primary color is in the RGB color model. Because red is not by itself standardized, color mixtures based on red are not exact specifications of color either. The United States government sets certain specifications for what paints to use when red is stated in a design.^[12] In order for computers to produce exact colors, the color red needs to be defined in terms of an absolute color space, such as sRGB^[13] color correction (so that a standardized red is produced that is not in fact the full intensity of only the red colorant).

Red illumination was (and sometimes still is) used as a safelight while working in a darkroom as it does not expose most photographic paper and some films.^[14] Though many more modern darkrooms use an amber safelight, red illumination is closely associated with the darkroom in the public mind.

Lasers[link]

Lasers emitting in the red region of the spectrum have been available since the invention of the ruby laser in 1960. In 1962 the red helium-neon laser was invented,^[15] and these two types of lasers were widely used in many scientific applications including holography, and in education. Red helium-neon lasers were used commercially in LaserDisc players. The use of red laser diodes became widespread with the commercial success of modern DVD players, which use a 660 nm laser diode technology. Today, red and red-orange laser diodes are widely available to the public in the form of extremely inexpensive laser pointers. Portable, high-powered versions are also available for various applications.^[16] More recently, 671 nm diode-pumped solid state (DPSS) lasers have been introduced to the market for all-DPSS laser display systems, particle image velocimetry, Raman spectroscopy, and holography.^[17]

In nature[link]

Mars possesses a distinct red color, particularly when seen up close

Mars is called the Red Planet because of the reddish color imparted to its surface by the abundant iron oxide present there.^[18] Astronomical objects that are moving away from the observer exhibit a Doppler red shift. Jupiter's surface displays a Great Red Spot caused by an oval-shaped gigantic storm south of the planet's equator.^[19] Many elements exhibit a red color when burned: calcium, for example, produces a brick-red when combusted.^[20]

Oxygenated blood is red due to the presence of oxygenated hemoglobin.^[21] When used to describe natural animal coloration, "red" usually refers to a brownish, reddish-brown or ginger color. In this sense it is used to describe coat colors of reddish-brown cattle and dogs, and in the names of various animal species or breeds such as red fox, red squirrel, red deer, Robin redbreast, Red Grouse, Red Knot, Redstart, Redwing, Red Setter, Red Devon cattle, etc. This reddish-brown color is also meant when using the terms red ochre, red hair and Red Indian. The red herring dragged across a trail to destroy the scent gets its color from the heavy salting and slow smoking of the fish, which results in a warm, brown color. When used for flowers, red often refers to purplish (red deadnettle, red clover, red helleborine) or pink (red campion, red valerian) colors.

Red is associated with dominance in a number of animal species.^[22] For example, in mandrills, red coloration of the face is greatest in alpha males, increasingly less prominent in lower ranking subordinates, and directly correlated with levels of testosterone.^[23] Red can also affect the perception of dominance by others, leading to significant differences in mortality, reproductive success and parental investment between individuals displaying red and those not.^[24] In humans, wearing red has been linked with increased performance in competitions, including professional sport^[25][26] and multiplayer video games.^[27] Controlled tests have demonstrated that wearing red does not increase performance or levels of testosterone during exercise, so the effect is likely to be produced by perceived rather than actual performance.^[28] Judges of tae kwon do have been shown to favor competitors wearing red protective gear over blue,^[29] and, when asked, a significant majority of people say that red abstract shapes are more "dominant", "aggressive", and "likely to win a physical competition" than blue shapes.^[22] In contrast to its positive effect in physical competition and dominance behavior, exposure to red decreases performance in cognitive tasks^[30] and elicits aversion in psychological tests where subjects are placed in an "achievement" context (e.g., taking an IQ test).^[31]

Symbolism[link]

Emotions[link]

Artificial red poppies, worn in some countries to commemorate those who died in war

Red is used as a symbol of guilt, sin, passion, and anger, often as connected with blood or sex.^[32] A biblical example is found in Isaiah: "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow."^[33] Also, The Scarlet Letter, an 1850 American novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, features a woman in a Puritan New England community who is punished for adultery with ostracism, her sin represented by a red letter 'A' sewn onto her clothes.^[34] This all comes from a general Hebrew view inherited by Christianity which associates red with the blood of murder,^[35] as well as with guilt in general. Often, objects meant to scare will be red.^[36] Another popular example is the phrase "caught red-handed", meaning either caught in an act of crime or caught with the blood of murder still on one's hands.^[37] At one one point, red became associated with prostitutes and brothels (red-light districts).^[38][39] In Roman Catholicism, red represents wrath, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. In Christianity, Satan is usually depicted as colored red and/or wearing a red costume in both iconography and popular culture.^[40] Statistics have shown that red cars are more likely to be involved in accidents.^[41]

The color red is associated with lust, passion, love, beauty, and danger. The association with love and beauty is possibly related to the use of red roses as a love symbol.^[42] Both the Greeks and the Hebrews considered red a symbol of love as well as sacrifice.^[43] Psychological research has shown that men find women who are wearing red more attractive.^[44]

Courage and sacrifice[link]

Red is used as a symbol of courage and sacrifice, as in blood spilt in sacrifice, or courage in the face of lethal danger.^[45] Examples are found in the flags of many nations, including the United States, as well as in the novel The Red Badge of Courage, in which a soldier in the American Civil War discovers the meaning of courage.^[46] In Christianity, red is the liturgical color for the feast of martyrs, representing the blood of those who suffered death for their faith. It is sometimes used as the liturgical color for Holy Week, including Palm Sunday and Good Friday, although this is a modern (20th century) development. It is also the liturgical color used to commemorate the Holy Spirit (for this reason it is worn at Pentecost and during Confirmation masses). Because of its association with martyrdom and the Spirit, it is also the color used to commemorate the Apostles (except for the Apostle St. John, who was not martyred, where white is used), and as such, it is used to commemorate bishops, who are the successors of the Apostles (for this reason, when funeral masses are held for bishops, cardinals, or popes, red is used instead of the white that would ordinarily be used). In Roman mythology red is associated with the god of war, Mars.^[45] A Roman general receiving a triumph had his entire body painted red in honor of his achievement.^[47] Red was also the traditional color of the uniforms worn by the British Army, and such British soldiers were often known as Redcoats. The phrase "red-blooded" describes someone who is audacious, robust, or virile.^[37] In Edward de Bono's book Six Thinking Hats, a red hat represents feelings and emotions.^[48]

Warning[link]

Stop sign used in various countries. The shape and color red is used nearly universally today.^{[citation needed]}

Red sky at night, sailor's/shepherd's delight.

Red catches people's attention and can be used either in a negative way to indicate danger and emergency, in a positive way in advertising to gain more viewers, or in nature, as a ripe fruit announces its ripeness by its red color.^[49] Several studies have indicated that red carries the strongest reaction of all the colors, with the level of reaction decreasing gradually with the colors orange, yellow, and white, respectively.^[50] Because of this, red is often used to catch people's attention in a variety of situations (see: penalty card).^[51]

The port, or left, side of a sea-faring vessel carries a red navigation light to warn other vessels approaching from that side to change course to avoid a collision.^[52] Red light is scattered the least among all colors of the visible spectrum and therefore reaches the greatest distance. Therefore, it is used to indicate "stop" in traffic signal lights.

Red in different cultures and traditions[link]

This section contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

In China, red (simplified Chinese: 红; traditional Chinese: 紅; pinyin: hóng) is the symbol of fire and the south (both south in general and Southern China specifically). It carries a largely positive connotation, being associated with courage, loyalty, honor, success, fortune, fertility, happiness, passion, and summer.^[53][54] In Chinese cultural traditions, red is associated with weddings (where brides traditionally wear red dresses) and red paper is frequently used to wrap gifts of money or other objects. Special red packets (simplified Chinese: 红包; traditional Chinese: 紅包; pinyin: hóng bāo in Mandarin or lai see in Cantonese) are specifically used during Chinese New Year celebrations for giving monetary gifts. On the more negative side, obituaries are traditionally written in red ink, and to write someone's name in red signals either cutting them out of one's life, or that they have died.^[54] Red is also associated with either the feminine or the masculine (yin and yang respectively), depending on the source.^[54][55] The Little Red Book, a collection of quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-Tung, founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC), was published in 1966 and widely distributed thereafter.

In Japan, red is a traditional color for a heroic figure.^[56] In the Indian subcontinent, red is the traditional color of bridal dresses, and is frequently represented in the media as a symbolic color for married women.^[57] The color is associated with purity, as well as with sexuality in marital relationships through its connection to heat and fertility.^[58] It is also the color of wealth, beauty, and the goddess Lakshmi.^[45]

In Central Africa, Ndembu warriors rub themselves with red paint during celebrations. Since their culture sees the color as a symbol of life and health, sick people are also painted with it. Like most Central African cultures, the Ndembu see red as ambivalent, better than black but not as good as white.^[59] In other parts of Africa, however, red is a color of mourning, representing death.^[60] Because red bears are associated with death in many parts of Africa, the Red Cross has changed its colors to green and white in parts of the continent.^[61]

The early Ottoman Turks led by the first Ottoman Sultan, Osman I, carried red banners symbolizing sovereignty, Ghazis and Sufism, until according to legend he saw a new red flag in his dream inlaid with a crescent.

In sports[link]

Teams throughout the world wear red on their uniforms. Numerous national sports teams wear red, often through association with their national flags. These include teams from Spain (with a soccer team nicknamed La Furia Roja or "The Red Fury"), Belgium (whose football team bears the nickname Rode Duivels or "Red Devils"), other examples being teams from England, Wales, Canada, Denmark, Tonga, Chile, Puerto Rico, Russia and Switzerland.

Major League Baseball is especially well known for red teams.^[62] The Cincinnati Red Stockings are the oldest professional baseball team, dating back to 1869.^[63] The franchise soon relocated to Boston and is now the Atlanta Braves, but its name survives as the origin for both the Cincinnati Reds and Boston Red Sox. During the 1950s when red was strongly associated with communism, the modern Cincinnati team was known as the "Redlegs" and the term was used on baseball cards. After the red scare faded, the team was known as the "Reds" again.^[64] The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are also known for their color red, as are the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, and the Philadelphia Phillies.

In the NHL, red jerseys are worn by the Detroit Red Wings, Washington Capitals, Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Phoenix Coyotes, and the New Jersey Devils.

In association football, teams such as Manchester United, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Arsenal, Toronto FC, and S.L. Benfica primarily wear red jerseys. Other teams that prominently feature red on their kits include AC Milan (nicknamed i rossoneri for their red and black shirts), AFC Ajax, Olympiacos, River Plate, Atletico Madrid, and Flamengo. A red card is issued to a player who commits a serious infraction: the player is immediately disqualified from further play and his team must continue with one less player for the game's duration.

In rugby union, Ireland's Munster rugby, New Zealand's Canterbury provincial team and the Crusaders Super 14 rugby side wear red as a major color in their playing strips.

In the NFL, teams with a shade of the color red as the primary color of either the team's dark "home" jersey (or an alternate thereof) or its "throwback" jersey include the Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs, New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Redskins.

The Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team uses a deeper shade of red called wine. A fellow National Basketball Association team, the Los Angeles Clippers, wears red uniforms for road games, as do the Chicago Bulls, Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, and the Houston Comets of the WNBA. A similar shade to the Cavaliers' tone (known in this instance as claret) is used by the English association football teams Aston Villa, West Ham United, and Burnley.

In boxing, red is often the color used on a fighter's gloves. George Foreman wore the same red trunks he used during his loss to Muhammad Ali when he defeated Michael Moorer 20 years later to recuperate the title he lost. Boxers named or nicknamed "red" include Red Burman, Ernie "Red" Lopez, and his brother Danny "Little Red" Lopez.

Rosso Corsa is the red international motor racing color of cars entered by teams from Italy. Since the 1920s Italian race cars of Alfa Romeo, Maserati, Lancia, and later Ferrari and Abarth have been painted with a color known as rosso corsa ("racing red"). National colors were mostly replaced in Formula One by commercial sponsor liveries in 1968, but unlike most other teams, Ferrari always kept the traditional red, although the shade of the color varies.

On flags[link]

The red flag of the Soviet Union

Red is one of the most common colors used on national flags. The use of red has similar connotations from country to country: the blood, sacrifice, and courage of those who defended their country; the sun and the hope and warmth it brings; and the sacrifice of Christ's blood (in some historically Christian nations) are a few examples. Red is the color of the flags of several countries that once belonged to the former British Empire. The British flag bears the colors red, white, and blue; it includes the cross of Saint George, patron saint of England, and the saltire of Saint Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, both of which are red on white.^[65] The flag of the United States bears the colors of Britain,^[66] the colors of the French tricolore include red as part of the old Paris coat of arms, and other countries' flags, such as those of Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, carry a small inset of the British flag in memory of their ties to that country.^[67] Many former colonies of Spain, such as Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Peru, and Venezuela, also feature red-one of the colors of the Spanish flag-on their own banners. Red flags are also used to symbolize storms, bad water conditions, and many other dangers. Navy flags are often red and yellow. Red is prominently featured in the flag of the United States Marine Corps.

The red on the flag of Nepal represents the floral emblem of the country, the rhododendron.

Red, blue, and white are also the Pan-Slavic colors adopted by the Slavic solidarity movement of the late nineteenth century. Initially these were the colors of the Russian flag; as the Slavic movement grew, they were adopted by other Slavic peoples including Slovaks, Slovenes, and Serbs. The flags of the Czech Republic and Poland use red for historic heraldic reasons (see Coat of arms of Poland and Coat of arms of the Czech Republic) & not due to Pan-Slavic connotations. In 2004 Georgia adopted a new white flag, which consists of four small and one big red cross in the middle touching all four sides.

Red, white, and black are the colors of Pan-Arabism and are used by many Arab countries.^[68]

Red, gold, green, and black are the colors of Pan-Africanism. Several African countries thus use the color on their flags, including South Africa, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Ethiopia, Togo, Guinea, Benin, and Zimbabwe. The Pan-African colors are borrowed from the flag of Ethiopia, one of the oldest independent African countries.^[68][69] Rwanda, notably, removed red from its flag after the Rwandan Genocide, because Pan-Africanism was so strongly associated with the event and because of red's association with blood.^[70]

The flag of Japan has a red circle in the middle. The flag of the Philippines has a red trapezoid on the bottom signifying blood, courage, and valor (also, if the flag is inverted so that the red trapezoid is on top and the blue at the bottom, it indicates a state of war). The flag of Singapore has a red rectangle on the top. The field of the flag of Portugal is green and red.

Use by political movements[link]

As early as the 9th century, the Khurramites (successors to the Mazdak religion and proto-communists in the Middle Ages of the Middle East) used red as their symbol for revolution. Even before Europe's Revolutions of 1848, Socialist red was used as a color of European Revolutionaries, often in the form of a red flag. It was also used by Garibaldi's camicie rosse (redshirts) in the Italian Risorgimento, and taken up by Leftist and generally revolutionary groups, while the white of legitimist Bourbon partisans became associated with pre-World War I conservatives. The red color recalls the term "blood of the workers", representing the suffering of the proletariat. For instance, the Civil War in Russia and the Civil War in Finland were fought between the Red Army and various White Armies.

Members of a People's Republic of China military honor guard.

The identification of Communism with Socialist red (with the red flag being the primary color of the flag of the Soviet Union) and the red star being a Communist emblem led to such Cold War phrases as "the Red Menace" and "Red China" (as distinguished from Nationalist China, "Blue China" or "Free China"). China's de-facto anthem under Mao Zedong was "The East Is Red".^[71] Mao Zedong was sometimes referred to as a "red sun".^[72] The color was also associated with political vehicles such as the Red Guard in China and the Red Guards during the Russian Revolution of 1917 as well as with left-wing paramilitary terrorist groups such as the Red Army Faction in Germany and the Japanese Red Army. Red remains associated with parties on the left of the political spectrum.

Social-democratic political parties throughout the world, particularly in Europe, are most commonly symbolized by the color red. Red is also the color associated with the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico.

In the United States, red is associated with the center-right Republican Party and blue with the Democrats – a reverse of the traditional European scheme. This convention is relatively recent: before the 2000 presidential election, media outlets assigned red and blue (the colors of the American flag) to both parties, sometimes alternating the allocation for each election. Fixed usage was established during the 39-day recount following the 2000 election, when the media began to discuss the contest in terms of "red states" versus "blue states".^[73]

Food and drink[link]

Pommes d'amour

Most red foods derive from one of two sources. Plants like apples, strawberries, cherries, tomatoes, peppers, and pomegranates are often colored by forms of carotenoids, red pigments that were originally developed to assist photosynthesis.^[74] Red meat gets its color from the iron found in the myoglobin and hemoglobin in the muscles and residual blood.^[75]

Social and special interest groups[link]

Such names as Red Club (a bar), Red Carpet (a discothèque) or Red Cottbus and Club Red (event locations) suggest liveliness and excitement. The Red Hat Society is a social group founded in 1998 for women 50 and over.

Use of the color red to call attention to an emergency situation is evident in the names of such organizations as the Red Cross (humanitarian aid), Red Hot Organization (AIDS support), and the Red List of Threatened Species (of IUCN).

Corporate design[link]

Red is associated with a number of worldwide companies and brands which use the color prominently on their logos and advertisements, presumably because it is conspicuous and attracts attention. These include:

Airline logo

Car rental logo

Soft drink logo

Airline logo

Gas station logo

Cigarette logo

Store chain logo