Red colour in the English culture

Региональный лингвистический интеллектуальный конкурс

«Шаг в будущее, Электросталь - 2017»

МОУ «СОШ № 16 УИОП »

г.о. Электросталь Московской области

THE RED COLOUR IN THE ENGLISH CULTURE

КРАССНЫЙ ЦВЕТ В КУЛЬТУРЕ АНГЛИИ

Номинация: «социокультурный аспект»

Авторы:

Корунова Лидия

Булыгина Анастасия,

учащиеся 6 класса

Научный руководитель:

Полякова Елена Сергеевна,

учитель английского языка

2017 г.

Contents

Introduction

Colours are all around us and they can mean or symbolize different things. Colors play a very important role in our life.

Each colour has its own meaning in different countries and cultures.

We study English. We like this language and we are interested in the English culture.

We decided to know what colour is the most popular in England.

When we think about England, the first we imagine is the red colour.

That’s why  the theme of our  work is “The red  colour in the English Culture”.

The aim of our work is to find out the meaning of the red colour in the English culture.

To gain the aim we solved the following tasks:

1. to analyze the meaning of the colour to Englishmen according to psychology;

2. to find English red symbols;

3. to learn about English red symbols, their history and meaning;
4. to find red in daily life of English people;
5. to analyze the most common English idioms containing the concept “red”.

The results of the work can be useful both for teachers and for students studying English and trying to understand English culture.

The red colour

Colours are all around us and they can mean or symbolize different things. Colors play a very important role in our life.  Each colour has its own meaning in different countries and cultures.

The color red is associated with fire, sun, human blood. This is a very active, exciting, energetic color.

For the English the colour red is a warm and positive as for the most Europeans. The colour associated with the most physical needs. It expresses a strong and powerful energy. It excites the emotions and motivates to take action.

Being the colour of physical movement, the red colour awakens physical life force.

It is also strong-willed and can give confidence to those who are shy or lacking in will power. It intimates passions in people, such as love on the positive side or revenge and anger on the negative. Englishmen are often used red to express love.

So, the positive keywords of red are: action, energy and speed, attention-getting, assertive and confident, energizing, stimulating, exciting, powerful, passionate, stimulating and driven, courageous and strong, spontaneous and determined.

 And the negative keywords of red are: aggressive and domineering, over-bearing, tiring, angry and quick-tempered, ruthless, fearful and intolerant, rebellious and obstinate, resentful, violent and brutal.

Red symbols

The colour red takes a special place in English life.

It is almost everywhere in England.

Even Napoleon said: "Red is the color of England. I can't stand it".

• The red rose is the national symbol of England. It comes from the history of the country.  This flower has become a symbol since the Civil war which is called The War of Roses. In the 15th century two rich families-the Lancasters and the Yorks-quarreled who must be the king of England. Their armies fought a long war. The Yorks used a white rose as their symbol and the Lancasters used a red rose. The war  ended when the member of the House of Lancaster married a woman from the House of York and became the King Henry VII. He made a red rose with white pedal the symbol of England. Now you can see this rose on all British coins.
• The red cross on the white background is the flag of England. It  is derived from St George's Cross. St. George's Cross has been one of the most prominent and oldest signs of England. The cross has likely represented England since the Middle Ages. St. George's Cross is a symbolic of Saint George, the patron saint of England, adopted as such in the thirteenth century. Saint George is best known for his role in the legendary tale of a terrible dragon who controlled the countryside. Saint George, in order to protect the princess, fought the dragon after fortifying himself with the Sign of the Cross, and demanding the townspeople become baptized Christians. England's Essex village, Worming ford lays claims to the saint and his story, and St. George's Cross and the dragon have become local and national symbols.

St. George is the patron of the country. St. George's day – 23 April in England is considered a national holiday. Many local residents on this day pinned to outerwear red rose – the emblem of their country.

The red flag in the British Navy existed since the 17th century and symbolizes the "call to battle".

    The English flag was officially approved in the sixteenth century, and today, the flag of England forms an significant part of the UK flag's design.

• The Flag of the City of London is based on the Flag of England, It has a centred red St George's Cross on a white background, with the red sword in the the top left quarter The sword is believed to represent the sword that beheaded Saint Paul who is the patron saint of the city.
• The coat of arms of England is a picture of three Golden lions on a red field. It was established under king Richard I the lion Heart.
• Red Coat or Redcoat is a historical term used to refer to soldiers of the British Army because of the red uniforms. From the late 17th century to the early 20th century, the uniform of most British soldiers included a madder red coat or coatee. From 1870 onwards, the more vivid shade of scarlet was adopted for all ranks, having previously been worn only by officers, sergeants and all ranks of some cavalry regiments.

The redcoats today are still used for ceremonial reasons and by the Queens/Kings Guard Regiment (the soldiers who protect the British Monarch).

• The red colour is really royal one. The red is the colour of the British crown. The red is the colour of royal robe.  

The Buckingham Palace is the London residence of British kings. A lot of rooms are red there.

But the red colour is not the official only. It is everywhere, in the everyday English life. 

It is very foggy in England and you can see the red things very well.

• The red double-decker buses in London have become a national symbol of England and British Isles. The majority of buses in London are double-deckers. Right after the Second World War the first double-decker buses were the AEC Regent II and AEC Regent III models. A particularly iconic example was the Route Master bus, which had been a staple of the public transport network in London for nearly half a century.
• Another recognizable red symbol of England is the red telephone boxes. The red telephone box was designed by sir Giles Gilbert Scott (Sir Giles Gilbert Scott) (1880 - 1960).

In 1912, the Automobile Association put their phone kiosks along the roads.

     In 1924 the government had a contest for the best sample of telephone kiosk. The winner was the architect Giles Gilbert Scott.

This design was adopted without reservation, and only subsequently altered in this draft of the London Post Office is the color, which was painted in the booth. The architect planned silver, but the post office chose red, as red telephone boxes can be easily seen even in cloudy English weather.

Booth became famous thanks to its functional design: enclosed cab is designed not only to respect the personal space of the English, but real English, rainy weather, and the red color is easy to spot even in the dense fog.

In 2007, residents of England were asked to choose the main national symbols associated with their state in the world. The honorable first place, the British took the red phone booth.

• Post boxes of London — the symbols of the UK along with big Ben and red phone booth. They will talk about the history of the country no less traditional tourist attractions

The post boxes column appeared in 1853. When one or other of them can clearly stamped on the body the monogram of the ruling monarch. For example, VR indicates that the mailbox of the times of Queen Victoria.

The first post boxes were green. This color was used for the drawers did not stand out in the landscape. However, people started noticing problems with their search. The post was looking for alternatives, and eventually chose a bright red

color. The most popular established design was proposed by architect John Penfold, who for years worked on the invention of the most suitable shape for the column and developed nine different species. A new colour was introduced in 1874 and since then, the "pillars" with the post remained red.

The red colour is the colour of different holidays.

• The red is the colour of Christmas and New Year: a lot of decorations are red; Santa Clause’s clothes are red, etc.
• Red is the traditional colour of St. Valentine’s Day which is very popular with the English speaking people. Men give red roses to women, people wrap their presents into red paper, and almost all the cards contain the red colour.
• Red Nose Day is an important day for Englishmen. Red Nose Day (RND) is a well-known event in the UK. The aim of the day is to raise money for a charity called Comic Relief which helps people in need in Africa and in the UK. On Friday 31 July 1925 the British government agreed to the demands of the Miners Federation of Great Britain to provide a subsidy to the mining industry to maintain miners' wages. The Daily Herald called this day Red Friday; a union defeat four years earlier had been called "Black Friday". It is a holiday and an important date in the British history.

On Friday 31 July 1925 the British government agreed to the demands of the Miners Federation of Great Britain to provide a subsidy to the mining industry to maintain miners' wages. The Daily Herald called this day Red Friday; a union defeat four years earlier had been called "Black Friday". It is a holiday and an important date in the British history.

• Remembrance Day is on 11 November. It is a special day set aside to remember all those men and women who were killed during the two World Wars and other conflicts. Remembrance Day is also known as Poppy Day, because it is traditional to wear an artificial poppy. The red poppy is the symbol of Remembrance Day.
• The red colour is also useful for the school uniform. For example the school uniform in Burlington Danes Academy is red.
• Football is known to be the most favourite sport in England. Englishmen are really crazy about football. They are proud of the fact that England is a Motherland of the game. So, many English football clubs contain the red colour in their emblems and forms, for example, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United Footbal Club. Moreover, the Manchester United club's nickname "The Red Devils".

“Red” in the English language

The word red is very common for the English language. The attitude of the British to the color red is also reflected in language idoms, proverbs and sayings.

The idiom “the red carpet” means special treatment that is given to an important person when they go somewhere. “Roll out the red carpet” is to give an important person a special welcome.

 “Red tape” is about official rules that do not seem necessary and make things happen very slowly, bureaucratic paperwork. “Cut through the red tape” means to come basic point.

 “Catch someone red-handed” to discover someone doing something illegal or wrong. “Red-hot” means extremely hot, very exciting or successful. “Go beet(root) red” or “go as red as a beet(root)” is to become very red in the face, usually because you are embarrassed.

 Also, when one's ears are red from embarrassment Englishmen say “ears are red”, “red in the face” – when someone is embarrassed.

“Be in the red” is to owe money to a bank, to be in debt; “out of the red” means “out of debt”. “Be like red rag to a bull” is used if a statement or an action is like a red rag to a bull, it makes someone very angry. The idiom “not a red cent” means no money at all. “A red eye” means a flight that leaves late at night and arrives early the next morning.

The idiom “a red herring” is about something that takes people's attention away from the main subject being talked or written about.

About special days Englishmen say “red-letter days”. “Be on full / red alert” - if soldiers are on full alert, they know that a situation is dangerous and are prepared to act immediately if necessary. “Red as a cherry” and “red as a poppy” are equal to bright red.

The expression “red as a rose” means intensely red, “red as a ruby” - deep red, “red as blood” - deep red.

Englishmen say “red mist” if someone sees red or the red mist, they lose their temper and self-control completely. The expression “to be shown the red card” means “to be dismissed from job”, “a red neck” means an ignorant, insensitive person. “Red ticket item” means a special item. About people who are usually hot-tempered and high-spirited in England people say “red-headed”.

So, there are a lot of idioms with the concept “red” in the English language.

Conclusion

In the English culture the red colour is really of great importance. You can see the red colour almost everywhere in England. The official and non-official symbols of England are red. A lot of the idioms with the concept “red” are widely used for description of different phenomena and situations in human life in England. It shows how this concept is important for English speakers. The red colour is the colour of England.

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