RED AND GREE

The chairman of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission Issack Hassan on Monday threw the spanner in the works at a time when the country is braced for a do-or-die battle over the proposed law.

The point of a symbol is to "communicate without words". The choice of 'red colour' for the 'No' camp and the 'green colour' for the 'Yes' camp, negates this simple fact, raising allusions of a psychological bulldozing for the Proposed Constitution to sail through or be rejected come the August 4 referendum.

A quick desk research shows that ‘Red’ and ‘Green’ are colours that have many meanings attached to them.

Seeing Red

Designers will readily tell you that ‘Red’ sends extreme emotions: “Heat and fire, speed and zest, blood and excitement, competition and aggression, are all feelings and imagery evoked by the colour red,” notes one website, logosharx.com. Cupid is red! That’s the colour of love. Roses are red. Cute. Then comes the red carpet for the big shots and the red power tie for the society’s rich.

In China, it denotes prosperity, happiness and even good luck! With a green Christmas tree and red décor you have ‘something to smile about.’
On the flipside, the 'No' side could get a “red card” or they’d “see red” or just by voting 'No', a bad omen will be cast over this country come August 4. It’s all about danger, blood, warfare and violence. When the traffic light flashes “red”, it means “stop”, so really, the naysayers can argue, and legitimately so, that they are being stopped in their tracks.

“Studies show that red can have a physical effect, increasing the rate of respiration and raising blood pressure; red also is said to make people hungry (and angry),” notes cmykreative.com.

They went to their Uhuru Park rally adorned in 'red' and flashing 'red cards' to the Constitution. Don’t even start with “red light”? Now, that psychology couldn’t have escaped the IIEC. Or was it an oversight? Or are they marketing the 'No' side? Only they can tell us.

Green a Deal

When it comes to the 'Yes' camp, they were given “green”. Now that’s a deal. Green is the colour of life, the colour of renewal, the colour associated with a habitable environment. It seems like a continuation of the ‘Save the Mau’ campaign, which the whole country backed.

Cmykreative.com argues that green is a colour of “peace and ecology.” Its mental effect, according to the website, is “soothing, relaxing mentally as well as physically, helps alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety, offers a sense of renewal, self-control and harmony.”

Logosharx.com agrees: “It is a kind, generous colour, which represents loyalty and intelligence. It is often a logical choice for financial sites, and represents fertility, healing and ecology in many cultures.”

It adds: “Green has strong emotional correspondence with safety. Dark green is also commonly associated with money.”

So, the 'Yes' camp has been given the “greenlight” to take this country forward, because even at the traffic lights, 'green' means "go"!

But there’s a flipside to that. Green is the colour of envy, yeah, the “green-eyed monster” or inexperience as in “greenhorn”. Some shades of green show ambition and greed alongside oozing jealousy (dark green), and evoke feelings of cowardice or sickness (yellow-green) or even discord.

While Mr Hassan and his team may have gone for the easy option, it is not an accident that the obvious ramifications of their move were, perhaps, ignored.

It is difficult to assume that after seven days of ‘considering’ symbols, this is the best they could get. Is it because this is a government project and even though they feign independence, they are part and parcel of the coalition government, and by extension on a mission to ensure the proposed Constitution sails through?
Or are they all for the “red card” to the document?