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International Color Guide - Columbia

In Colombia, Colors Connect the Physical World and the Peoples Who Occupy it Through Long-Held Traditions.

Each color in the Colombian flag has a powerful and even graphic significance. Gold represents the golden land of South America, which is separated from bloody Spanish rule by the beautiful blue sea. Today, the colors of the country's Liberal and Conservative parties - red and blue - are also represented in the flag.

South American liberator Simon Bolivar carried the colorful Colombian flag during all his battles to eliminate Spanish rule from this area.

North, south, east and west are as connected to color in Colombia as is a citizen's well-being. Among the Cagaba, the indigenous people of the country, east is white and therefore good; west is black and therefore bad. North, the direction from which natives believed illness came from, is also bad. South is red and is a color of good.

According to Colombian folk beliefs, illnesses also have color, no matter what direction they came from. "Light" colored illnesses - white, red and yellow - are curable, while "dark" illnesses - black, blue and green - are incurable. For instance, fevers are red. Extreme weight or strength loss, on the other hand, are black or blue conditions.

White is considered to be a favorable color. It is also the color of the east, a "good" direction. Illnesses that are curable are considered to be white or light.

Black is the color of the west, a bad color and direction. It is associated with incurable illness. But some traditional peoples regard it as the most beautiful color. Others believe a black stone will protect them from death.

The color of the south, red relates to sexuality and is a positive color. Red is also the color of the country's Liberal party.

Yellow is a positive color, representative of light. It is also regarded as a pretty color. The yellow in the flag symbolizes the promise of "golden" America.

Blue is the color of the north. As illness is regarded to have come from the north, it is related to sickness and is the funeral color.

For some native peoples, green is the color of death. It is also regarded as ugly by some.

Orange speaks of sexuality and fertility. Among some native people, a particular bird with orange legs and beak is thought to belong to the sun and have the power to prevent plants from withering.

The Cagaba believe greenish-gray can heal the chills and fever or illness.

Colombian folk beliefs present these colors as "light," and therefore pretty.

Folk beliefs call these colors "dark," and therefore ugly.