.. Ink colours & their meanings ...

[TMLee]

Hi All ...

Is there some sort of accepted/unspoken meanings correlating to the colour of the ink used ?

 

eg, like red means malice , etc ?

 

Rgds

TMLee

[Roger]

Boy, I sure hope not! If there is, then there's a whole lot of people that are in a whole lot of trouble in a whole lot of people's minds.

[Kees]

There are certain notions connected with certain colors, but I doubt if the same connection exists with ink colors; in ink, for instance, red is a normal color for correcting papers in school, so it would rather mean “I know everything better than you!”. Only the teacher’s victims will perceive that as ‘malice’...

[Keith with a capital K]

I use a wide range of inks and some do have special uses in my work such as black, red, and green for accounting... the green is used for non factorial notations while red and black indicate negative or positive account balances.

 

I tend to colour code all my communications at work and certain colours certainly invoke different responses... browns and greens are very warm and friendly while blacks and dark blues imply more serious / formal communications.

 

Red ink is also mandatory for notations concerning serious medical issues and aside from accounting work, isn't used for anything else.

[KCat]

depends on your location in the world...

 

i don't know the details but I've seen it discussed many times.

 

In Western cultures - I know of no real "conventions" other than those set up by corporations/organizations. Such as blue ink required because you can determine which version of a document is the original.

[Titivillus]

depends on your location in the world...

 

i don't know the details but I've seen it discussed many times.

 

In Western cultures - I know of no real "conventions" other than those set up by corporations/organizations. Such as blue ink required because you can determine which version of a document is the original.

I seem to remember a thread somewhere that talked about some Asian ink color references but I'm at a loss to remember what or where!

 

K H

 

I think it was either red or green being used only for funeral correspondence and writing someone in that color would seem a wish for that person to die.

 

 

Maybe totally wrong but that's what I rememeber

 

 

K H

[Velma]

I tend to use black and blue for formal/official writing, and burgundy/green/brown/king's gold/cayenne for my journal writing. I don't use black or blue often in them, except for the occasional turquoise variant.

 

But I don't think there's any "official" code. (I will note that I'm more likely to write a love letter in a burgundy or warm brown, on cream colored paper, than anything else, though.)

[Ray]

Early in my career I worked in a UK Bank. The company's team of Inspectors (who fulfilled an internal audit role) would add their annotations to branch papers in green ink, which only they were allowed to use.

 

That pretty much put me off green ink for life!

 

Ray

[Carrie]

it was either red or green being used only for funeral correspondence and writing someone in that color would seem a wish for that person to die.

I was always told never to write in red because it is symbolic of writing in blood and so that's why it indicates death.

 

It does annoy me that so many official forms require black ink. I've never liked black ink and so I always end up resorting to borrowing a biro from my dad or trying to remember to bring some Quink black home from work.

[pearlfox]

I remember hearing sometime in my shady past that a letter addressed in red ink is from a lover; I've dim memories that marketers were making use of this to trick recipients into opening letters. But I have nothing to back that up, so feel free to ignore me.

 

But I do recall a bit more clearly the connotation of green ink letters (google for "green ink brigade" if that's not familiar).

[Titivillus]

I remember hearing sometime in my shady past that a letter addressed in red ink is from a lover; I've dim memories that marketers were making use of this to trick recipients into opening letters. But I have nothing to back that up, so feel free to ignore me.

 

But I do recall a bit more clearly the connotation of green ink letters (google for "green ink brigade" if that's not familiar).

As I really like green ink I wasn't about to bring them up

 

K H

[Sonnet]

Carrie wrote:

It does annoy me that so many official forms require black ink. I've never liked black ink and so I always end up resorting to borrowing a biro from my dad or trying to remember to bring some Quink black home from work.

 

I believe the reasoning for requiring black ink on forms stems from the Xerox machines. Black ink photocopies better than even blue ink. This comes both from my personal experiences and my mother's advice. As a nurse, she and her coworkers often have to use black ink for their notes and patients' charts.

 

That being said, I'm not above writing a letter in turquoise, pink, or even orange-red!

[Keith with a capital K]

It should be noted that in some cultures, colours we see as negative (such as red) are associated with good luck and I found that my use of green for finaincial annotations isn't unique.

 

Whenever I find green ink in old pens I guess that the pen may have belonged to an accountant or lawyer as green was also the colour of choice for marking draft copies of documents.

 

I have warmed to using black ink more than I used to as when it's put in the right pen the effects can be quite bold and wonderful. The right pen is often something old with a very flexible fine nib.

[BobR]

I do recall, in my World War II reading, that German government ministers--such as Himmler and Ribbentrop--used only green ink. Perhaps this was a custom even before that era. Green ink is one of my favorites too, I tend to use it to edit documents written with other colors.