Color Orange Meaning – The Hidden Language of Orange

Orange is one of the more intense colors. But lately, it is used more and more widely in home decor, fashion, and even brand kits. But actually, what is the color orange meaning?

Since in the last article we covered the meaning and usage of yellow, now it’s the time for its sister – orange.

Even if these colors are next to each other on the color scheme, their meanings are drastically different. Yet, the two of them together make us think of the sun!

Even if orange and yellow are such a happy marriage, we need to separate them for a while. Just to be able to precisely analyze the color orange meaning.

Color Orange Meaning

What do you think when looking at vibrant and intense orange? I think for instance of energy and enthusiasm. These are some of the basic meanings of orange.

Orange also stands for adventures and no wonder why. A person wearing eye-catching clothes in this color for sure longs for some attention 😉

Yet, other than energy, enthusiasm, and adventurous spirit orange has many more meanings. They will vary depending on the occasion, too, but primarily on the shade.

That’s why to make it easier, I’ve analyzed the most common shades of orange. I figured out their meaning after some research and my experience with colorful fashion. (Man, it’s been almost 10 years since I started dressing up as a clown, would you believe this? :)).

The Most Common Associations with Orange

• bravery and adventures
• energy and vitality
• creativity
• danger

The last one did surprise me when I found it in some articles and also few of my friends had this association too.

Yet, that makes sense – if somebody wants to warn you, and therefore catch your attention, they will most probably use orange (or red if they want to be more aggressive). Even at the light stop, the middle one is orange, saying: “It is not red yet, but hey, be prepared and watch out”.

But, honestly, how do we know if orange means danger, and not for example creativity anymore? It seems that it all depends on the shade. Shade determines the color orange meaning. Let’s explore the most popular ones and see what they mean.

Pastel Orange

Pastel orange is gentle and subtle – yet, still has some of the casual, intense orange.

This shade symbolizes growing creativity and likeness. It is so subtle, that it completely loses the association with danger or energy.

The majority of pastel colors are rather feminine and have a girly vibe. Yet they can be used just as well for a baby shower palette for a boy. When we want to be creative and skip the timeless baby blue, of course 😉 Colors do not have genders in English (they do in Polish and orange is female, just if you wondered by any chance haha), but as far as pink is more associated with girls and blue with boys, orange stays neutral.

Pastel orange loves being in a palette with other pastels, but its favorite is yellow- since it is its neighbor on the scheme – or blue – since it is exactly the opposite.

It will look the best on women who have summer beauty type, but when you ask me – I do not know a person who would not look pretty wearing pastel orange.

Carrots and Pumpkins

Did you smell autumn just like me after reading this? Exactly! These are pretty similar to each other shades of orange and they both mean autumn and coziness.

But also, what might be interesting, they mean vitality – even if nature rather “dies” in the autumn, pumpkins and carrots are having their best season – maybe that’s why. I wouldn’t know, I’m not a gardener. I might call my all-knowing grandpa to confirm this info. 🙂

Well, it does not matter how we interpret the origin of this association – these two shades of orange mean vitality and I think it’s beautiful.

These warm, yet not crazily vibrant shades are always trendy, especially in the winter and the autumn season. They expose the autumn beauty type and make the warm undertones pop out. So a coat in this color might not be such a bad idea.

If you want to warm up your apartment, use some details in these shades of orange – for example, pillows or candles.

Neon Orange

This one, as you might have noticed, clearly means courage or – depending on the context – danger. It can play well as an accent color, yet should be used in moderation if picked as a main color.

Unless of course you desperately want some attention 😉

In fashion, such an orange can be connected with just as vibrant blue or easied dows with gentle pastels – like, for example, cantaloupe.

Neon orang is certainly adventurous, yet as every neon shade, can hit your eyes pretty badly, to speak metaphorically. So – be careful with that one! There is a difference between brave and happy fashion and fashion hurting your eyeballs.

You can play around with this shade however you want, but if you want to incorporate neon orange into your home, I think using it as an accent color will be perfectly enough.

Cantaloupe

When I first heard this name, I thought it was the name of an island – well, that makes sense, this shade of orange certainly makes you think of a paradise! Especially when connected with other colors into a timeless color palette – turquoise, vivid yellow, and our lovely cantaloupe.

This gentle shade of the color orange meaning is vitality, yet just subtly – it does not need to scream like a neon orange to be heard 😉

It is such an elegant color that you can use it with pretty much every other one and still look fashionable.

The beauty type that will look best in this shade is spring – its pigments will expose the warm undertones of the skin and hair.

If you want to give a more intense vibe to your outfit, connect cantaloupe with aubergine or bright blue – it will look amazing.

Ginger

Ginger, like many different shades of orange, is autumnish. Not only does the majority of ginger heads fall into the autumn beauty type, but simply it makes you think of this season and cozy leaves falling down the alley.

Ginger orange means bravery. There is this stereotype that girls with red ginger hair are brave ones – now you know where it has its origin.

Ginger can be used as a main color in home decor to create a cozy vintage vibe. Used in outfits will look best in autumn coats, sweaters, and thinner dresses.

When you use it in home decor, you will give a message about bravery and elegance. It is certainly a decent shade – you can even use it as a main color.

Color Orange Meaning in Flowers

Receiving orange roses is a rare situation – maybe because they mean a combination of fascination, desire, and energy – so something between friendship and love. And nobody likes to be in between!

So, jokingly said, when you receive orange roses, then you can assume you are in a situationship 😉

Other than roses, you can find orange chrysanthemum flowers in the bouquets. These flowers mean excitement! So if you receive a bouquet with them and other flowers, you might assume the giver is excited about you. OR – if next to the orange flowers, you see the yellow ones – you could think that he indeed is excited… about your friendship.

If you want to know more about yellow flowers, which are more common than orange ones, make sure to check this article.

The other interesting flower that often can be met in orange variation is calendula. I’ve heard that it means grief and in other cultures it means thankfulness. So, again, it depends on the context – and if the person you’re giving it to is alive, I guess.

Color Orange Meaning in Home Decorating

Orange will serve you well as an accent color – it increases energy and creativity. Yet, you do not want to overwhelm the space with this color, unless you are aiming at pastel or cantaloupe shades. Then you can go all the way in 🙂

If you compose orange with yellow in your home, you will achieve the bright effect of a sunset. Very romantic and cozy indeed!

Yet, if you want to give it a more modern vibe, you can use more gentle shades of orange and balance them out with vibrant accents, for example, blue or purple.

Not everybody likes orange though – the neon one feels too heavy for some. Yet, if you do like this color, let that not stop you from using it in your home in any way.

If you want to sprinkle some adventurous spirit, go with more vibrant shades. If you want to stay classy, but still give your home some energy and creativity, choose brighter ones.

The best way to add some “spice” to your home is to invest in cute pillows (that’s what we did lol), like these autumn ones.

Color Orange Meaning in Outfits

The fashion world used to underestimate orange, just because it might seem to be hard to style.

Luckily, nowadays orange appears more and more in the outfits of people around us. And I love this! We need this fun orange energy out there, don’t we? 😉

If you are going to an important meeting, adding a bit of orange to your outfit can communicate that you are an energized and optimistic person. Majority of the workplaces need that! But one should always consider the dress code of a company, no matter if it is written down or not.

Darker and more autumn shades will give you an elegant look and possibly send a message – I know the etiquette. I mean, you can communicate that by simply presenting good manners, yet a little bit of the right color, never harmed anybody.

I have experienced many times how much power colorful clothes have. So if you want to defeat the gloomy weather and stay productive despite it – wear orange!

Here’s where you can get the vibrant orange tie – my husband has one and it is probably the craziest tie he has in his collection haha

And if you want to add some brave color to your work outfit, try out this skirt. It is similar to mine, just… better 🙂

For small doses of orange, I recommend these sweet earrings – I’ve worn mine for 3 years now and they serve me well. They also have blue ones and orange and blue are always a happy marriage.

Grab an Orange 🍊

Now, since you know precisely what is the color orange meaning, you are ready to use any shade of it with awareness.

Use this color playfully – squeeze out its vibrant energy just like the juice out of an orange. Who does not like freshly squeezed orange juice?

I hope I’ve managed to pass you some of my love for this not-so-famous color. I believe that along with understanding the color orange meaning should come an appreciation for this shade of sunset. Now, grab an orange and enjoy the flavor!

Which shade of orange is your favorite and why? Type your answer in the comment.