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Color Theory for Presentations: A Detailed Guide for Non-Designers

Color theory is a common conversation topic for graphic designers as its rules guide every aspect of a quality-crafted project. We can ask ourselves then: does color theory apply to presentation design? The short answer is: definitely yes.

To elevate the impact that your presentations can have, we designed this guide, intended to help people who are not necessarily knowledgeable in graphic design. We will cover in detail what color theory is, how different color schemes make a psychological effect on your target audience, recommended color schemes and pairings, and accessibility rules. Also, you can find two step-by-step examples in the final section on how to craft high-quality presentations by following these rules.

Table of Contents

Color properties and models

• On primary, Secondary, and Tertiary colors

Color temperature

Why do we use color theory, monochromatic, complementary, rectangle or tetradic, split complement, accessibility rules for color theory, black: luxurious, sexy & powerful, white: fresh and clean, silver: innovation and modernity, red: power, action & confidence, blue: trustworthiness, stability & safety, yellow: happiness, energy & attention, green: money, health, nature & luck, purple: wisdom, creativity & ambition, brown: strength, security & isolation, orange: uplifting, attention & energy, pink: girly and romance, case study 1: creating a presentation with contrasting values, case study 2: create a presentation for eco-friendly purposes, case study 3: create a vibrant presentation to engage your audience, final tips for proper usage of color theory in presentation design, what is color theory.

We can resume color theory as guidance on color mixing and combinations for achieving harmonious results, but to truly understand color theory, we must understand the concept of color itself.

The initial findings and research on color date back to ancient Greece , where Aristotle understood colors as “a mixture of light and darkness,” but discordances were seen in the way the human eye was able to perceive the phenomenon of color. Demokritos understood colors as the energy emitted from self-radiating objects but could not be extracted for artistic purposes. For philosophers like Plato, color was perceived after the rays emitted by the self-radiating objects collided with “pure rays” placed in the human eyes by the gods. Therefore the perception of “color” mainly depended on the properties of those rays (size, strength, and speed). 

Even if we can criticize such simplistic approaches to color perception these days, the truth is those definitions aren’t that far from contemporary concepts. The color theory formalization process started with the findings of Leone Battista Alberti, referring to the mixture of colors as an infinite process in which other hues are created, but recognized only four true colors: red, blue, green, and grey. For Alberti, white and black were alterations in different colors.

The works of Leonardo da Vinci were geared toward the interaction of light and shade, where white represented the light and black the absence of color. This formulation was adequately analyzed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666 when he observed that white light was composed of the entire spectrum of colors present in the rainbow. His experiment, made using two prisms, proved that light lacked any proper color on its own, but “color” was a human perception of the range of energies emitted when light fulfilled these three premises:

• It had a medium for propagation: air, water, etc.
• It involved interacting with at least two elements: an object and light.
• It had a spectator whose rational interpretation was able to “decode” the energy into a “color.”

The direct consequence of Newton’s findings is the method by which we can analyze a color’s properties.

• Hue : How is the color perceived (if it is blue, red, yellow, etc.).
• Saturation : Also known as Intensity, it refers to how vivid color is. The more saturation it has, the stronger the color it will be. The lower the saturation value is, the more grayish the color would look.
• Value : Speaks of the amount of light present in color. Colors with considerable amounts of light are referred to as Tints , whereas colors lacking light are known as Shades . 

Thanks to these properties, colors can be classified according to their interaction with each other in two big models:

• Additive color model : This is where RGB comes from. Red, Green, and Blue make the primary colors as they are the colors available in the photoreceptors of the human eyes. Since white is conceived as the combination of red, green, and blue in equal parts, any ratio alteration creates the different colors we can perceive. Hence, black is defined as the removal of the three primary colors. This theory was conceived by James Clerk Maxwell and is fundamental for any kind of visual media.
• Subtractive color model: This model refers to CYMK, the acronym being Cyan, Yellow, Magenta, and Black. It is called subtractive as the concept behind it is purely physics-based. If we take the light spectrum and mix it with pigments, certain pigments absorb part of the light spectrum before letting the light bounce. Therefore, light waves are “subtracted” from the original light source when the color reaches the viewer’s eye. For instance, white objects lack pigments; that’s why the full spectrum reaches the object and can be perceived as white. As you add more pigments, you subtract more light waves from the light source, getting to the point where an object is perceived as black (hence why the letter K is in the acronym). 

Now, these two different color perception models are applied in various mediums. As mentioned above, the RGB color range from the additive color model is used in visual media, such as computers and television. Up to 16.7 million colors can be created from this model, and the methodology for this is by mixing each channel (red, green, and blue) in a range from 0 (least saturated) to 255 (most saturated). 

The CYMK color range from the subtractive color model is used for print media in a broad range of options: paper, textile, dyes, ink, etc. Unlike the RGB mode, CMYK is heavily restricted to an estimated 16k possible colors. Since CMYK is based on pigments, the conformation of each color is expressed in percentages for each tint.

On Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Colors

We have approached a great deal of information, but what about what the teacher told us about “primary” and “secondary” colors in school? Well, let’s blame artists for this. 

During the 18th century, discussions about color vision came to the convention that all elements were made out of three primary colors: red, yellow, and blue. This was due to the belief that these three tints could mix all the other colors perceived by the human eye. The RYB model distinct red, yellow and blue as the primary colors , where the mixture of these hues produces the secondary colors : orange, green, and violet.

Tertiary colors result from mixing a primary and a secondary color but include a higher ratio of the primary color. By doing that, you end up with these colors:

• Blue-green (Teal) = Blue + Green
• Yellow-green (Chartreuse) = Yellow + Green
• Red-orange (Vermilion) = Red + Orange
• Red-purple (Magenta) = Red + Purple
• Blue-purple (Violet) = Blue + Purple
• Yellow-orange (Amber) = Yellow + Orange

Although lighting professionals typically coin this concept, the truth is we can classify colors by their “temperature.” For artists and any kind of visual/printed medium, color temperature is a relative concept that relates to how cold or warm a color is perceived and the psychological effects linked to it.

Why is the color temperature a relative concept? Simple, it’s strictly related to the color in proximity to it. For example, if we take a wine color sample (red-violet) and put it close to a blue-colored object, the wine color will be perceived as warmer . On the other hand, if we take that same sample and place it next to a red thing, the wine color is observed as cooler due to the presence of blue pigment.

As a convention, colors can be classified according to their temperature as:

• Warm colors : Red, yellow, and orange hues
• Cool colors : Blue, blue-green, and violet hues

Some colors are “in-between” as they can both be warm or cold. Examples of these are pink, green, and gray.

In a later section, we will analyze the impact color temperature has on psychology and its usage for transmitting emotions in a message.

As in any discipline, we need a framework to provide quality results. Color theory is the consequence of centuries of research made by thinkers, scientists, and artists about the behavior of color and the human psyche. 

This framework ensures we work under visually harmonic results for the desired outcome. Correct usage of color theory can elevate a design to its maximum potential. Although, we should consider that design is not the ultimate reason why the research on color and its theorization happened in the first place. In 1879 Odgen Rod published Modern Chromatics , the first scientifical publication made by a physicist about color theory taking notions from Jack Clerk Maxwell’s postulates. His work inspired the creation of a color standardization system, resumed in the 1912 book Color Standards and Color Nomenclature by Robert Ridgway.

In a different line of research, color representation was an idea often revisited during the 18th and 19th centuries. 3D shapes displayed the different hues, shades, and tints: spheres, pyramids, and cones. Eventually, the method was inefficient for any respectable academic or professional work. It was by the hand of professor Albert Munsell (creator of the Munsell Color System, still used to date) that a proper relationship between hue, saturation, and value was established. His discoveries involved a rigorous methodology in which the three color properties were expressed in percentages as a “rational way to describe color” – contrasting with the traditional (and misleading) color naming system.

Munsell’s first findings were published in his 1905 Color Atlas , improved later in the 1929 Munsell Book of Color . The impact of Munsell’s research was that his system was almost instantly adopted by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for soil research and later on by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) for the standardization of skin and hair colors in forensic pathology. Other known usages of Munsell’s system include dental restoration practices (for defining dental pieces’ tint) or comparing digital media to human color vision.

A final application of color theory and the one that mainly involves us in crafting presentations came from the findings of art theorist and artist Wassily Kandinsky . He established the nexus between colors and the effect on human behavior – a study that later evolved into the discipline of Color Psychology . His perception of the spirituality found in art is heavily used to date in marketing as specific colors were able to alter the mood of the audience. We will elaborate on this topic in a later section of this guide.

Types of Color Schemes

In this section, we will explain in detail each of the color schemes. Consider this article on color mixing for presentations as complementary information about tips for how to balance the color ratio and how to select a scheme.

A monochromatic color scheme applies a single color with variations in shades and tints. This kind of scheme is often found in house paint palettes, and the overall effect is consistency.

Whereas it lacks contrast to make it look “vibrant,” the monochromatic scheme is one of the preferred choices of many designers as simply you cannot go wrong with it. It takes the decision of color matching out of the scene, and you can play with different shades and tints of the same hue to make transitions, highlight an element, etc.

The analogous color scheme works with a pairing of the main color and the two directly next to it in the color wheel. One example we can take is an analogous scheme of blue with blue-green and green. 

Overall, it is a color scheme that can be applied in most scenarios without harsh dynamic range impact. Its expected usage is for logos or branding, looking for a harmonic result in which the different colors blend together to convey a message.

If you want to create an impactful contrast, this is your color scheme. The complementary color scheme uses two colors directly across the color wheel. Any other tints or shades relevant to those two colors can also be used. 

And here’s why color theory is critical when approaching a presentation design. How would you actually use the colors in this complementary color scheme? 50/50? If that’s your initial guess, you are awfully wrong.

To preserve harmony in the composition, the advisable route is to consider one color as the predominant and the second contrasting color as the accent . The different tints and shades can be used in similar proportions, always as subordinates of those two. 

The complementary color scheme is ideal for graphs, charts, and infographics. Its striking contrast makes elements outstand; thus, it’s advisable not to overload the balance between predominant and accent. One part can be colored in the accent color, then tints and shades of that color make the different points of the graph. The predominant color becomes the background for that presentation.

The tetradic color scheme defines a rectangle area where the four corners are the selected colors for the palette. It is one of the schemes that oughts to be used with extreme caution.

As a result of this selection process, we end up with two bold tones, and two muted ones, which are secondary colors related to the first ones. To apply the rectangle color scheme, start by making one color dominant . Balance the rest of the colors as subtle accents for different sections. To avoid its overwhelming effect, you can use either black or white (depending on your selection of colors) to tone down the color explosion.

Mobile development is a fine example of applying a tetradic color scheme, where we can see menus with cards in different colors. Keep a close eye on it; you will subtly find the other three tones in each card. Companies like Google or Microsoft use tetradic schemes for their logos, as it boosts the idea of diversity and openness.

The triadic color scheme is trendy in flyers design and is also known to produce the best colors for presentations. Since all colors are equally distant in the color wheel, you get a high contrast composition; however, the best part of this color scheme is to play with the softer tints each color has as it gets closer to white.

Say you pick blue-violet as the dominant color. Yellow-green will be the color to contrast that blue-violet for a balanced look (red-orange if your take was to make it highly vibrant), so you can use either 100% yellow-green or a softer tint of it for different parts of your design. Then, the red-orange becomes a hue to add dynamism to the composition in attention-grabbing details. 

The square color scheme is a bolder version of the rectangle color scheme. Coining the idea of even spaces between colors, you end up with dramatic changes in hues while preserving one primary color, which is one of the reasons why web designers often pick this color scheme. 

For correctly applying this scheme, we suggest you pick the darkest hue as the dominant color , then gradually introduce the others using the 60-30-10 rule for a balanced composition. Using white or black as the predominant color is an alternative, whereas the others picked by the square color scheme make the composition pop.

Finally, we have the Split Complement or Split Complementary color scheme, which resembles a tree structure. This scheme picks a primary color. Instead of selecting its direct complementary, it opts for a split in which the two colors are chosen on each side of the complementary color. 

This kind of scheme is ideal for infographics and presentations since you balance the high contrast of the Complementary scheme with two subtler but intense colors. The second reason why so many users are fans of this scheme is that it keeps a proper balance between warm and cool colors. 

Let’s assume red-violet is going to act as the base color . Then blue-violet can be used to enforce some shadow areas and yellow to bring life to the composition in a striking way. Since the contrast can be overwhelming, be mindful about the dosage of color you apply, and mostly: choose the base color with care . As an extra note, you can use a tint of the selected base color if you consider the chosen one is far too bold (e.g., if you picked yellow as the base color).

Color isn’t the answer to every project. Even if you consider the first step of picking the proper color scheme for your design is done, there are some extra rules you ought to check to ensure design accessibility . We cannot be more clear about this topic: if your design doesn’t follow the basic accessibility rules, all that hard work was done for nothing. Why? Let’s consider the following scenario.

You designed a presentation. The slides are done and ready to be projected for your audience. After the conference started, people in the back rows complained they could not understand what was written in your slides. Or worse: they get confused when trying to visualize graphs. And this doesn’t just affect people with visual impairments (which you should always consider when designing your slides) – different lighting conditions can hinder your own presentation performance from your workspace if the color contrast isn’t appropriate.

Therefore, we will resume the principal guidelines for accessibility that concern color theory:

• Contrast foreground and background : To ensure your presentation is readable, apply a color contrast of 4.5:1 for placeholder text and 3:1 for titles. This also applies if the text was rasterized as part of an image. You can see the difference below between what’s considered a faulty contrast and a well-made pairing.
• A word of caution : Please look at the font color’s overall lightness. There’s a specific reason for not using 100% lightness because it causes visual discomfort to the user.

• Don’t assume people understand color the same way: As we’ve seen above, the perception of color is subjective and can be influenced by factors that can be both psychological, physiological, or even educational. Let’s take a classic as an example. A form section that says, “Required fields are in red.” Whereas this can be simple to understand, a person with daltonism or achromatopsia (total color blindness) won’t even know where to look. Instead, use a visual cue to help the user understand where to look, such as “Required fields are marked with an *.”
• Test designs in different sizes: Something that can be seen as balanced on a printed paper or computer screen may be overwhelming when reduced to mobile format. It’s a good practice to test the color schemes in different screen sizes to be confident users can read and understand our content, regardless of the medium they use.

Psychological effects associated with effective color theory application

Even though the naming is relatively recent, color psychology is the discipline that understands the relationship between color and human interaction. So significant is the importance for this study area that food packaging doesn’t happen accidentally, as improper color usage can alter how you perceive that food. Marketing, interior design, gaming industry, graphic designers , and so many other industries apply the guidelines of color psychology in their daily production to grant consumer satisfaction. 

This section will explore the intrinsic messages that color can transmit and how our presentations can benefit from that.

As an easy term, black can be understood as the absence of color. People can also interpret black as the lack of light or the technical fact that black can absorb the entire light spectrum.

Since we can analyze the color meanings by its positive and negative associations, we start with the positive feelings oozed by the color black. It is a direct message of sophistication and luxury. People instantly associate black with the color of tuxedos, black limos, and many spy-themed movies. 

The black color also speaks of power, and it’s not without a cause, as court dresses historically have been black. Banking institutions reserve the black color for their premium members’ cards.

Negative connotations of the color black are feelings that evoke depression. This can be easily fixed by a sound, contrasting presentation color palette.

Opt for a black-themed presentation if you wish to transmit exclusivity, a VIP product or service for your audience. Gold accents work perfectly for this kind of topic, although somewhat cliché. Instead, you can work with ochre and coffee tones with subtle white accents to make the design tridimensional. Use texture images, such as carbon fiber, to reinforce the message of something luxurious that can elevate the customer’s standards.

Word of advice: not all black colors are precisely “black” – You can find warmer blacks, which work best with ochre tones, and cooler blacks that get along best with silver/gray hues.

White speaks of purity, of something clean and innocent, hence why it is the main color picked for wedding dresses, baptisms, or hotel bedding. White also transmits minimalism, which is why nordic styling often pairs warm wood with matte white finishes for table lamps or furniture. It has a conveyed message of austerity.

As a color, technically speaking, is the full spectrum of light without being bounced. Therefore, white can be understood as a blank state, a new beginning of sorts. Its simplicity makes easier the effort to craft a presentation, so that’s the reason behind many users opting for classical white-predominant themes.

Negatively speaking, white can evoke bad feelings for those who have photophobia (intolerance to harsh lights) due to its striking contrast. Remember the recommendation above for not using pure 100% lightness in the white text? The same applies here for backgrounds unless you have a keen desire to hurt the spectators’ eyesight. Lower the value of white to 80-90% if your presentation is going to be purely white-based, and use 100% lightness for accent details if you prefer.

Pure white can also be perceived as dull, so pairing it with another hue is necessary for specific industries for quality presentation design.

Silver or gray (depending on whether it resembles a metallic look) is a color of grace and modernity. It transmits a message of a change of direction, as light can bounce off it. Hence, professionals use it not just for technological aspects but also mental health as you feel all mental blocks are getting lifted.

It is a color often associated with wealth – its direct relationship with the silver metal – and thanks to being shiny, clean, and alluring, it is associated with everything modern and hi-tech. 

Whereas it can be seen as a perfectly balanced color, it can easily be misused and fall under the bland side of the color spectrum. Melancholy and loneliness are negative feelings sometimes associated due to the lack of a prominent hue on them. Don’t be fooled by such a statement as there aren’t two equal grays in the world: put two gray color samples side by side, and you’ll notice the subtle differences in hue.

It is a color that dignifies, speaks of maturity, and a well-organized scenario. The corporate world uses this color in almost every scenario without even relating that embedded message, and at the same time, it reinforces the meaning. 

In color psychology, the primary colors are the ones that transmit the most powerful messages. Red conveys the fiery energy that fuels power and confidence. It is a color with a duality no other hue can express, and we will analyze why.

On a positive note, red is associated with love and passion. The image of a woman wearing a red dress or holding a red bottle of perfume not just seeks to evoke passion but to present the woman as a confident person, capable of making her own choices to shape her future. She is the coveted element of desire, not by her sex but by the ideal of power she can transmit. 

Traditionally, red is the color of power in cultural scenarios. The Academy Awards attendants and nominees walk over the “red carpet.” Political parties use the color red for their logos. Anyone who sees the color red can instantly associate with the brand Ferrari and their Cavallino Rampante logo. 

Physiologically, red is powerful enough to produce these physical effects:

• Elevate blood pressure
• Enhance metabolic rate
• Increase heart rate
• Induce hyperventilation
• Increase appetite

That’s why using red is not something to take for granted. Abusing the usage of red in a presentation can cause discomfort, whereas proper usage of red makes it engaging and dynamic. Remember that red is also the color used for signage in the case of “danger,” “stop,” “fire,” and several other negative connotations.

Be cautious when using pure red as your dominant color. Sometimes it’s best to play it safer and opt for a shade or a tint not so predominant in the message.

Blue is a color that instantly uplifts productivity. Commonly found in nature as in the daytime sky or water, it inspires serenity in the spectator, building confidence to become more productive. 

One of the reasons blue is so commonly used in designs is because it’s felt as something conservative. Like you cannot go wrong when using blue or pairing blue with another color. That’s another sign of how much of an intense presence blue has in our daily life that we feel natural to pair blue with another hue. 

As one of the primary colors, blue creates a strong feeling of stability and safety. Businesses, banking institutions, and health centers use blue to transmit their values of professionalism and trustworthiness. Psychologically, blue has the opposite effect to red regarding pulse rate, so it’s not unusual to find blue hues in offices requiring much concentration time. 

Negatively, blue is associated with sadness, as in the common saying “feeling blue.” Pure blue schemes can seem detached to some audiences; therefore, opt for a Split Complement , Analogous , or Rectangle color scheme to make it look attention-grabbing. Some schemes pairing blue shades with ochre, brown, or orange can transmit the message of luxury when done with subtlety. 

As the final primary color, it’s bright and intense, becoming one of its main usages as an attention-grabber. In general guidelines, we must not overuse yellow as a color in designs since it quickly builds visual fatigue. Physiologically, that has been related to the amount of lighting it emits in comparison with other colors (hence, its similar performance to white in cases of photophobia). However, we must not forget yellow can also increase the metabolic rate.

Yellow can get perception dualities as we’ve seen with red: some people find it cheerful, inspiring happiness and energy (e.g., SpongeBob SquarePants character), and others perceive it as absolutely annoying. That’s due to the attention-grabbing factor, so we must apply it carefully in presentation design.

Due to it being a stimulating color, we would recommend using tints of yellow as background color if yellow is a must. Avoid pure yellow at all costs. Some people interpret the yellow color as aggressive, and your presentation conveys the wrong message. Psychologically, it has been studied that conceited people prefer yellow color , whereas introverts react negatively to it. Instead, use a color scheme that pairs yellow with a less dramatic color, and apply yellow as the accent color of your scheme.

Is there any other instant connotation for green besides nature, outdoors, and ecology? Green is distinguished as a refreshing color and associated with health and eco-friendly practices.

As a combination of the steady blue and the happiness-booster yellow, green mellows the soul, taking us to a relaxing atmosphere. This is why designers create “green spaces” inside office buildings – becoming critical in dense capital cities with limited outdoor places to unplug from work. 

Historically, humanity has associated green with different values:

• Money : Currency bills, such as the US dollar.
• Health : There are cultural associations of the color green with fertility, eating healthy, the agricultural industry, and living stress-free.
• Nature : The outdoors, green energy, eco-friendly organizations.
• Luck : A four-leaf clover, casinos, winning.

On the other hand, there’s the common saying that one can be “green with envy”, or relate to motion-sickness. Thankfully, that’s not the message green transmits when used in the design.

Before applying green to your slides, remember it’s not the same message you send when using an olive green (that speaks of elegance and earthiness) as when using an aqua green (freshness, sports). Be mindful when picking the green hue and research its own meaning before using the color because you just like it.

Although this color is associated with feminist movements these days, purple historically speaks of wisdom and creativity. It has an embedded message of ambition due to its cultural references to royalty and the clergy. You may ask yourself why if black is associated with the luxurious, we say that purple is the color of royalty. Well, the answer to that question we have to speak about a dye named Tyrian purple , with an insanely costly procedure that only allowed the extremely wealthy population to wear clothes in that color.

Changing perspectives, we can speak of the purple color from a creative aspect as a color that boosts inspiration. Its link to spirituality is well-documented, and one of its most controversial usages is the work of artist Francis Bacon in Study after Velázquez’s Portrait of Pope Innocent X . Also, purple is a color associated with courage. The Purple Heart medal is a military decoration of the United States awarded in the name of the US President to those wounded or killed during service. 

The shades of purple can evoke exotic perceptions, from wine to delicate flowers such as orchids to precious gemstones such as Amethyst. 

Since it’s not a color felt as natural by humans, we can create vibrant presentations on different topics that take the user away from conventionalism. 

Brown is a color commonly used for outdoor adventures or to introduce all-terrain experiences in isolated places. Being the color usually associated with earth, it’s not a surprise to find the values of strength and reliability linked to the color brown, even if it’s not a color easy to manage as it leans towards both orange and yellow. 

Warmth, comfort, and security are feelings transmitted by the color brown for its close relationship with nature. That could explain why security firms opt to include brown in their branding strategies and pair it with black to enforce the importance of “securing the valuables.” 

To apply it in presentation design, it is a color that must be balanced in a complementary or split complementary scheme, preferably with a blue tint. Orange can bring far too much energy to the scene, so use the combination of brown + orange with caution (the same rules apply with brown + yellow).

Depending on where its hue leans, we can say orange can be an uplifting color on an extremely attention-seeking one. The strong-red oranges are used for attention, such as in signage, whereas yellow-orange speaks of happiness, of being carefree. The “ideal” orange – such as the one in the photo above – is a color that transmits the feeling of energy, leading parcel delivery companies to use it for their marketing strategies. 

As a highly energetic color, it’s often found in uniforms for sports, mascots, energy drinks, etc. People associate orange with summer and autumn: spectacular sunsets, orange juice, flowers, and so on. For the Asiatic culture, orange is a spiritual color that speaks of meditation, leaving materialism behind and Buddha. For Americans, orange is linked to Thanksgiving and Halloween. 

Thankfully, orange is a color easy to pair in most scenarios as it blends with a multitude of colors. Still, we recommend it to mute the pure orange, opting for a sophisticated shade of it and leaving the intense orange hues as accent colors. 

Last but not least, we will speak about the pink color. It is a color associated with the feeling of kindness, love, and femininity. A broad range of shades transmits different messages: whereas pastel pinks can evoke tenderness, a vibrant shade of pink such as magenta can be observed as aggressive by some audiences. 

Joyful, pink is a girly tone that makes you feel integrated. As if you achieved your most desired dreams and you celebrate the outcome surrounded by your loved ones. For artists, it is a vibrant color that contrasts with often “dull” colors such as gray and black for interesting composition values.

If you can look aside the simplistic “girl” color concept, it’s a refreshing color that instantly takes people to a feeling of inspiration and renewal. 

Case studies for color theory

In this final section of the article, we will use four different case studies to explain why some color selections are made in regard to sending the viewer a message with the presentation. Please keep in mind that most presentation templates are fully editable; therefore, if you love a design, but you don’t feel comfortable with its color range, you can change the color palette for ppt presentation by making a custom theme in PowerPoint .

This first case study involves a medium-sized company that seeks to automatize its candidate selection process for the HR department through AI technology. As not every single member in the managerial area is convinced about this idea, the HR department prepared what’s known as a force field analysis presentation . 

Thanks to the force field analysis model, the HR department presents the initiative, its driving forces (being the Pros of the initiative), and the restraining forces (the cons of this initiative) are easy to identify and represent with the help of a force field analysis slide template .

In a Complementary color scheme, the elements that weigh on the decision are represented in two colors: sapphire blue for the driving forces and orange-red to expose the restraining forces. Since we talk about something corporative, the same sapphire blue was used for the initiative area, not influencing the palette with another color.

Conducting the analysis from a color psychology perspective, the orange-red is attention-grabbing enough for people not to ignore the cons that this project can experience over time, whilst also reflecting an energetic resistance to change. Sapphire blue, on the other hand, speaks of professionalism. Of trusting the process in the decision to make since it’s time to move on and pursue bigger horizons – and the current selection process for new personnel is both time-demanding and often not tailored for certain departments.

In our second case study, a waste management company is visiting potential customers to offer their services whilst also educating company owners on the importance of treating production waste with the care it requires. 

This next slide introduces the ecology of waste management, in which, depending on the original materials, there are multiple methods to repurpose waste rather than piling it up in open outdoor spaces.  

The waste management presentation template used features a Monochrome color scheme in shades and tones of green. The greens used are not also randomly selected:

• Dark green used in the title and accent effects speaks of the fact that waste can be repurposed into money, and that fact can easily become a driving force for customers to change their waste management policies.
• Bright green in the accent sections and number of slides refers to rebirth. Of giving new life to what’s considered decay.
• Pale green in the cogwheels and placeholder text percentages is a symbol of peace. Remembers the audience that being mindful about the final destination of our production processes is part of having a corporate social responsibility.
• Mint green is a signal for refreshment. Of lifting taxing decisions and outsourcing from people knowledgeable in the subject.

With this case study, you can appreciate how slide color schemes can reinforce the message to transmit without filler words.

The next case study to analyze comes from a group of young software developers presenting their skills to a customer for a web design project. Despite not having a large trajectory in the industry, their team is well-balanced between experienced developers and creative designers to meet the demands of their clients.

This programming presentation template is the chosen asset to introduce their services visually compellingly while also listing their project portfolio.

A fine example of a Split Complementary color scheme, no doubt. The color selected was yellow-red, using blue and violet as the other two colors that made up this scheme. Since yellow is far too intense, it’s left as the accent color for some sections, and the background is a darker blue leaning towards blue-violet. The vector images follow suit by combining the colors selected in the palette, using gradients and lighter tints. 

The question becomes now: what about the aqua tone? Sometimes, designers can combine color schemes inside a design to balance the overall composition. Since yellow would be too much attention-grabbing, and the presence of blues and violets is covered, there is a secondary usage of the Analogous color scheme, opting for a tint of the blue-green next to the blue color. The discrete way in which it was used brings life to the image and centers the vision in the placeholder text area. 

To conclude this guide, it is essential to answer a common question: how do I pick the colors for my slide design project?

For some people, inspiration about a word, a concept, or a product to present directly leads to the color selection of the main color – or at least an indicator of which hue would work best. Then, the selected color scheme helps to build up the entire color palette for the presentation. In some other cases, an image can become the leading source of inspiration. That’s the reason why you should check tools such as Design Seeds’ Instagram Profile or even Pinterest. 

Online tools can help us easily come up with good colors for presentations. Some recommendations for this are Coolors or COLOURlovers . Although… what if you already got inspiration from a presentation you attended but don’t know which colors were used? This incredible tool may cheer you up: Site Palette , a Google Chrome extension that gives you the entire list of colors used, with their HEX values to reproduce them in your designs.

Check out our complete tutorial on how to make a PowerPoint Presentation .

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The Power of Color: How to Apply Color Theory in Your Presentations

Stop putting your audience to sleep with boring presentations learn how to apply color theory for a more impactful and engaging design..

In the digital age , presentation skills are more important than ever . With countless slideshows, webinars, and virtual meetings happening every day, it’s easy for your message to get lost in the noise. That’s where color theory comes in.

Color theory is the science and art of using color to create a harmonious and impactful visual experience . By understanding how colors interact and how they affect our mood and perception, you can take your presentations from boring to brilliant.

In this article, we’ll explore the basics of color theory and how you can apply it to your presentations to create a lasting impression on your audience. We’ll cover everything from color psychology to color combinations and show you how to use them to create compelling and effective presentations.

First, we’ll dive into the psychology of color . Did you know that different colors can elicit different emotional responses from your audience? For example, red is often associated with passion and energy, while blue is often associated with calmness and trustworthiness. By understanding the psychological impact of colors, you can use them strategically to enhance your message and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Next, we’ll explore color combinations . Choosing the right colors can make or break your presentation. We’ll teach you the basics of color harmonies and show you how to create eye-catching color schemes that are both aesthetically pleasing and effective at conveying your message.

We’ll also cover practical tips on how to use color in your presentations , such as how to choose the right font color, how to use color to highlight important information, and how to avoid common mistakes that can detract from your message.

By the end of this article, you’ll have a solid understanding of color theory and how to apply it to your presentations . You’ll be able to create stunning visuals that capture your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impression. So, whether you’re a seasoned presenter or a beginner just starting out, this article is for you. Get ready to take your presentations from boring to brilliant with the power of color theory.

Psychology of Color

Color has a powerful impact on our emotions and perception. Understanding the psychology of color can help you use it to your advantage in your presentations, making them more engaging, memorable, and effective.

Let’s start with red. Red is a high-energy color that is often associated with passion, excitement, and urgency. It can stimulate the senses and increase heart rate and blood pressure. That’s why you’ll often see it used in advertising and marketing to grab people’s attention and create a sense of urgency. However, too much red can be overwhelming and even aggressive, so use it sparingly and strategically.

These are just a few examples of how color can affect our emotions and perception . By understanding the psychology of color, you can use it to your advantage in your presentations, creating a visual experience that not only looks great but also resonates with your audience on a deeper level and create the mood and atmosphere you want. So, choose your colors wisely and get ready to make an impact with the power of color psychology. Remember to balance colors appropriately and use them strategically to enhance your message and connect with your audience on a deeper level.

Color Combinations

Choosing the right color scheme for your presentation can be a daunting task, but it’s essential to creating a cohesive and impactful visual experience for your audience. Here are some tips on how to explore color combinations and choose the right colors for your presentation.

Start with a color wheel

A color wheel is a great tool for exploring color combinations. It shows the relationship between primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and can help you create complementary, analogous, or triadic color schemes. Play around with different combinations to see what works best for your message and brand.

Consider your brand

If you have an established brand, you may want to use your brand colors in your presentation to reinforce brand recognition. If not, consider the values and message of your presentation and choose colors that reflect those. For example, if your presentation is about nature, you may want to use green and earth tones.

Think about the mood

Different colors evoke different emotions and moods. Consider the mood you want to create in your presentation and choose colors that reflect that. For example, if you want to create a calming and peaceful atmosphere, you may want to use light blues or soft pastels.

Use contrast

Contrast can make your presentation more visually interesting and help important information stand out. Choose colors that contrast well with each other, such as black and white or red and green. But be careful not to use too many contrasting colors, as it can be overwhelming for your audience.

Keep it simple

Too many colors can be distracting and take away from your message. Stick to a few main colors and use them consistently throughout your presentation. This will create a more cohesive and professional look.

Consider accessibility

It’s important to choose colors that are accessible to all individuals, including those with color blindness. Avoid using color alone to convey important information and use high-contrast color combinations to make it easier for everyone to read and understand.

Test it out

Before your presentation, test out your color scheme on different devices and screens to ensure it looks good in all environments. You can also ask a few colleagues or friends for their feedback on the color scheme and adjust as needed.

In summary, exploring color combinations and choosing the right colors for your presentation takes some thought and consideration. Use a color wheel, consider your brand and the mood you want to create, use contrast, keep it simple, consider accessibility, and test it out. By following these tips, you can create a visually appealing and effective presentation that connects with your audience on a deeper level.

How to Choose the Right Color s for Presentations

Using color effectively in your presentations is an important part of creating a visually engaging and impactful experience for your audience. Here are some practical tips on how to use color in your presentations.

Choose the right font color

Font color is crucial for readability, so it’s important to choose a color that contrasts well with your background. For example, black or dark gray text works well on a light background, while white or light text is better on a dark background. Avoid using light-colored text on a light background or dark-colored text on a dark background, as it can be difficult to read.

Use color to highlight important information

Color can draw attention to important information and help it stand out from the rest of the content. Use a contrasting color to highlight key points, such as statistics or quotes. But be careful not to overdo it, as too much color can be overwhelming and detract from your message.

Create a consistent color scheme

A consistent color scheme can make your presentation look more polished and professional. Choose a few main colors and use them consistently throughout your presentation. This includes font color, background color, and accent colors. Use shades of the same color to create depth and interest.

Avoid common color mistakes

There are a few common mistakes that can detract from your message. For example, using too many bright or clashing colors can be distracting, while using too many pastel or muted colors can be boring. Avoid using neon colors, as they can be difficult to read and can give your presentation an unprofessional look.

Consider cultural differences

Different cultures can associate different meanings with colors. For example, in Western cultures, white is often associated with purity and innocence, while in some Asian cultures, it’s associated with mourning. Be mindful of the cultural context of your audience and choose colors that are appropriate.

Use color in charts and graphs

Charts and graphs can be made more visually appealing and easier to understand by using color to differentiate data sets. Use consistent colors throughout the chart or graph to create a clear visual hierarchy.

In summary, using color effectively in your presentations requires some thought and consideration. Choose the right font color, use color to highlight important information, create a consistent color scheme, avoid common color mistakes, consider cultural differences, and use color in charts and graphs. By following these practical tips, you can create a visually engaging and impactful presentation that resonates with your audience.

Tips and Tricks: How to Make Your Presentation Look Professional

Applying the theory of color to your presentations can take your design game to the next level. Here are some tips on how to apply color theory effectively in your presentations , along with some modern design tips to enhance your visuals .

Understand the basics of color theory

Understanding color theory is essential to using color effectively in your presentations. It’s important to understand the different color schemes, such as complementary, analogous, and monochromatic, and how they can be used to create visual interest and harmony. Additionally, knowing the emotions and associations that are commonly associated with certain colors can help you create a mood or convey a message.

Choose a color palette

Once you have a basic understanding of color theory, it’s time to choose a color palette for your presentation. You can choose a color palette based on your brand colors, the theme of your presentation, or the emotions you want to evoke. Stick to a limited color palette to keep your design cohesive and avoid overwhelming your audience.

Create visual interest with contrast

Contrast is important for creating visual interest and directing the viewer’s attention. Use contrasting colors to create a hierarchy of information and draw attention to important elements. This can include using a bright color for headings or important text, or using a contrasting color for buttons or calls to action.

Use color blocking

Color blocking is a modern design trend that involves using large areas of color to create a bold and impactful design. Use color blocking to create a strong visual hierarchy and make important information stand out. For example, you can use a bright color for the background of a slide and use a contrasting color for the text.

Consider typography

Typography is an important part of design, and it’s essential to consider the relationship between your font and your color palette. Choose fonts that complement your color palette and create a harmonious design. Use a bold font for headings and a more subtle font for body text. You can use a free tool like Google Fonts to search for the right font.

Add texture

Texture can add depth and interest to your design, and it can be achieved through the use of patterns or images. Use texture sparingly, as too much can be overwhelming. Consider using texture to add visual interest to backgrounds or to create contrast between different elements. Also, you can use our free backgrounds to enhance your slides.

In conclusion, applying the theory of color to your presentations requires a basic understanding of color theory, the ability to choose a color palette, creating contrast, using color blocking, considering typography, and adding texture. By following these tips, you can create a visually engaging and modern design that effectively communicates your message to your audience.

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Using The Right Colors In Powerpoint Presentations

Home   >  Presentation Design > Colors in PowerPoint

In this article you will learn the art of using colors effectively. By understanding the significance of colors and where to use them, you can make your message more impactful and memorable.

Select a color theme for your presentation

What is the purpose of colors in PowerPoint slides? 

Contrary to popular belief, colors serve a far more critical function than just making your slides look attractive. They can help you highlight a critical point, make your slide deck look consistent, convey emotions, and ultimately make your message more effective. By using the right colors, you can create a visual hierarchy that guides your audience's attention to the most important information on your slides. For example, using a bold, contrasting color for your call-to-action can help it stand out and encourage your audience to take action. Colors can also be used to evoke emotions and set the tone for your presentation.  Mastering the use of colors in your PowerPoint presentations can make a significant difference in how your message is received.

Watch the video below to learn...

3 Ways to Choose Colors in PowerPoint

How to Use Your Company Colors as Color Theme

You can pick the exact color of your Company logo  using free software or the PowerPoint Eye Dropper Tool. Watch the video below to know more.

How to find custom color palettes

If you are looking to find a beautiful color palette to use in your presentation, please check the video below for a great resource:

The meaning behind different colors

The colors you choose can evoke emotions and influence your audience's perception of your content. In the rest of this article, we will explore the significance of common colors used in presentations and where to use them for maximum impact.

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The Power of Red:

Red is a color that exudes excitement and energy. It inspires action and motivates people to take charge. 

Take a look at the following PowerPoint title templates:

Free Red PowerPoint Title Template

Free Red PowerPoint Title Template 2

When to use Red:

Use red when you want your audience to take action. It's perfect for sales presentations where you want your audience to sign on the dotted line or project presentations where you want to encourage your team to meet deadlines. Red is a powerful color that can drive results.

However, it's important to use red in moderation as it also signifies danger. In finance presentations, for example, it's best to use red sparingly.

The Calming Effect of Blue:

Blue is a color that signifies professionalism, trust, and credibility. It's no wonder that most business presentations use a blue theme. When used correctly, blue can create a sense of calmness and reassurance in your audience.

Take a look at these blue themed title templates:

Download Free Blue Color PowerPoint Template

When to use Blue:

Use blue as a base color when you want to inspire trust and credibility in your audience. If your presentation is about your company's values and tradition, blue should be your color of choice. Blue is also an excellent option for finance presentations and investor presentations.

Exuding Warmth With Orange:

Free PowerPoint Background with Orange Colors

The color orange is known to evoke feelings of warmth and happiness. It's like a bright and sunny day that fills us with positive energy and joy. So, if you want to bring cheer to your presentations, consider using orange as your background color.

Orange PowerPoint Title Template for Free Download

When to use orange

It's important to use the color orange wisely. While it's perfect for presentations aimed at youth or children, it may not be suitable for serious settings. But, if you're looking to raise funds for a good cause or announce a happy initiative for your staff, orange can convey care and warmth.

Shades of Versatile Green:

Green is a versatile color that represents nature, novelty, abundance, and cheerfulness. 

Green PowerPoint Nature Title Template

When to use green

It's a natural choice for presentations about health or ecology, and it can also convey hope in finance presentations.

Free Green Lines PowerPoint Title Set

However, it's worth noting that people with color blindness may find it difficult to read green and red combinations. So, be mindful of your audience and choose your colors wisely.

The Classy Purple:

Purple has long been associated with royalty, class, and exclusivity. Yet, it's not a color that's commonly used in corporate presentations. By incorporating purple into your design, you can convey a sense of luxury, richness, and style that will set your presentation apart.

Free PowerPoint Title Set - Purple

When to use Purple:

Financial institutions often use purple to convey exclusivity. It is a great choice for brochures and other marketing materials. When used in the background of your presentation, purple can add a touch of dignity and sophistication that will impress your audience.

The Allure of Black:

Black is a color that evokes a sense of strength, sophistication, and conservatism. It's a versatile color that pairs well with most other colors, making it a popular choice for designers looking to add richness to their designs.

Free Black Color PowerPoint Title Template

When to use black

In presentations, black is often used as a background color to highlight product packaging or other key elements. Because it's the absence of color, black can make other colors appear brighter and more vibrant.

It goes well with most colors and hence used by most designers to add richness to their designs.

Choosing the Right Colors:

When it comes to selecting the right colors for your presentation, it's important to experiment and find the combination that works best for your message. If you're unsure, stick to white backgrounds with a few design elements to break up the monotony. Remember, the colors you choose can have a significant impact on how your message is received. By incorporating the right color into your design, you can create a presentation that's memorable, impactful, and professional.

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A good rule of thumb for many Westerners is this: wear black to a funeral. Black, in this context, signifies solemnity; it’s how we show that we’re grieving and respecting that of those around us. Weddings, on the other hand, are known for white – but only for the bride! While the bride wears white to symbolize purity and uphold tradition, wearing white as a guest is often seen as an attempt at pulling attention away from the ceremony, which can be considered gravely insulting depending on one’s company.

Wardrobe, of course, is far from the only place in our lives where color comes into play. But the point still stands: color is vital to the human experience. Through color, we feel; we communicate; we heal. Those in advertising use it to sell products; those in schools and offices use it to increase productivity.

When it comes to communication, color is unbeatable. Unconscious or otherwise, color can evoke emotions, inspire reactions, and change modes of thinking. It can excite or soothe your mood, raise or lower your blood pressure, and even whet your appetite! Whether it’s innate or learned, it’s undeniable that color has a vital impact on how we go about our lives.

With the basics of the color theory under your belt, you can approach the psychology of individual colors with a bit more nuance. As we’ve established, color is far from just a visual experience; it can affect your mood, your wants, your reactions, so on and so forth. However, such a powerful tool is wasted if you don’t know how to use it effectively.

As such, knowing the personality and psychological effects of different colors – including various shades and tints popular with producers and consumers alike – is vital!

Consider the following list a table of contents of sorts. This will be your point of reference from which to navigate the depths of color psychology.

The Color Psychology of Red

From the start of the rainbow to the ubiquitous advertising for Valentine’s Day, red remains one of the most evocative colors on the visible spectrum. As a  primary color , red is a color entirely its own – that is to say, no other colors can come together to form a perfect red. In RGB, red is comprised of 100% red, 0% green, and 0% blue.

• Associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.
• Enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure.
• It attracts attention more than any other color, at times signifying danger.

Popular shades of red: Magenta , Burgundy , Maroon .

The Color Psychology of Green

Green is the primary color that hints at our primitive relationship with the first creation of the world – nature. Considered the key color that represents purity, health, and freshness, green has been traditionally associated with brands that encourage growth, vitality, and productivity (think Starbucks and EverNote !).

Gentle, invigorating, and relaxing, green also represents connection. Connection to ourselves, to the quiet moments in our lives, to nature itself. It is not a mere coincidence that people evade the concrete jungle of big cities to disconnect from the mundane and connect to the wilderness of nature. Green means the return to the primal roots, to the pristine kingdom of inner peace and tranquillity.

• Color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility.
• Considered beneficial to the mind and body.
• Slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.
• Strongly associated with tranquility and calmness.
• Used to symbolize piety and sincerity.

Popular shades of green: Chartreuse

The Color Psychology of Blue

In contrast to its sister primary color, red, blue is associated with a calm serenity over intensity or passion. When asked to visualize a tranquil scene, chances are people will immediately imagine a great deal of blue – usually in the form of a still body of water. Thoughtful and still, blue represents a sense of inner reflection. A great deal of research has indicated that this impact on the body is indeed inverse to red’s, resulting in lower heart rates and even slower metabolisms.

• Unique and authentic
• Enthusiastic, sympathetic, and personal; they seek meaning and significance in life
• Warm, communicative, and compassionate; they care about what they do
• Idealistic, spiritual, and sincere; they value unity and integrity in their relationships
• Peaceful, flexible, and imaginative; they are natural romantics and nurturers

Popular shades of blue: Teal , Turquoise

The Color Psychology of Brown

Moving on to a more serious and imposing color, we arrive at brown, which no longer sends us thinking of youthfulness and excitement. Traditionally associated with seriousness, stability, and wisdom, brown is mostly worn by people who impose respect and appreciation through their status. When you think of this color, you might envision a paternal figure or a grandfather in the middle of the family.

Because families are centered on the stability and resourcefulness of the main male figure, most people feel secure and stable when thinking about brown. Paternal figures who passed a certain age also exude a sense of stability, but in the material sense – they have accumulated life experience which is manifested in possessions and financial gain. Most people feel safe around people wearing brown because they represent seriousness, reliance, and support.

• Associated with the traits of dependability, reliability, and resilience.
• Brown-lovers are most often reserved and not looking to attract attention to oneself
• While light brown represents honesty and stability, dark brown is considered mature, predictable, and dull

The Color Psychology of Orange

Bright and persuasive, orange results from the combination of yellow and red. As we have seen in the previous section, yellow denotes optimism and cheerfulness, while red can suggest intense feelings of love and even dominance. Orange sits in the middle of those extremities: it promotes rejuvenation, communication, and positivism. This color also enhances extraversion, allowing people to let go of their inhibitions and express themselves more freely. 

• Combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow.
• Associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics.
• Represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation.

The Color Psychology of Yellow

“He is so bright” – Have you ever wondered where the association of increased mental capacity and this particular visual adjective comes from? Yellow, the brightest color of the spectrum, is commonly used in images depicting fresh ideas, creative projects, or new business initiatives. You probably already know the prototypical image of someone brainstorming ideas that are linked with a bright yellow bulb! This is not a random association: yellow has been scientifically proven by studies to enhance mental activity and heighten awareness and energy levels.

The brightness of this color unclogs mental blocks and encourages people to seek new perspectives by abandoning the dull ways of looking at the world. You can think of yellow as the main color of the morning time, when you are the most alert, insightful and analytical, and when you have the chance to create a brand new day in your life. And do not just take my word for it – studies have linked yellow with increased activity of the left side of the brain, which is considered the powerhouse of rational thinking! 

• Associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy.
• Produces a warming effect, arouses cheerfulness, stimulates mental activity, and generates muscle energy.
• Bright, pure yellow is an attention-getter, which is the reason taxicabs are painted this color.
• When overused, yellow may have a disturbing effect.
• It is known that babies cry more in yellow rooms.
• Yellow indicates honor and loyalty. Later the meaning of yellow was connected with cowardice.

Popular shades of yellow: Amber , Beige

The Color Psychology of Pink

One of the gentlest and yet most contradictory colors out there, pink is a color that varies greatly depending on its context. Making it, however, remains simple. Though it has a great number of shades and undertones, pink is most commonly known to be a pale red mixed with white.

• This is a color that represents a gentle type of love
• Pink stands for tenderness, vulnerability, and youth
• It is a calming, non-threatening color. It is linked to innocence, hope, and optimism.
• The pink color also represents positive aspects of traditional femininity like nurture and kindness.
• Pink can be linked to childhood sweetness and innocence, appearing sometimes as naïve or silly

Popular shades of Pink: Salmon

The Color Psychology of Purple

And so we arrive at our first secondary color. A beautiful mixture of red and purple, purple sits exactly halfway between the two on the color wheel, though varying each amount can result in new shades. 

True to its red parent color, purple is often associated with luxury and power. However, as opposed to red’s tendency to reflect the material facets of power and ambition, purple errs towards royalty and nobility. The blue tones bring in a sense of relaxation and stability, which alongside the energy of red synthesizes to create a feeling of wisdom and good sense.

• Combines the stability of blue and the energy of red.
• Associated with royalty. It symbolizes power, nobility, luxury, and ambition.
• Conveys wealth and extravagance.
• Associated with wisdom, dignity, independence, creativity, mystery, and magic.

Popular shades of purple: Indigo , Violet , Lavender , Mauve

The Color Psychology of White

Making a radical shift right to the opposite end of the color spectrum, we finally arrive at white. In contrast to its darker precursors who exuded mystery, white is the universal symbolic color for purity, wholeness, and innocence. It makes us think of new beginnings, perfection, but also of elegance and serenity. When you have a blank canvas free of any imperfections, you have the freedom to start something new, to let your ideas take contour, and to move in any direction you want.

White is highly creative, and it invites reflection, openness, and awakening. It is a great color for those who want to declutter their minds and spaces, hence why it is often associated with cleanliness and order. The bridal dress and the doctor’s uniforms are also white because they represent purity, order, and offer comfort and hope. Similarly, white is also largely found in doctor’s offices because it gives a sense of efficiency and perfect cleanliness, which helps patients build trust in the services offered by doctors.

• Associated with light, goodness, innocence, purity, and virginity.
• Considered to be the color of perfection.
• Signifies safety, purity, and cleanliness.
• Usually has a positive connotation.
• Can represent a successful beginning.
• Depicts faith and purity.

The Color Psychology of Black

Moving on to black, one of the most complex in meaning colors of the spectrum, we realize that there is no set-in-stone interpretation when it comes to this color. Black is highly versatile and, depending on which angle you approach it from, you can see it as elegant, mysterious, or downright depressing. For this reason, we will dedicate some time to explore the abundance of meanings that have been historically bestowed upon this color.

• Associated with power, elegance, formality, death, evil, and mystery.
• A mysterious color associated with fear and the unknown (black holes).
• Usually has a negative connotation (blacklist, black humor, ‘black death’).
• Denotes strength and authority; it is considered to be a very formal, elegant, and prestigious color.
• The symbol of grief.

More about color psychology and symbolism

Color is, simply stated, broken down white light. This is a dissection of light at different wavelengths and each wavelength is perceived as a separate color. Objects tend to absorb or reflect these wavelengths, so when we see a yellow lemon, it is the yellow wavelength that is being reflected while all others are being absorbed. Now that we have understood what color means, let’s explore some of the ways it influences our mood.

We feel color. How or what we feel about it varies from person to person. Some colors give us a sense of serenity and calm; these usually lie within the blue side of the spectrum-that consists of purple and green too, known as the cool side. Others induce rage and make us uncomfortable, or signify passion; these lie within the red spectrum-which includes orange and yellow, known as the warm side.

Color perception is subjective, and certain colors have a very universal significance. This is coded into our reptilian brain, giving us that instinctive feeling of fire being dangerous and the beach being relaxing.

Color psychology is a very important tool used by artists, interior decorators, and as a marketing mechanism in many industries. It is the palette used by Dali that makes his artwork bizarre and amplifies the hyperrealism he intends to create.

When we visit a museum to appreciate a work of art, we take it in through the colors we see because they invoke within us certain emotions, making the claim that everyone sees it differently a reality. Interior decorators survey the effect of colors when deciding what color (Or rather color associations) the walls of a certain area in a building will be painted.

The reason that many offices have a lot of greys, blues, and browns incorporated in their décor is that these colors tend to increase productivity. Yet, this is not a rule of thumb. This does hold true for a corporate environment, but if one were to work say for example in the fashion industry, or the media, the use of brighter and more “colorful” paints would help encourage creativity.

Many car commercials show black as their model because this certain color is associated with affluence and seriousness. This leads the consumer to believe that the product is worth buying. Even the food and drink industry uses color to attract more people to certain brands. The purple and gold packaging of a certain brand of candy bar is a technique to lure the consumer into believing that this is chocolate royalty, and why would one not want to buy the best of best. Culturally speaking, colors have different values attached to them too. A bride in the western world wears white, whereas it is what a widow wears in South Asia.

Color stimulates our brain, and from ancient times has proven to be useful alternative psychotherapy. The Egyptians and Chinese used colors to heal, a process that is known as chromotherapy . Colors were used in order to help the body function better.

However, there is a lot of doubt that prevails today as far as the effectiveness of color therapy is concerned. Since every human being has different emotions attached to different colors, the universal significance of colors may or may not work in these cases.

The bottom line being, color psychology, and associations are an interesting part of the complex working system of our brain, yet with so many scientific questions about it still left unanswered, and differences in cultural attachments to colors, it can only be utilized through observation and experience of how color has influenced brains over the years.

Frequently Asked Questions about The Psychology of Colors

What's color psychology all about?

Color psychology is the study of how colors affect your behavior, mood, and impression on others. Research shows that colors can greatly affect our moods and the way other people respond to us. Amazingly, colors can even change our heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration

Can you give some examples about the psychology of colors?

Sure. For example, red enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure while green slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect. You can read many similar examples on our website.

Additional Read: Fun

• Ghost orbs colors
• Mood ring colors
• Chromotherapy
• Aura colors
• Chakra colors
• Birthstone colors

Additional Read: Color Knowledge

• What is CMYK and RGB?
• What is color blindness?
• Do dogs see color?
• How colors affect appetite?
• Why school buses are yellow?
• Analogous colors
• Primary, secondary and tertiary colors

Additional Read: Mixing Colors

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Color theory and its significance in presentations

The choice of color you use in your presentations is nearly as important as the content you include in your presentations. Colors can affect us at a subconscious level and can potentially be the difference between someone liking an idea and rejecting it. This is why knowing the basics of color theory and its impact is important to becoming a successful presenter and visual communicator.

The basics of color theory and the color wheel

Color theory can be described as a method using science to determine the colors that go well together and provoke a response in the viewer. The color wheel is a visual representation showing the connection between different colors—this forms the basis of color theory .

Different Color Combinations to use for your slides

Using color theory in your next presentation

  complementary colors.

Complementary colors work well together and improve each other’s intensity. However, you need to be mindful when you are picking these colors. The main rule would be to use one of the colors as the more dominant shade in your slides.

  The 60-30-10 rule illustrates this idea perfectly. This means you should choose a predominant primary color to use in 60% of your slide. The secondary color will be used for 30%, with the remaining 10% reserved for the accent colors. Pick the dominant color based on the emotion you wish to evoke in your audience.

Triadic colors

  With triadic colors, one of the colors is ideally used as a primary color and the other two are used as accent colors. Triadic colors help create more contrast in your slides. The emotion you wish to invoke using triadic colors will be based on the dominant color you choose.

  Shades of red, blue, and green are the most commonly used triadic color combinations. This color combination helps give your slides a more vibrant look while remaining soothing to the eye of the audience. When used correctly, these color combinations give a sense of cheerfulness and professionalism while pushing your audience to take an action, making them ideal for a sales pitch.

  Triadic color combinations might come across a bit youthful and playful, so take care to get the balance between the colors right. As you can see in the Zoho Show presentation template below, Key Lime Pie (#B3D124) is used as a dominant color while Trinidad (#F6590A) and Blumine (#1F497D) are secondary colors.

Digital Strategy template using triadic color scheme.

Analogous Colors

Using an analogous color combination is often pleasing to the eye. This could be because we are so used to seeing these color combinations in the real world. Since they are next to each other in the color wheel, they blend well and help create wonderful designs. Just make sure the color contrast between the three colors you use is prominent enough to make it visually appealing.  

Yellow, green, and blue is a commonly used analogous color scheme that brings a sense of happiness to the audience. These colors can be refreshing, and the blue gives a professional touch to your slides. This combination could work for informative presentations, like a TED talk about how you can master a skill in just 20 hours.

  In the example shown below, the Zoho Show slide template uses an analogous combination of Scarlet (#FC3012), International Orange (#FD5101), and Monza (#D9003D) which gives an important and energetic tone to the slides.

Social Media Strategy template using an analogous color scheme.

Tetradic Colors

  Picking 4 colors that are equidistant from each other on the wheel has its perks and disadvantages. Making use of four different colors can bring a fun, vibrant, and colorful feel to your slides, but care should be taken to ensure the balance between the colors is properly maintained or it can easily become overwhelming.

  Since there are 4 colors used here, this gives you the chance to improvise and come up with different color variations. Shades of red, yellow, blue, and green are a popular example of a tetradic color combination. These bold colors can be used to create vibrant color combinations. One color can be used as a dominant color while others can be used as accent colors. This combination can be used for presentations with visual data in charts and tables, like a quarterly report of a company.

Brand Style Guide template using tetradic color scheme.

Monochromatic Colors  

As eye-catching as these color combinations can be, opting for a monochromatic set of colors for your next presentation might not be a bad idea at all. Picking this color scheme ensures there is consistency across all your slides. Since multiple colors from a single hue is used, it is comparatively easier to focus the attention of your audience. With the popularity of minimalist designs on the rise, this can be an ideal color choice for your slides.  

For example, the color blue conveys emotions such as trust and communication. This color is a popular choice for business presenters since it can create a sense of trust and has a calming effect on viewers. Using a monochromatic blue color scheme can help make your slide look professional.

Marketing Proposal template using monochromatic color scheme.

We live in a visual world, and colors play a key role in any type of visual communication. When you choose colors for your next presentation, keep color theory and these tips in mind to impress your audience better. If you’re unsure about how to choose the right colors for your presentation but want to try different color schemes, don’t worry: Zoho Show offers multiple built-in presentation templates and pre-loaded color palettes.

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The Psychology of Color in Presentation Design

Emily Bryce

26 April 2023

As a presentation designer, you know that colour plays a vital role in the success of any presentation. The colours you choose can influence the mood, emotions, and perceptions of your audience. Understanding the psychology of colour can help you create presentations that are more engaging, memorable, and effective. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the psychology of colour in presentation design and provide tips on how to use colour effectively.

Color and Emotion

Color has the power to evoke strong emotions and influence our mood and behavior. This is because color is processed by the limbic system in our brain, which is responsible for our emotional responses. Different colors can evoke different emotions and feelings in people, and this is why it is important to carefully consider the colors you use in your presentation.

For example, warm colors like red, orange, and yellow can evoke feelings of excitement, energy, and warmth. These colors are great for grabbing attention and creating a sense of urgency, making them ideal for highlighting important information or calls to action.

On the other hand, cool colors like blue, green, and purple can evoke feelings of calmness, serenity, and relaxation. These colors are great for creating a sense of stability and trust, making them ideal for presenting data or statistics.

Color and Contrast

Another important aspect of using color in presentation design is contrast. Contrast refers to the difference between two colors and can help draw attention to specific elements of your presentation.

For example, using a high-contrast color scheme like black and white can help make your text and images stand out and create a sense of clarity and simplicity. However, using too much contrast can be overwhelming and distracting, so it is important to use it sparingly and strategically.

Using complementary colors (colors opposite each other on the color wheel) is another effective way to create contrast and draw attention to specific elements of your presentation. For example, pairing a blue background with orange text can create a visually striking and attention-grabbing effect.

Color and Branding

In addition to evoking emotions and creating contrast, color can also play an important role in branding and identity. Using consistent colors in your presentations can help reinforce your brand and make your content more recognizable and memorable.

If your company has established brand colors, it is important to incorporate them into your presentations to maintain consistency and reinforce your brand identity. However, if you are creating a presentation for a specific event or audience, it is important to consider the preferences and expectations of that audience and adjust your color scheme accordingly.

The Basics of Colour Psychology

Colour psychology is the study of how colours affect human behaviour, emotions, and perceptions. Different colours can elicit different emotional and psychological responses, and these responses can vary depending on cultural and individual differences. For example, in Western cultures, red is often associated with passion, love, and excitement, while in some Asian cultures, it is associated with luck, happiness, and prosperity.

When it comes to presentation design, understanding the basic emotions and perceptions associated with different colours can help you create a presentation that is more impact full and effective. Here are some common colours and their associated emotions and perceptions:

– Red: passion, love, excitement, urgency – Orange: warmth, enthusiasm, energy, creativity – Yellow: happiness, optimism, positivist, clarity – Green: growth, harmony, balance, nature – Blue: trust, calmness, professionalism, reliability – Purple: luxury, creativity, imagination, spirituality – Black: elegance, sophistication, power, authority – White: purity, simplicity, cleanliness, clarity

Using Colour Effectively in Presentation Design

Now that you have a basic understanding of the psychology of colour, it’s time to put it into practice in your presentation design. Here are some tips for using colour effectively:

1. Use a consistent colour scheme: Choose a colour scheme that matches the theme of your presentation and use it consistently throughout your slides. This will create a cohesive and professional look that will make your presentation more memorable and impact full.

2. Use colour to highlight key points: Use colour strategically to draw attention to important information or key points in your presentation. For example, use a bold colour to highlight a statistic or a key takeaway.

3. Use contrast to make text and graphics stand out: Use contrasting colours to make text and graphics stand out. For example, use a light background with dark text or a dark background with light text to make your content more readable.

4. Consider your audience: Keep in mind the cultural and individual differences in the perception of colour. For example, if you are presenting to an international audience, be aware of cultural differences in the meaning of colours.

5. Don’t overdo it: While colour can be a powerful tool, it’s important not to overdo it. Too many colours can be overwhelming and distracting, so stick to a simple colour scheme and use colour strategically to enhance your message.

In conclusion , the psychology of colour plays a crucial role in presentation design. By understanding the emotions and perceptions associated with different colours, you can create presentations that are more engaging, memorable, and effective. Use colour strategically to highlight key points, create contrast, and make your content more readable. Keep in mind the cultural and individual differences in the perception of colour, and don’t overdo it. With these tips in mind, you’ll be able to create presentations that leave a lasting impression on your audience.

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The Psychology of Color in PowerPoint Presentations

• April 12, 2013
• Kevin Lerner

Discover how the colors you choose for your PowerPoint presentations can guide the emotional response of your audience.

What are the best colors for a powerpoint presentation it all depends on who your audience is and what you want them to feel.

When used correctly, color can help audience members sort out the various elements of a slide. But its power goes beyond mere clarification. To some extent the colors you choose for your visuals guide the emotional response of your audience.

Blue: The most popular background color for presentation slides

Blue is one of the most common background colors. It’s calming and conservative, which is why it’s very popular with business presenters, as well as for for trainers. Studies have shown that blue has the power to slow our breathing and pulse rates. Dark blue backgrounds with light text are great for conservative corporate no-nonsense presentations. Lighter blue- more common in re cent times- work well in relaxed environments with the lights on, and help promote interaction.

Examples of BLUE in Presentations

• Quest Diagnostics: A serious company with a seriously navy blue background. The subtle angled lines promote a feeling a movement and technology. Blue complements the Green of Quest’s logo, and the white title bar provides a clean but stark contrast to the body.
• This blue template for waste management firm Republic Services provides a conservative backdrop for the financials and white bullet points. The yellow titles stand out, as does the orange, red and blue themed imagery at the bottom, not to mention the company’s logo.
• This slide for Dr. Soram Khalsa’ Complementrix Vitamin system features a template with a dark blue with angled lines. And the inner portion of the template featured a light blue-hue burst of a sun-ray to convey bright life and energy.
• This slide for Lender Direct featured an image of a file folder, edited in Photoshop, with a 80 % transparency set against a light blue background. The light blue graphic helped to convey a sense of openeness , and professionalism, while maintaining the company’s blue brand.

Green: Stimulates interaction and puts people at ease

Green stimulates interaction. It’s a friendly color that’s great for warmth and emotion. Green is commonly used in PowerPoint presentations for trainers, educators, and others whose presentations are intended to generate discussion. It’s also a great color for environmental and earth-oriented discussions.

Examples of Green in Presentations

• This slide for Hills Pet Nutrition features a modern green background with textured lines promoting a warm, but contemporary feeling. Great for their topic on pet affection.
• Money is green and so is this presentation for Presidio Finance. The white text contrasts nicely with the forest green finance images, helping to project a no-nonsense image of success and accomplishment.
• In this slide for TD Waterhouse, we created top title bar in dark green, integrating smoothly with their lime green logo. The green-hued process chart on the slide image stands out comfortably against the textured grey background.
• The flowing green arcs at the bottom and green title text helps substantiate this slides message of health and vitality. Executive Success Team’s green logo and brand also promotes a relaxed and comfortable feeling, just like Mona Vie.

Red: Handle with Care in Presentations!

Red is one of the most influential colors in your software palette — but it also carries negative cultural attachments, so use it carefully. Red is also a great color for conveying passion. Or talking about the competition. Do not use Red in financial information or tables and charts.

Examples of RED in Presentations

• The rich red of Oracle is maintained in this template, featuring red title text in an inset red rectangle and a red bottom bar of binary numbers for a look of blazing edge technology
• Trace Security uses a similar red title bar element, tying in to their black and red logo and brand.
• Red and black are also colors for Sales Training Consultants, and in this slide, we used a flat beige background, with a title bar in bright red together with red bullets and a red target graphic.
• The body pages of the Grenada presentation feature Red, but in an inset border. Text is inversed in white, as is the main body area. The key states in this map are highlighted in red.

Purple: Mystical and Emotional color in presentations and design

Purple is often associated with royalty and wealth. Purple also represents wisdom and spirituality. Purple does not often occur in nature, it can sometimes appear exotic or artificial. Nearly all the clients who come to me with presentations featuring purple or lavender are women. It’s a feminine color and it’s a good color for emotional or spiritual presentations.

Examples of Purple in Presentations

• Crosley & Company’s branding is maintained with a dominant dark purple background, and orange titles.
• A soft lavender background option gives these two medical doctors a chance to add some warmth for their mostly women audiences.

Yellow, Orange, & Gold: Attention-getting colors of affluence and prestige

Yellow can create feelings of frustration and anger. While it is considered a cheerful color, people are more likely to lose their tempers in yellow rooms and babies tend to cry more in yellow rooms.

Since yellow is the most visible color, it is also the most attention-getting color. Yellow can be used in small amount to draw notice, such as key words, or highlights but not in backgrounds. Rather than using flat yellow as a background color, consider a more “golden” or orange color. Simply adding texture to a yellow background or superimposing a photo (in Photoshop) with low transparency, can add more richness to the yellow background image.

Examples of Yellow / Gold in Presentations

• This flat yellow slide is for Web-Reach, an internet consulting firm in Miami. Even though their message was to compete with the Yellow Pages phone book, their yellow background was flat and uninspired.
• With a simple fix in Photoshop, yellow became Gold, and the same slide became more robust. We added a red bar to the top, and a grey arc to the left. Same information, just a textured golden hue helped deliver elegance and style.
• A golden textured earth background helped this slide convey the message of international elegance. The green money background blends with the gold, and the black text brings a nonsense message to the page.
• A golden textured background for Fountainhead Consulting with elements of yellow, blue, red, and grey.

Black: A strong and definite color that’s often overlooked!

Don’t forget your basic black. Often overlooked, black is a background color with useful psychological undertones. Its neutrality makes it a good backdrop for financial information. Black connotes finality and also works well as a transitional color which is why the fade to black transition is powerful, as it gives the impression of starting fresh.

Examples of Black in Presentations

• It’s a matter of black and white for this construction company. It’s intro slides were pure white text on a black background, emphasizing the company’s core beliefs. After the 3 b&w slides, the room lit-up with a series of dynamic colorful slides as the speakers enlightened the audience.
• Over 10 years old, this slide from Ryder transportation remains one of the strongest visuals. Set against a flat black background, the company’s grey logomark conveys a true sense of stability and no-nonsense action. The monotone building blocks tell a strong story.

White: Pure, Fresh and Clean. But a little boring.

White is also a calm and neutral color for presentations. It’s terrific for conveying a fresh start such as a fade to white. It represents purity or innocence. Good for positive information where you want the focus purely on the message, and not competing with a brand image. It’s clean/open and inviting and can create a sense of space or add highlights. But it can also be perceived as cheap, flat (it’s the default color for PowerPoint slides) and harsh on the eyes. Consider grey as a better background color.

Examples of White in Presentations

• To help to maintain a clean and open look this consumer collaborative called on us to integrate their brand colors set against a plain white background. The blue and orange bars provided a conservative frame, while the arcs provided a contemporary look of flow and motion.
• This slide for a large architecture and construction firm featured a flat white background offset by a colorful series of modern buildings and logos.

Grey and Silver: A conservative color; Good when Black or White won’t work.

According to psychologists, grey is often thought of as a negative color. It can be the color of evasion and non-commitment since it is neither black nor white. Some say that Grey is the color of independence and self-reliance. A few years ago, silver was the most popular color for cars. And in the presentation world, this calm color is making a comeback. Grey (or “Silver”) is a softer background than the harsh default color of white, and works well on almost all presentations. A dark grey background with light text…or light grey background with dark text…you can’t go wrong!

Examples of Grey in Presentations

• Farmers Insurance’s silver background integrates subtle ray of light elements to help add depth and texture to this slide. The red, blue, and black stock images blend comfortably with the rest of the page. And the white border around the letters add a level of modernism and clarity.
• The stainless steel background of this slide helps promote a modern contemporary look, helping to link the 4 brands together.
• A clean flowing blue arc with a non-obtrusive silver background help make this slide for Margie Seyfer appear fun but conservative
• Interim Healthcare’s brand is maintained, but a muted image in silver help add depth and dimension to the slide’s message, while supporting its key points.

We perceive dark colors as being “heavier” than light ones, so graphic elements that are arranged from darkest to lightest are the easiest for the eyes to scan. On charts, it’s best to arrange colors from dark to light.

Remember that most eyes aren’t perfect. Because color perception deficiencies are common, certain color combinations — including red/green, brown/green, blue/black and blue/purple — should be avoided.

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Defining a Presentation Color Palette

Which of the above slides better captured your attention? Which one was easier to read? What emotions or reactions did you feel? Where were your eyes immediately drawn? 

These are the types of questions that you should be asking yourself when designing presentations. You can have two slides with the exact same content, but color can dramatically change the way the information is perceived and retained. 

The goal of any presentation is to communicate an effective message to your audience through the use of key information, data, insights, and supporting stories. Color is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal to help communicate the ideas that hold the most meaning and importance. If color is used effectively in a presentation, the audience will be more likely to engage with and retain the most important information.

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of color in presentations, best practices to leverage color as a powerful tool, and provide some free examples of professional color palettes to use in your slides.  ‍

The Importance of Color in Your Presentation

Appearance and brand .

Everything that lives in your slides is a reflection of your personal and company brand. The content you are putting in front of your audience is in fact being judged. When presenting to potential clients, your boss, and even your peers, it is critical that you present slides crafted intentionally to support your message. 

As seen in the example above, color plays an obvious role in making your slides appear more visually appealing and polished. This certainly reflects on your brand and should be your first gut-check to ensure that the colors used in your presentation help you to come across as professional. 

It’s also important to understand that colors hold universally accepted meanings. Red is most often associated with stop signs, stop lights, teacher’s pens, warning signs, ambulances, and more objects that signal a sense of alert and danger. The red in these objects help us to understand what actions to take and what emotions to feel. Similarly, the use of color in presentations can also prompt the audience to react with emotion, infer actions to take, and associate certain meanings with your brand.

Storytelling

Color is an important bridge to help you communicate a narrative by influencing tone, affecting viewer’s emotions, and drawing attention to insights.

Imagine you’re listening to a presentation on why sex trafficking is a serious problem that requires immediate attention and support. If the presentation primarily uses a yellow theme with orange supporting colors, it may subconsciously appear upbeat and light-hearted, creating confusing emotions and reactions in the audience. Ultimately, the power behind the story will be diminished because the colors don’t complement the narrative. 

Storytelling through data visualizations is also a critical part of presentations. Applying color correctly in visualizations can draw attention to the insights that matter and help the audience understand the meaning behind the data. If you’re telling a story about opportunity and growth, then blue or green may be a great choice to use in your visuals, whereas using red or orange may cause the data to be misinterpreted as having a negative meaning.

Your audience will either listen to you or read your slides. Obviously, the goal is to get them to listen to you. This is accomplished by limiting the content on slides to only essential information. 

Using speaker notes to capture the additional information helps your audience to focus on listening to you and for you to avoid coming off as inauthentic, like reading a script.  ‍

Best Practices for Using Color in Your Presentations

Use high contrast colors.

‍ All elements in your slides including text, graphics, icons, visualizations, etc. need to be highly readable for your audience. Using high contrast colors can help achieve optimal readability. High contrast means picking colors with significantly different tones, brightness, and visual interest. As seen in the example below from Canva , using a color combination with similar hues and brightness results in an unimpressive, low contrast color scheme.

The easiest way to create a high contrast color scheme is to select various tones of a single primary color to then combine with an accent color that’s at least 3 spaces away on the color wheel.

Here are some more simple tips for using high contrast colors in your presentation: 

• If you are using a dark background, use a lighter tone for your font and other elements. Ensure headers and key insights are displayed in white or a very light shade of gray or blue. 
• If you are using a light background, use saturated colors to create high contrast between elements. Headers should always be displayed in black or a very dark shade of gray or blue. 
• If you are using a monochromatic color scheme, then use an accent color at least 3 spaces away on the color wheel.

Be Consistent

When it comes to design, often times less is better than more. It’s important to choose a consistent color scheme for your presentation to maintain a tone and avoid over stimulating your audience. Our best advice is to keep it simple. Two to four colors is generally sufficient for a presentation. 

A simple and consistent scheme will ensure that your colors hold their value, maintain the appearance of your brand, and that the audience can identify when color is used to call out key information. 

Use Color to Draw Attention to Key Data Insights

Chances are that not everyone in your audience is well versed in gleaning insights from charts and graphs. Identifying the key insights can be difficult, especially if color is not used effectively to focus the viewers’ attention. In the example above from Numerro , the chart on the left provides a good example of how too many colors can be distracting and leave the audience wondering what they are supposed to be focusing on. Yet the chart on the right makes it obvious that you should be analyzing the trends for the blue line in the graph.

Here are some more simple tips on how color can be used to help the audience better understand the key insights being shown in data visualizations: 

• If you are telling a story about negative data points, consider using red for the negative data and a neutral color for the other data points. 
• In contrast, if you are telling a story about positive data points, consider using a green or blue color for the positive data and a neutral color for the other data points.
• Different shades of the same color can be effective in showing strength and weakness of a specific value. 
• If you are comparing data across categories, use high contrast colors from your theme. Remember to not use more than 4 colors per visualization. 
• Use a single color for continuous data

Leverage the Meaning of Color to Trigger Emotion

Slides Carnival has an excellent guide on color theory that is helpful for understanding how to use colors selectively to evoke emotions. Here the helpful highlights: 

• Blue should be used carefully. It can be perceived as soothing or represent sadness. If you have a consistent message that leans on either end of these spectrums, then blue may be an effective color to use. Try using lighter shades of blue to deliver a gentle message and use darker shades for more serious details. 
• Green is associated with nature, peace, and many other calming elements. It’s a great choice for calming and eco-friendly presentations.
• Red is the most alarming color, guaranteed to grab attention. Harness the power of red to grab the audience’s attention for the most critical and alarming points of interest in your presentation. 
• Yellow is a nice warm and happy color that signals joy. It’s a great choice for upbeat presentations. 
• Black can represent many things from sophistication to evil. In business presentations it can be used to display professionalism and class. Black is always a great choice to include in presentations. 

Free Color Palettes for Your Next Presentation

In Conclusion

Color is a magical thing. As we learn more about the power of color, we can continue to learn new ways to leverage it as a tool to create more compelling presentations. Using color effectively is a surefire way to level up your presentation design skills and better engage your audience. Start improving your presentations today by giving one of our free color palettes a shot!

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When designing a presentation, or even just experimenting with design, you'd be surprised at the different color combinations you can create. Choosing a color scheme is tricky, but understanding the basics of color theory allows… ... read more When designing a presentation, or even just experimenting with design, you'd be surprised at the different color combinations you can create. Choosing a color scheme is tricky, but understanding the basics of color theory allows you to develop the perfect color palette for your presentation. close

Selecting a color scheme that stirs the desired reaction in your audience is a tricky and challenging process. Unfortunately, picking out an appropriate color scheme isn’t as simple as putting together the colors you like. The color choices used in a PowerPoint presentation reflect the character and personality of your business. When the color wheel offers itself to your imagination, how do you know how to use it correctly?

We cannot underestimate the power of color. It’s a language of its own, influencing emotions and setting the mood for your presentation before you even begin to speak. Presentation slides can convey a relaxed, professional, or confident persona based on the color scheme alone.

What do colors mean?

Starting off with the tough question: what is color?

All that color comes down to is perception. When an object reflects light, it reflects different combinations of wavelengths that our brains interpret as color. And once we begin to understand color theory, we start to have a better understanding of how we perceive colors.

What is color theory?

Color theory offers a foundation for understanding the rules around color and color schemes. It is a basic guideline for mixing colors and analyzes the visual effects of how colors mix or contrast with each other.

Once you understand the logic of color, you can create and use color palettes more effectively and confidently.

Primary colors

Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing colors and they are yellow, red, and blue. When it comes to creating a color palette, the primary colors anchor the color scheme. Meaning that using any one or any combination of the primary colors will place limits on your color scheme when you decide to select other colors.

Secondary colors

The secondary colors are created by mixing the purest form of any two primary colors. The three secondary colors are orange, purple, and green.

Tertiary colors

Tertiary colors take things a step further. They are created by mixing a primary color with a secondary color, making them a mix of several colors. But unlike secondary colors, they are not mixed in equal amounts.

For example, red-purple, or magenta, is a mix of red and purple, meaning it is two parts red and one part blue.

The six tertiary colors are red-purple (magenta), red-orange (vermillion), blue-purple (violet), blue-green (teal), yellow-orange (amber), and yellow-green (chartreuse).

The color theory wheel

What are the additive and subtractive color theories?

The additive and subtractive color models are systems of color reproduction related to how the eye receives light to produce colors.

The additive colors are red, green, and blue, or RGB. The RGB color models are for electronic screens like computers or TVs. It begins with black and then adds red, green, and blue light to convey a spectrum of colors. When more colors are added, the result is lighter and closer to white. With the three colors combined in equal amounts, you get white light.

Meanwhile, the subtractive color model applies to any color typically seen on a physical surface, namely paper. In this model, you subtract colors to get closer to white. The subtractive colors are cyan, magenta, yellow, and key/black (CYMK), and these are usually the colors listed on printer cartridges. When these colors are printed, they absorb the light and appear black.

How to combine colors?

Using the color wheel, we can experiment with color combinations to create original and effective color schemes. There are seven major color schemes in graphic design that designers regularly use and return to.

Warm colors

If you draw a line through the color wheel, it cleanly separates the warm and cool colors. The warm colors are reds, yellows, and oranges, and they are hues associated with energy, brightness, and action.

Cool colors

Cool colors are blues, greens, and purples, and they often connote feelings of peace, calm, and serenity.

Complementary colors

A complementary color scheme comes from combining colors that stand directly opposite each other on the color wheel (such as purple and green, orange and blue) and their respective tints.

Since this color scheme offers a strong contrast, it’s best to use one color as a dominant color and use the second color as an accent in designs. Use contrast to highlight important points in your presentation.

Split complementary colors

A split complementary color scheme features a selected base color and the two colors that neighbor that base color’s complement. The result is a versatile and nuanced color palette that is more diverse than a complementary color scheme while still maintaining a healthy and interesting contrast.

Although this color scheme is easy to achieve, it can be tricky to maintain. A split complementary scheme offers more color combinations, but it takes a bit of experimenting to find a good balance.

Triads and tetradic color combinations

A triadic color combination creates a balanced contrast by featuring three colors at an equal distance from each other on the color wheel, forming a triangle. However, it can feel overwhelming when the colors selected are bold. This can be handled by choosing one color to be the dominant one and using the others sparingly or by selecting a softer tint.

A tetradic color scheme is achieved by drawing a rectangle on the color wheel, resulting in a vibrant color scheme.

Analogous colors

Analogous colors sit next to each other on the color wheel and together create a soothing color scheme. When using analogous colors like red, yellow, and orange together, it’s best to have one color dominate, the second color support, and a third color accent.

Monochromatic colors

With a monochromatic color scheme, you choose one color and support it with its varying shades and tints. The result is a calm and consistent feel that looks polished and professional. This type of color scheme is easy to use since you only need to select one color and then use black, white, or grey to change it. 

How to choose a color scheme?

These formulas for putting together color combinations are easy to pick up with enough practice. Yet, the challenge lies in the other factors you must consider when choosing colors for your color palette, which affect the impact and effectiveness of your color scheme.

Consider the user experience

When creating a presentation, consider the audience and the purpose. For example, using a monochromatic color palette is appropriate for a professional presentation , while complementary palettes are versatile for different types of occasions.

But also remember the details; for example, a bright background could be distracting and make it hard to read the text.

Set a mood for your color scheme

What is the mood you want to convey? If you want an energetic presentation, you’re better off using brighter colors like reds and yellows. While shades of blue are great for creating a peaceful and serene mood. Or you could tone down the clutter by creating negative space in black or white.

Working with high contrast

Be clever with your use of contrast. If you’re using a dark background, use light text that your audience can read, and vice versa. It’s important to use high contrast in more professional presentations to draw the audience’s attention to the contents. Draw attention to your important points with accent colors.

Follow the 60-30-10 rule

Originally an interior design rule, the 60-30-10 principle has proved to be a great tip for graphic design . It adheres to a balance of 60% of the main color (for backgrounds), 30% of the secondary color (filling in shapes or images), and 10% for the accent colors in outlines and text.

Refer to your color wheel

Use the color wheel to your advantage. Refer to it constantly to select color combinations of different color schemes. Sometimes, a color scheme that may look good in theory might not work with your presentation. It takes several tests to find a scheme that resonates with your personality and serves your presentation.

Draft multiple designs

As with any creative endeavor, there is no way to find out how your ideas will work without drafting and experimenting. In your quest of finding the appropriate color scheme, you need to create multiple drafts with your palette suggestions and see which works best. It’s good to step away from your work and sleep on it to refresh your perspective.

Keep it simple

Don’t overthink it. Keep your color scheme simple. A monochromatic palette is a great starting point for beginners since you’d only be working with one color. For more advanced users, try not to work with more than four colors; anchor your design in one dominant color and use the others for support.

Avoid unnecessary usage of color

Exercise restraint. Not every instance will need an explosion of color. For example, in a chart with only two variables, heights, and length suffice as differentiating factors. But when a third or fourth variable is introduced, then the color becomes necessary to emphasize or highlight differences.

Be consistent with color across charts

When using multiple charts and graphs, make sure to be consistent throughout the presentation when referring to the same groups. It keeps the document neat and organized and helps the reader follow along.

Leverage the meaningfulness of color

Different colors hold different meanings and symbolism. If you’re using color in graphs to represent certain groups, then keep in mind the colors they are typically associated with to make it easier for a reader to follow.

A general rule to follow is avoiding high color brightness and saturation or at least keeping them to highlight a particular element. 

Attend to color blindness

Be inclusive of those with color blindness. The most common form of color blindness causes those afflicted to confuse red and green, and less commonly the confusion between yellow and blue. So use variety in the lightness and saturation to differentiate between colors rather than relying only on hue.

Sites like Coblis have color blindness simulators to help you get an idea of how your visuals will look and if there are potential ambiguities.

Types of color palettes

When it comes to data visualization, color is a necessary component in visual aids such as charts and elements. Misusing color could be distracting or confusing, but using color productively helps you tell the story you want to tell. Depending on the data you want to convey, there are different types of color palettes to consider.

Qualitative palette

A qualitative palette is used when the information presented deals with categorical variables such as age groups, countries, race, etc. In a qualitative palette, a distinct color is assigned to each variable or group.

A qualitative palette relies on the colors to differentiate between several variables, so try to limit the palette to no more than ten colors. Any more would create confusion in distinguishing between groups. Play around with hues, lightness, and saturation to create distinctiveness between colors.

It’s also important to maintain overall cohesion to not create unintentional bias by highlighting certain variables more than others.

Sequential palette

A sequential palette is used when the variables are numeric and typically portrayed sequentially. Often in a sequential palette, the lightness or hues are the distinguishing factors between variables.

The use of lightness is the most recognizable form of a sequential palette, which is why a single hue could be used. Low values are connoted with lighter colors, while darker colors are used for higher values. Otherwise, it is recommended to use two adjacent colors from a warm or cool palette.

Diverging palette

A diverging palette is applied when numeric variables have a central value (like zero). It’s useful to think of a diverging palette as two sequential palettes meeting at a middle point. The two sides are assigned two distinctive colors, and as with sequential palettes, lightness is used to portray distance from the central value.

Discrete vs. continuous palette

Sequential and diverging color palettes interact with data values with either discrete colors akin to a numerical value or through a continuous fading function between the variable and color.

Often, the process of creating color palettes follows the first method of using discrete or distinct colors, even though it would make sense to use a continuous color function to communicate the relationship between values.

However, people distinguish details such as length or position more quickly than they do color differences. So discrete palettes highlight patterns in the data, and we can set a clearer range within a discrete palette. While on a continuous palette, data would be pushed into a narrower range.

How to create a color scheme for your presentation

With the variety of color schemes and color palettes possible, where do you even begin creating your own? There are many variables involved in building a color scheme for your presentation, so start at the root and select colors appropriate for your goal. You can also reach out to our team for their presentation design (and palette-making) expertise.

Our presentation design services

Pick your colors

Building a color scheme begins with selecting colors that fit your purpose and mood. The process of picking colors is simplified once you can select a base color to build on.

The dominant color

Visual language is very effective in creating a subconscious connection and resonating with your audience. So begin by selecting a dominant color that encapsulates your beliefs and best represents your topic and niche to create the base for your color palette.

The secondary color

A secondary color supports your scheme’s dominant color and makes it stand out more.

The accent color

Accent colors are used to contrast and emphasize points in a presentation. Complementary colors make for perfect accent colors as they offer a bold contrast that attracts the eye. Accent colors are meant to be used sparingly to not overwhelm the viewer.

Keep colors in balance

Maintain a balance with your color palette and diversify the use of colors in highlighting text or brightening slides. Apply the 60-30-10 rule to your dominant, secondary, and accent colors.

Use the theme color palette

When creating your presentation, take advantage of the theme palette feature in PowerPoint and Google Slides. This tool allows you easy access to your color palette and lets you quickly change the colors of text and elements in your presentation at once without having to do them individually.

Use the tools at your disposal

There are several tools available for building a color scheme and using color palettes in presentation and design software. Use them to create a cohesive and engaging color scheme to be used in your presentations.

Tools and resources for using colors

By now, you should have a pretty good idea of color theory and how to build a color scheme. However, that shouldn’t discourage you from using tools and resources that help you speed up the process of selecting the perfect color scheme for your presentation.

Data Color Picker

Data Color Picker is a great tool for generating color schemes for sequential and diverging palettes. Often, some hues are left out between the two endpoints of a sequential palette, but Data Color Picker has a default tab for palettes that is perfect for generating multi-hued palettes.

Chroma.js Color Palette Helper

This tool has detailed options for crafting a color palette, with options for the type of palette desired (sequential, diverging), correcting lightness, and a color blindness simulator. These features of the chroma.js Color Palette Helper allow for more refined and cohesive palettes.

Color Thief

Since there aren’t many tools for creating qualitative palettes, you could extract potential color palettes from images with colors that resemble your intended mood. Color Thief is a tool that lets you generate a color palette from your own uploaded pictures. Although you would need to tweak your options to create an appropriate palette, Color Thief is a great starting point.

Viz Palette

Similar to Coblis, Viz Palette is a color palette tool that allows you to see how your palettes are perceived by individuals with different color perception deficiencies and color contexts. Furthermore, you can alter the color palette instantly in the tool.

Adobe Color

Adobe Color is a free Adobe tool for building color palettes based on different schemes and combinations. Moreover, it offers premade color schemes to play around with, use in your presentation, and even save if you’re an Adobe user.

Illustrator Color Guide

In the Illustrator Color Guide, you could generate a 5-color scheme along with its tints and shades based on the one color you select. And with preset modes, you could select the type of color scheme you want to create. You can save your color palettes to return to them in future presentations.

Preset Color Guides

Chances are, you’re familiar with Microsoft Office products. Well, did you know that all of the Office softwares have preset color schemes that you can use for your projects? In PowerPoint, you can find the color schemes in the Colors menu in the Slide Master view. You could select an option or customize your own.

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What Colors To Choose For Your Presentation?

Colors are not only a matter of personal taste. They convey feelings, influence people’s mood, and even carry specific meanings. That is why you should leave nothing to chance when choosing the colors of your PowerPoint presentation. However, you don’t need to be an expert in graphic design or color psychology to select accurately the shades of your backgrounds and fonts. In this article, you will find a series of tips to help you pick the right color scheme. Get ready to come through your presentation with flying colors!

1. Choose the right color to convey the right feeling

Psychologists have taught us that colors can influence people’s perceptions and even trigger emotions. That is the reason why they have become such important elements in branding and marketing. The same goes for your visual aids: your audience will not have the same emotional response if you use a bright red background or a light blue one. Once you have identified the feelings at the core of your message, you will be able to choose the colors that can transmit them. Let’s have a look at the most common colors and discover the feelings and connotations they communicate.

RED – A powerful color to use with moderation

In the Western world, red is associated with love, passion, strength, and energy. It is a great color to put emphasis on a specific feature but can be tiring throughout a whole presentation since it raises the heart and respiration rates. Remember red is also the color of anger and danger. In conclusion, use red with care, only if you have a specific goal, for example, if your topic is food and you want to increase your audience’s appetite!

BLUE – The safe choice

More than one-third of people consider blue their favorite color, so grab this opportunity!  The most popular color has a calming effect and suggests peace, sincerity, confidence, and security. It is therefore a great option as a background, especially used in the finance, business, computing, communication, and healthcare areas.

GREEN – A color with harmonizing effect, perfect for nature-related presentations

The third and last of the primary colors can have a positive impact on your public since it represents life, nature, and peace. Moreover, it conveys feelings of balance and growth. Green is also believed to increase interaction, so if you want to set a mood that leads to dialogue, go green!

YELLOW – Feed your presentation with positive vibes

Let there be light! If you want to be sure to capture everybody’s attention, yellow is the stimulating color you need. It inspires happiness, optimism, and creativity. Nevertheless, try to use a soft shade of yellow in your background, since a bright yellow can be perceived as unsettling.

ORANGE – Show your creative side

Why not try the color of innovation and creativity? If you want to convince your audience to try something new, orange will do the trick: it is the hue of extroversion and confidence.

PURPLE – Great for luxury topics

Even though purple is an intense color that can surprise your audience, the right shade of purple can transmit creativity, wisdom or even mystery. This color can also give a sense wealth and luxury. It is a good choice if you want your background to be original.

BROWN – A warm and earthy color

This color is generally associated with the Earth and more specifically wood. A light brown color with a discreet wood texture could be a great option if your presentation includes environmental elements. Besides, it suggests the idea of durability.

GRAY – A formal yet modern color option

Forget about the negative connotations of gray ! It might be considered as a conservative color, but it is definitely a popular one. It offers a softer alternative to the white backgrounds.

BLACK – A powerful color to be used sparingly

It is well-known that black never goes out of fashion. Even though it is not the most popular color for backgrounds, it can be used to suggest elegance, luxury, and seriousness. It may not be ideal for a whole presentation, but black slides can easily be used to indicate a transition or make a powerful statement.

WHITE – The simple color option, when your message is King (as it always should)

The classic white background works ideally to evoke purity or simplicity. However, some people deem it as unoriginal. It is also tiring for the eyes when projected on a screen, therefore a light grey background is often considered a better option. Nonetheless, it helps get your message across clearly and simply.

2. Combine your colors attractively to please the eye

Some colors simply don’t match! Be careful when you associate the font color and the background one! For instance, blue and green are red’s worst friends. Two colors too close together on the spectrum, such as black and brown or red and orange, will make your presentation unattractive and hard to read. On the other hand, the right combination could convey the perfect message: dark blue and golden symbolize refinement while dark blue and white refer to the ocean and suggest tranquility.

You can obviously choose a basic color scheme: one hue for your background and another for your font. You can nonetheless try more complex combinations with 3 or more colors. In this case, check that the palette you use is pleasant to the eye and that it evokes the emotions you want to transmit.

A great example of color matching can be the 2021 Pantone colors the year : Illuminating yellow and Ultimate gray. The first is bright and vivid, the second firm and reliable; together, they represent strength and optimism.

3. Improve your readability with the right contrast

Establishing the right contrast between your background shade and your font color is essential. The basic rule is a light font over a dark background or a dark font over a light background. A high contrast means an optimal readability, and thus a high level of impact on your audience. To avoid having the same level of saturation in both colors, try to choose different hues and tones. For example, the pastel shade of a color will create a better visual impression when combined with the pure hue of another color.

One last piece of advice: if possible, always try to visualize your presentation on the screen where it will be projected, in order to check the final visual impression. Now you have another string to your bow: you are ready to consciously choose the right colors for your PowerPoint presentation!

We hope you like these tips. Your feedback is very important to us. Tell us what is (are) the color(s) you love to use in your presentations.

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How to choose the best presentation colors

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Kelly Morr July 05, 2016

It’s no secret that humans are drawn to visual stimuli, but many underestimate how colors affect our emotions and responses to information. Our color associations are not merely preferences, they’re also influenced by culture and evolution. For instance, it’s thought that humans have an aversion to brown because of its associations with rotting produce. However, the color red captures our attention because it’s a universal sign of heightened emotion. Presentations that are not only visual but also thoughtful when it comes to color, have a better chance of effectively communicating their message. That’s why in this article, we’ll share some of our top tips for putting together a powerful presentation color palette.

Presentation colors: Setting the mood

To choose your presentation colors, start by determining what mood you’re trying to set. Is the message supposed to be exciting? Perhaps it’s intended to keep people calm during a time of high tension, or maybe it’s full of important information that will require your audience to stay alert and attentive throughout. In any case, try using the guide below to help you select the right starting point for your presentation colors.

A dash of color theory

Once you’ve used mood to determine your base color, you can move on to choosing the rest of your presentation colors. At 99designs , we use a color wheel and a bit of color theory to help us out. Consider one of the following themes:

Monochromatic : one color in multiple shades or hues.

A monochromatic theme will give your presentation a feeling of harmony and be visually pleasing to almost everyone. If this were a food, it would be spaghetti with meatballs: it’s a classic and when done right it can be amazing, but even if not done right it’s pretty hard to offend anyone or make it terrible.

Analogous : two colors right next to each other on the color wheel, you’ll want to pick different shades or hues of these colors, as well, for contrast.  

This approach adds a nice level of variety but is still fairly safe. This is good for helping people pay attention and take in complicated topics without overwhelming them. If this were a food it would be enchiladas: it has a little spice, but it’s still a pretty safe thing to serve at a dinner party.

Complementary : two colors across from each other on the color wheel, again, with a couple shades/hues of each.

This will get attention! When we see complementary colors next to each other, it overloads our brains. This sort of scheme is best used when you definitely want to make a splash. If this type of theme were a food it would be screaming hot chili: some people are going to love it, but it may be too spicy for others.

Triadic : three colors equally spaced around the color wheel, with small variations in the shade of two colors.

This is a color scheme for advanced color users. When done right, it can guide where people look, creating balanced and visually compelling presentations, but it’s also really easy to mess up. Triadic themes are chocolate souffle : gourmet, delicious, will win you praise from almost anyone, but are super hard to make a right. One tip to keep in mind is to give each of your presentation colors a purpose. For example, one color should be more muted to ground viewers and the other two should be intentionally used as accents.

Tips for choosing the best presentation colors

Choosing the right presentation colors is crucial because they can significantly impact the audience’s perception and understanding of the content. Here are a few tips to help you select the best colors for presentations:

Think about what colors mean

Different colors can make people feel different ways. For example, blue is often seen as trustworthy, and red can grab attention. Choose presentation colors that match what you’re trying to say. If your theme is more on the formal side, blues and greens are great. For something that needs to pack a punch, you might want to go with reds and oranges.

Know your audience

People from different places or backgrounds might see colors differently. And it’s not just about culture; age and gender can play a role too. Younger folks might like bright, bold colors, while a more mature audience might prefer something less flashy.

Simplicity is key

Stick to a few presentation colors so you don’t overwhelm your audience. A good starting point is one main color for the background, another for your text, and maybe one or two extras to highlight important points. This makes sure your audience knows where to look.

Make sure it’s easy to read

You’ll want to pick presentation colors that stand out against each other so everyone can read your text easily. A dark background with light text or the other way around usually works best. 

Test it out

Colors can look different depending on where you’re presenting or what device you’re using. Always check how your presentation colors look in the room you’ll be in or on the device you’ll use. This way, you can make sure everything looks just right, no matter where you are.

Brand alignment

When picking colors for your presentation, it’s key to match them with your or your company’s brand. This consistency helps people recognize the brand and keeps things looking sharp. If you’re presenting on behalf of a company, starting with the brand’s colors is a smart move.

Trend awareness

Staying up to date with current color trends can give your presentation a modern and relevant vibe. But remember, it’s crucial that these trendy colors fit well with what you’re trying to say and don’t shift focus away from your main points.

Be aware of accessibility needs

Make sure to consider how accessible your color choices are for people with color vision differences. It’s important to steer clear of color pairs like red-green or blue-purple that might be hard for someone with color blindness to tell apart. 

Feedback loop

It’s a smart move to get some outside opinions on your choice of presentation colors. Chatting with colleagues or friends can shine a light on aspects you might not have considered. They might see things differently, which can really help you fine-tune how your presentation comes across.

Keeping these points in mind can help you choose the right presentation colors, making it clear, engaging, and accessible to your audience.

How do colors work? 

Colors carry distinct meanings, allowing you to shape audience perception in your presentation. Understanding these meanings helps in choosing the right presentation color palette to achieve the intended impact on your audience.

• Red: Signals urgency and excitement. It’s powerful for grabbing attention and can evoke strong emotions like passion and danger.
• Blue: Conveys trust and calm. It’s preferred for its soothing effect and is often used in corporate and healthcare settings to inspire confidence.
• Yellow: Associated with happiness and energy. Its brightness catches the eye quickly, making it effective for highlighting important points.
• Green: Represents growth and harmony. It’s easy on the eyes and used to denote eco-friendly concepts or financial themes.
• Orange : Suggests creativity and enthusiasm. It’s less aggressive than red but still effective in drawing attention and showing warmth.
• Purple: Implies luxury and wisdom. It’s used to create a sense of mystery or to appeal to the imagination.
• Black: Denotes sophistication and elegance. It’s powerful for conveying seriousness and can make other colors stand out when used as a background.
• White: Symbolizes purity and simplicity. It’s great for creating contrast and making content appear cleaner and more accessible.
• Pink: Evokes femininity and romance. It’s softer than red and can attract attention with its nurturing and calming qualities.
• Gray: Represents neutrality and balance. It’s versatile, often used as a background to help other colors pop or to convey a sense of sophistication without overwhelming.

What colors attract people’s attention?

When selecting colors for presentations, our primary goal is to capture the audience’s attention. This requires a thoughtful selection of colors that complement each other well. Here are several attention-grabbing color combinations designed to catch the eye, tailored to suit many themes and styles:

• Red and white: This mix is great for when you want to get people excited or to act on something, like in a sales pitch or a pep talk. It’s clear and direct.
• Navy blue and gold: Perfect presentation colors for serious business talks, financial updates, or anything where you want to look sharp and trustworthy. The use of a blue color theme keeps things looking professional.
• Yellow and gray: This combination is perfect for sparking creativity or presenting something new, like a startup idea or a design project. It’s bright and keeps things interesting.
• Turquoise and coral: This one’s refreshing and works well for topics on health, wellness, or the environment. It feels fresh and easy on the eyes, great presentation colors for learning settings.
• Purple and lime green: If you’re aiming to stand out, especially with tech or futuristic themes, this is your go-to. These are colors that grab attention without being too much.
• Orange and teal: Ideal for talking about marketing, travel, or anything adventurous. It’s engaging and makes people want to listen, perfect for a younger or dynamic crowd.
• Black and electric blue: When you’re dealing with high-tech or luxury products, this beautiful color combination gives off a cutting-edge vibe. It’s sleek and makes a statement.

Each pair is picked to not just look good but to help convey your message effectively to your audience, depending on what you’re talking about.

Presentation colors: careful application is key

When you’ve got your palette together, remember to use it to direct attention rather than steal the show. For example, see how the monochromatic theme below was applied to the dinosaur illustration. From left to right, the first color was used for headlines, the second for body text, the third for background, and the fourth and fifth are accent colors.

Also, remember that accent colors should be used sparingly. Try using them to draw attention to the most important parts of your presentations, such as the 1-3 key takeaways you want people to remember.

If you’re interested in learning more about creating an effective presentation, read the following article on presentation design .

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Color Psychology for Your Presentation Design

September 24, 2015 / Blog advise from expert, color psychology, color scheme, Powerpoint, powerpoint presentation tips, ppt tips, presentation design, presentation tips, Rick Enrico, SlideGenius

Color is more than just choosing what visual elements go with your branding. It spices up your design, unifies your elements, and gives life to your deck. It’s also a powerful psychological tool for PowerPoint pitches.

Colors have the power to subliminally influence your audience’s decisions and emotions. And if there’s one way the audience’s heart, it’s through their emotions .

This is why banking on the convincing power of color and choosing the right combination is crucial for your presentation design . Here’s how the five most popular colors affect your viewers.

Red is a color that demands attention, representing energy and intensity. Scientifically, it’s said to stimulate a faster heart rate among viewers. This makes the color ideal for restaurant-related businesses.

Use red if you want to give your offering a sense of urgency in your pitches.

Green represents nature, a color that gives off a relaxing vibe. It’s second only to red, as the color our eyes are most sensitive to. Some studies have even suggested that green colors help viewers retain memories , establishing it as a good all-around color.

Using green in your slides would be ideal for talking about your important points.

Yellow is the color representing happiness. Because of its brightness, this color tends to stand out from the rest. Seeing yellow releases a chemical called serotonin in our brain, making us feel good.

Adding this to your presentation designs can make your slides shine with an optimistic mood. Lift your viewers’ moods and ease any tension in the air with an engaging color like yellow.

Blue is the color of tranquility. Being the color of the skies and the oceans, this makes it highly familiar and comfortable to view. It can also mean loyalty, making it a crucial color for business presentations.

If you want to build trust with your audience, then blue is for you.

Purple is the color of sophistication. For centuries, it’s been the preferred hue of monarchs, and has come to mean wisdom and respect. It’s also thought to increase brain activity for increased problem solving.

Using a touch of purple can add an air of elegance to your deck design for high-end brands.

Different colors can impart meanings to your design, and help communicate your message clearer. Red imparts urgency, while green offers comfort. Yellow communicates optimism, while blue offers trust. Finally, purple can add a touch of sophistication to your brand.

There are many other colors out there, and several variations also exist for the ones we discussed. Hopefully, we got you started on the basics so you can deliver your speech with a winning deck.

If you want our presentation geniuses to give you a head start, contact us now for a free quote!

“ The Psychology of Color .” Psychology Issues . Accessed August 12, 2015. Dzulkifli, Mariam, and Muhammad Mustafar. “ The Influence of Colour on Memory Performance: A Review .” The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences: MJMS . Accessed August 12, 2015. “ Color Me Happy: Use Color to Impact the Mood of Your Home .” The Art of Simple . February 17, 2010. Accessed August 12, 2015 “ Precision Intermedia .” Psychology of Color . Accessed August 12, 2015

Featured Image:  “ Colores en la sociedad ” by Constanza.CH from flickr.com

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• DrillMaster University

All About Posting or Presenting Colors

DrillMaster January 20, 2018 Ask DrillMaster , Color Guard/Color Team , Honor Guard , Honor Guard Training 145 Comments

There is quite a bit of information and several situations that every color team needs to know to maintain the American flag in the position of honor – on the marching right or in front. The American flag never marches any other position . Never . Military and para-military (just about every organization that has its members in uniform) should follow military guidance.

Never march the American flag in the center. The position of honor is to the right- not the center . All flags are marched so that the finial (top ornament, the spade) is as close to the same height as possible. All flagstaffs must also be the same length.

Color Guard Formations

There are only two authorized formations for a color guard. Only two, Line Formation and Column Formation. Everyone who has served even a day in the military is familiar with both. We fall-in for a formation in line formation and when we are going to march somewhere, the formation is given Right Face into column formation and we can then march any necessary distance.

Notice in the graphic above that Inverted Line and Column Formations takes the American flag out of the position of honor. A color guard can never perform these two formations. Never.

What Flags do we Carry and in what Order?

Military, Civil and Citizen teams have different requirements. The colors listed are in order from the marching right (viewer’s left):

• All services must always march with their service color, it may not be replaced by any other flag.
• The Army is authorized to add a state, territory or foreign national color (only one) and can carry up to four flags, the rest being unit colors. Read here for more information .
• The Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard are only authorized to carry the National Ensign and the service color. They may add another three-man color guard for a foreign national or US territory color only. Read here for more information .
• The Air Force and Space Force are authorized to add a state, territory or foreign national color (only one) and can carry up to four flags, the rest being unit colors. Read here for more information .
• Civil teams (law enforcement, firefighters, and EMS) carry the American, state, municipal, organizational and even fraternal colors. The fraternal color can be omitted when presenting for local government functions.
• Tribal teams  , on Tribal lands, would carry the Tribal Nation’s color, American, and state colors. Outside of Tribal lands, the American would be first and then the Tribal Nation’s color. Some Tribal teams also carry service colors.

Side note: When an Army, Air Force, or Space Force color team carries the following colors, this is the order. No exceptions.

• American flag
• Foreign national, state, or territory flag (in that order)
• Military departmental flag
• (Unit flag)

Please read The Why of the Military Color Guard series of posts.

Carrying More Than One National Flag?

Let’s say you are part of an Emerald Society Pipe and Drum Corps and Honor Guard (a first responder fraternity). Many of these teams carry not only the American flag, but also the Irish flag. Why? The first law enforcement officers and firefighters were Irish. The tradition continues. Back to our situation of two national flags: All national flags are treated the same on American soil – they are not dipped in salute. Both remain upright even during both national anthems, if they are played. All other colors dip in salute.

Joint Service Order for Military Colors

This is the only order for service flags, service emblems, etc. For more information on why this is the order, click here to read Joint Service Order of the Colors . The right/lead rifle guard is a Soldier and the left/rear guard is a Marine.

• Right rifle guard, Army
• Marine Corps
• Space Force
• Coast Guard
• Left rifle guard, Marine Corps

Note: While service color position remains the same, if all service personnel are not able to be present for the team, their order should go as follows as far as knowledge is concerned: regardless of service or rank, the most knowledgeable (as far as color guard experience) member should be the US color bearer and the second most knowledgeable should be the right rifle guard. Third in this sequence should be the left rifle guard with descending familiarity following from there.

Joint Service Order for First Responders

Full disclosure: I developed this. While this is not a hard-and-fast rule, I thought it necessary to create an order of precedence based on the implementation of each service. Read this for complete first responder joint service information :

• Law enforcement officer (LEO)

Using the guidance from the military, team make up might look like this:

• Right/lead rifle guard: LEO armed with a rifle/shotgun, second-most experienced member
• American flag: LEO, most experienced member
• Other flag (State, etc.): Firefighter/EMS, can be least in experience
• Left/rear guard: Firefighter/EMS armed with a ceremonial fire axe, third in experience

Keep in mind the guidance that the most experienced member should be the US color bearer, regardless of service/profession.

LEO/Fire/EMS Working Together

I encourage and enjoy joint work, but there is an issue that must be addressed: Technique.

What about Military and Civil working together?

Nothing addresses this subject specifically. However, we don’t necessarily read manuals to see what is forbidden or not authorized as that would be a never ending list, we look to the service manuals for what is authorized and we have our answer already. Military sticks with military and that’s it.

What About the Uniform?

For the military, the Class A or ceremonial uniform is it. On base, the utility uniform is an option but only if the official party is wearing it. Never wear mess dress. For more read this article .

Does Height Matter?

Experience before aesthetics , always . Not if you have the luxury of each member of the team being around the same height, but for cadet and civil teams, it should come second to knowledge and experience. Yes, the team might look “off”, but it’s best to have knowledgeable members of the team in key positions rather than have aesthetics. Click here and read this article .

Flag Stuck, etc.?

Problem during the Performance? That’s why God invented the right and left guards for the team! The guards are there to fix whatever issue they can.  For more, read this article here .

Hangin’ Around

Waiting for the ceremony still requires proper protocol.

• Arrive at the site at least one hour early
• Practice while in your travel uniform (this ensures no one thinks the ceremony has already begun and gives the team time to figure out their movements)
• Change into ceremonial/Class A uniform
• Hang out* with equipment ready in-hand and all team members in their proper place (American flag at right or in front of other flags- yes, even just hanging around – cameras are everywhere)
• Ten minutes prior to show time, line up at staging position at Stand at Ease (or Parade Rest) ready to perform

*An example of how NOT to stand around. This is a USAF Base Honor Guard team, I have pictures of other services, this is just an example.

Sporting Events

For horse and ice rink arenas, see The Arena/Rink Colors Presentation article .

For baseball, basketball, football/soccer, see this article and this article .

Left Wheel, Right Wheel and About Wheel . These are terms that honor guards use to describe turns accomplished by the color team most often outside. Right/Left Wheels use the center of the team as the rotation point which means half the team marches forward and the other half marches backward to rotate the team 90-degrees in an average of eight steps for teams with four to six members.

This is joint service technique from the Marine Corps and ceremonial technique. The Army Wheel is just like the Marine Corps Turn with the rotation point on the guard position.

The team executes the About Wheel in the same direction as the Right Wheel rotating the team 180-degrees in 16 steps.

Posting/Presenting

While colors can be and sometimes are posted outdoors (read that link), my experience leads me to recommend that you present and not post. The wind just never plays well with other others. We, in the military try to avoid this as much as possible with the alternative being a color team that posts near the podium for the event. The members present and then stage the team for everyone to see. Sometimes this may not be a viable solution and you will have to have the event and location dictate how the color team handles the colors. See also, How to Present the Colors at an Event ,  What is Authorized when Presenting the Colors , and How to Plan and Coordinate a Color Guard Event . This article, How to Present the Colors at an Event , has great information.

Note: As a rule of thumb, colors enter at Right Shoulder (Carry) and depart at Port Arms. Entering at Port is fine if necessary.

• Halt in front of and facing audience
• Present Arms for (foreign national anthem and then) the Star Spangled Banner or Pledge of Allegiance (not both see the next paragraph)
• (Color bearers move to post colors and rejoin guards)

The Announcement

“Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation (and posting) of the colors.” Every time a color guard presents the colors, it’s called a presentation. At a formal event, the colors may be placed in stands, that is posting. The colors will always be presented, just not always posted.

Music to Present to

Why not both the anthem and pledge.

Having both is not necessary. The Star-Spangled Banner is a salute to the flag and we render the military hand salute, stand at attention, or place our right hand over our heart, and dip flags.

We will not find anything that specifically forbids having the Star Spangled Banner played or sung and then having the Pledge of Allegiance in the same ceremony. The military oath supersedes the Pledge from our first day of Active Duty so we in the military hardly ever recite the Pledge if at all. There are times we do recite it and that is explained in our protocol manuals. What we read in TC 3-21.5 (MCO 5060.20 and AFMAN 36-2203) and related manuals is that the only music to honor the flag is the national anthem.

If you are told that the anthem and Pledge will be part of a ceremony and have no say, a great way to facilitate that is to formally present the colors, go to Present for the anthem, (post the colors- for more formal ceremonies,) and then have the color guard depart. Once the team is off stage, the audience can be led through the Pledge.

If the point of contact insists on both the anthem and Pledge and the team remaining for both, have the team return to Carry/Right Shoulder and remain for the Pledge. After recitation, the team departs at Port (Port, ARMS; Colors, Colors Turn, HARCH).

Music Played on Entrance and Exit

A military march can be played for the color guard when entering and exiting and no other time. The usual music for military color guards is the Trio section of the National Emblem March. T his YouTube video from the US Navy Band is perfect (also below) and at the correct tempo (around 90 beats per minute is best when presenting/posting indoors). If you have a live band, you can coordinate when to cut the music off. If you play this or another recording, you can halt and let the music play out. If you can get in place before the repeat, please don’t let the whole thing play while everyone stands around waiting for the music to end.

Dipping Flags to the Pledge

US military departmental and organizational flags do not dip for the Pledge. The same goes for the JROTC organizational flag, which is dipped in salute in all military ceremonies while the national anthem of the United States, “To the Colors,” or a foreign national anthem is played, when rendering honors to the Chief of Staff or Secretary of a US military branch, his or her direct representative, or an individual of higher grade, including a foreign dignitary of equivalent or higher grade. Organizational colors are also dipped when rendering honors to organizations and individuals for which the military ceremony is being conducted.

What about other organizational (veteran groups and first responders) and state flags? Dipping state, territory, city, and county flags along with private/national organization and law enforcement, fire, and EMS department flags is appropriate.

Foreign Anthems?

Foreign national anthems are played first and the Star-Spangled Banner is played last. An example of this is a Canadian hockey or baseball teams plays an American team here in the USA. If the American team traveled to Canada, the Star-Spangled Banner would be first with Oh Canada! played last.

Other Music?

While there may be other anthems representing certain people groups, they are not afforded the same protocol as a national anthem. The public is not required to stand or place their hand over their heart. Let’s take the Black Anthem as an example.

While I am in no way suggesting disrespect should be shown to a piece of music that may have meaning to a number of people, it is not at the same level as a national anthem and is not accorded the protocol of standing and placing the right hand over the heart, a military hand salute, or even the color guard going to Present Arms with the rifle guards at the position of Present and the non-national flag dipped forward. If this other music is played, the color guard should only stand at the position of Attention if on the court/field and after that music has finished, the commander of the team gives “Present, ARMS!” and the Star-Spangled Banner is then played or sung.

The announcer can say, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Black Anthem.” After it is finished the announcer should say, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise, (men remove your hats, and place your right hand over your heart) for the Star-Spangled Banner.” Here is where the color guard would go to Present Arms and the anthem would then begin. The Star-Spangled Banner must be last.

Standard Entrance and Departure

To Present or Post, that is the Question!

Posting the colors is for special occasions. How special? That is up to the organization. Graduations are a special time, that would call for posting the colors. Weekly events would probably warrant pre-posted colors at the least or presenting the colors only.

The Show-n-Go . This is the honor guard term for presenting the colors for an informal/semi-formal event. The colors are pre-posted on the stage/front of the room and the color team enters, formally presents (Anthem), and then departs. No posting.

This happens at all sporting events where a color guard enters the field and should be a regular occurrence for every color guard in the USA and Americans abroad. Formally presenting is reserved for formal events.

With the Show-n-Go, the colors do not matter. As long as the American flag pre-posted, the color team can present whatever they carry as their standard colors (American, State, etc.).

How to Enter

The standard entrance is to enter from the viewer’s right, present to the audience (then post) and depart. See the image above.

To enter from the viewer’s left, use Every Left On . Also, read this article . This avoids Inverted Line Formation explained above.

Flag Stand Positions

Below, is an example of different stand positions behind a podium. For more on which flags should be in which stands, read this article on The Logical Separation of Colors .

How to Exit

The standard exit is to the viewer’s left. See the standard entrance/departure image above.

To exit to the viewer’s right, use Every Left Off . The commander calls, “Step!” and the left rifle guard steps across, as close as possible to the team member on their left. Step any further away and the departure for the team looks terrible.

Asked to post another organization’s color(s)? Don’t! Read this !

Entering and Departing to Music

Music is not mandatory. If you are going to have music, it is best that it be live. If not, a recording can sound quite unprofessional. The standard entrance and exit music for presenting/posting the colors is the Trio section of the National Emblem march by Edwin Eugene Bagley. Here is the YouTube video of the USAF Heritage Band playing the march. The link begins the video at the Trio section . This tempo is about 120 SPM (steps per minute). For the colors, you want a tempo of about 90 SPM.

When to Retire/Retrieve the Colors

Retrieving the colors is reserved for the extra, extra formal occasions. Do not retire the colors for weekly or even monthly meetings. Retirement is for very formal galas or balls. Use the posting sequence in reverse.

• Color bearers retrieve colors and rejoin guards
• Present Arms for a few seconds ( military flags do not dip )

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Comments 145.

Thanks for a great article. During a Navy ceremony when colors are paraded, does the MC also render a hand-salute?

Yes sir, that would be appropriate.

Copy. Thanks DrillMaster.

In a similar vein, my pastor has asked me to carry and hold the flag during a short Memorial Day remembrance during our upcoming Sunday service (I’m a veteran). He wants to play Taps, and has asked me to dip the flag while Taps is played. I’m aware the Flag Code stipulates the flag should never be dipped — would there ever be an exception to this rule for a religiously-themed Memorial remembrance such as this? Thanks

Sir, I have been scouring the Internet for the proper sequence (if there is even a proper sequence). As I remember it, while on active duty, when Posting the Colours / Retiring the Colours for a formal military event (All Academy Ball, as an example), the sequence is Invocation, Post, Retire, Benediction. Is this correct or does it even matter?

SFC Loewen,

It’s not mandatory to have a colors presentation. Colors can be preposted and no color guard present if there is no room or other circumstance.

For some situations: Colors preposted Star-Spangled Banner (played or sung) Invocation Ceremony Benediction

For most situations: One set of colors preposted and another set carried for a formal presentation (show-n-go) Star-Spangled Banner (played or sung) Departure of the color guard Invocation Ceremony Benediction

For formal situations: Colors presentation Star-Spangled Banner (played or sung) [posting of the colors] Departure of the color guard Invocation Ceremony Benediction

For very formal situations: Colors presentation Star-Spangled Banner (played or sung) Posting of the colors Departure of the color guard Invocation Ceremony Benediction Color guard retrieves colors Honors to the American flag

I hope this is helpful.

I am writing the script for a promotion ceremony. We intend to use the show-n-go method. Flags will already be posted on stage and the color guard will present the colors, National Anthem will be performed, and the color guard will exit, followed by the invocation. I am looking for the proper commands. Please advise on the below: MC: “Honor Guard, parade the Colors!”

[Honor Guard presents the Colors.] [SSG approaches and sings National Anthem.]

[Following National Anthem, SSG returns to seat]

MC: “Retire the Colors.” [Is this correct, or does the honor guard march the colors back down the isle without a command from the MC?]

[Honor Guard marches the colors to the back of the room and MSG will be preparing to come on stage to podium and provide invocation]

MC: “Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain standing for the invocation by retired Master Sergeant XX.”

The MC should say, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the (entrance of the official party,) presentation of the colors and remain standing for the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by SSG X, the departure of the color guard, and the invocation.”

That’s a bit for the audience to remember, so you can cut it into pieces.

The soloist waits for the color guard commander to give Present, Arms, and then begins to sing.

When the singing monsters s finished, the color guard departs on its own, no prompt given. As soon as the team is out of site (through a doorway), then the invocation.

If hope that’s helpful for you.

Would this be correct: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the Knights of Columbus (insert Council name/number) and the presentation of the colors and remain standing for the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner by SSG X, the departure of the color guard.

Yes, adding a personalization is fine.

Hello, forgive me if I thought wrong. I thought the our American flag would be vertically straight toward heaven and all others would be dipped forward at 30 degrees or so. I thought that was the place of honor. Thank you.

Mr. Venzke,

The position of honor is on the marching right for the a colors guard. The American flag is ALWAYS on the marching right in Line Formation and at the front in Column Formation. It is never anywhere else. The Army, Air Force, and Space Force require a “slight” angle forward for the staffs while the other services require the staffs to be vertical.

All staffs match in direction at all times except for Present Arms/Eyes Right. For that, all organizational flags dip with a full arm extension. If more than one flagstaff is dipped, those staff angles also match.

That’s the standard for the US military.

When doing a closing flag ceremony (I’m a Cub Scout Den Leader), when the flag bearers have retrieved the flags and are told to return to ranks, do they go to what is now the back of the line upon exiting or in the front of the line after the color guard has done an about face toward the back of the room. We use a two column formation. We generally have however many scouts are in a den participate as the color guard so everyone has a chance to be in the ceremony. I can find all kinds of videos online with the opening indoor ceremony, but not closing.

Ma’am,

Color guard members do not execute About Face to (To the) Rear March.

There are several ways to enter and depart with the flags that are shown above. The color guard (in your case your two flag bearers and, if you choose, two unarmed guards) usually keep to themselves not joining the rest of the membership until after the colors are secured. The bearers should go and put the colors up and then can return to the others, but retrieval of the flags is the last thing that takes place, there’s nothing accomplished after (unless it’s a formal event where there will be dancing). I’m not sure if this is helpful.

Rotaton of flag bearers through den membership is a very good idea as it promotes better understanding of responsibilities we have toward rendering honor and respect to out flag.

I am a member of a law enforcement HG. We are often short on members due to shift work, court and other requirements. We normally have four members to post colors, however is it ever acceptable to post with two and not have guards?

I just talked about this on my social media. Here’s the text from that post.

Sent in with a question: Aren’t the colors always escorted/guarded?

The answer is yes and there are exceptions. I’ll explain. For the military, yes, absolutely all the time the flag(s) will have two guards. First responders are paramilitary and should follow the same principle, but they don’t always have the manning in their honor guard team at many departments across the country. So, for representation, some teams march flags-only.

To add to that, scout programs do not carry a weapon, so if the team even has guards, they are unarmed.

Guards are not mandatory for civilian and civil teams because the Flag Code does not make that a requirement. Only the military manuals make it a requirement and that only applies to the military.

I hope that helps.

Good morning and thank you for this wonderful information. I cannot find a page that addresses who gets honors at a funeral. For example we have a Commonwealth Attorney who has recently passed. Technically he was considered “the highest law enforcement official” in the Commonwealth since they have law enforcement powers. He was retired from his position at the time of his passing… would a color guard be appropriate?

Having a law enforcement agency honor guard post a color guard for the graveside service is appropriate, if they have the time and manning.

Since he did not die while in office, there isn’t a protocol to support his funeral.

Is it ok for a civilian group…..no military affiliation nor civil, to have a flag presentation for members returning from an Honor Flight? To me it seems wrong and a plain civilian should only have the little hand waving flags. Please advise.

Mr. Resing,

While not necessarily “wrong”, I do see your point. Having said that not just anyone who wears a uniform should think it proper to pick up a flagstaff or rifle and think they are being patriotic without training and practice. It would certainly be inappropriate to have a fast-food restaurant throw four employees together in a color guard just because. That definitely seems wrong.

What standards will this civilian team follow? What training do that have? While the Flag Code sets forth the basis, the military takes standards much further. Finally, why? Why does this group of Americans find it necessary to pull out flagstaffs (and rifles) and not have one of the organizations mentioned below invited to render honors? Why not, as you have written, pick up small flags and wave them as we see many of our fellow Americans do at many parades. Americans take part in patriotic occasions all the time, I see no need for a group of civilians to try to do something others have been doing for decades as part of their job.

I would hope that color guards would be left to the military, cadets, first responders, and veteran organizations.

I am making a bulletin for a funeral at my church. The deceased is a veteran. We will have an honor guard from the Air Force base to play Taps and present a flag to the widow. What should this be called in the order of worship?

Thank you for your time,

Whether graveside or in the church, the religious service usually happens first followed by Military Honors. Military Honors consists of a firing party firing the Three Volley Salute and the sounding of Taps. For Veteran Funeral Honors, most often the military provides two service members to fold the flag and then sound Taps (in that order). You still call this Military Honors.

How would you recommend we handle a memorial service that is NOT part of a funeral? My church is hosting a memorial service for my dad but he will not be buried until much later. Is it appropriate to post colors in a situation like that? How would you handle it? Thanks very much

My condolences to you and your family on the passing of your father.

While the military, including veteran organizations, cannot render honors more than once (presentation of the flag, firing party, and Taps), the community/church membership can have the colors present for the memorial and have a nice service that centers around the stories each one can tell, a less formal occasion. Then, when the time comes to bury the deceased, the formal military honors can be performed.

That’s how I see it. I hope that is helpful for you.

The VFW and American Legion are conducting a Veteran’s Dinner. The local JROTC will post the colors at the beginning of the dinner but the colors will not be retrieved prior to the dinner ending. What is the protocol when not retrieving the colors? Does the National Anthem get played? As the Master of Ceremonies do I just announce an end to the formal portion of the dinner followed by attendees either staying to socialize or leaving the building?

The Star-Spangled Banner is only played or sung on the presentation of the colors and that is always at the beginning of a ceremony.

The colors are posted at formal occasions and retrieved only at very, very formal occasions.

At the end of the formal part of the evening, you can simply announce that and that guests are invited to socialize (and that the dance floor is open) for the rest of the night.

Good evening,

Recently my colorguard was performing at a high school football game. Do to some technical problems they couldn’t play the National anthem so they did a moment of silence. In the moment I kept my CG at present during the moment of silence. If this happens again what is the proper way to go about it?

First of all, you did an excellent job at the spur of the moment thinking. If you know there’s a technical issue at the outset, march on, guards go to Present on your command and that’s it. The departmental or organizational flag would not dip since it would only dip for the Star-Spangled Banner. I hope you are aware that military flags don’t dip every time you give the command to Present.

If a technical problem happens in the moment, just use your best judgment again.

Drillmaster,

Is there a certain requirement for the color guard on number of members for nber of flags being raised? We are a Girl scout group that dies regular flag ceremonies at annual girl scout events seasonally and we include the US flag, the state flag and the GS flag, it has come under question recently if there should be at least a certain number of girls in the color guard for that number of flags. Any information would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!!

There’s no requirement other than one color bearer per color. That’s it. If you want to provide guards to march at either end, you most certainly may. Civilian organizations like Scouts are not required to provide anything else.

I know this question may make someone’s eye twitch, but can veterans perform color guard duties in civilian clothes for an informal event? Over the past 15+ years, a local organization has had a very successful veteran golf outing which included a color guard to kick it off. There has always been support by either a local National Guard or Reserve unit, VFW post, or American Legion post (all in uniform). This year we have completely exhausted trying to find a group that can do it. We have veterans who are golfing who have volunteered to do the color guard, but only 1 still has a dress uniform (which doesn’t fit well). We’d still like to continue the tradition, but I don’t want anyone having heart attacks when they see 4 guys in polos and shorts posting the colors. Thanks for any insight…

No eye twitching here. What you describe sounds like the perfect solution. Four guys in polo shirts and shorts (a uniform of sorts) presenting the colors just before the golf tournament in which they will participate works.

I am organizing a parade in a small town of Arkansas. I would like to include a color guard. I’m wondering whom I could contact to arrange this. Any information you could provide would be helpful. Thank you & thank you for your service.

Ms. Pierron,

Your local police department, sheriff’s office, fire department, veteran group, and high school JROTC are all liable to have a color guard each.

RE: White Gloves

I’ve heard that white gloves are only to be worn with long sleeve uniform. I’ve also heard that they may be worn with short sleeve as well. Which is it? Both? Is there a proper white glove etiquette?

Traditionally, military members have always presented the colors in the Class A or ceremonial uniform and both only have long sleeves. This is probably where the “white gloves are only worn with long sleeves” idea comes from. There’s no rule that I’m aware of. It is best, however, to tuck the sleeve of the glove into the the hand so that the glove’s crease is at the wrist. That presents a professional image. DM

I belong to a Veterans Group and we are having our 40th. Anniversary. I need some help on placing the following flags

American Pow/Mia Org flag Agent Orange

Any assistance would be so appreciated.

Mr. Davison,

As you look at the flags (audience’s perspective), the American will be on your left, (state flag goes here, if you choose to display it,) the organization’s flag is next (at the American’s left, viewer’s right), the Agent Orange flag, and then last is the POW/MIA flag.

Please let me know if you have any further questions.

I am the clerk of the school board for a school system in Virginia. Our board holds twice-monthly meetings. We have five high schools in our county, so on a rotational basis we have a high school JROTC color guard unit come in to present the colors for our Pledge of Allegiance at each board meeting.

I have no military background myself, so please forgive my ignorance about protocols. My question for you is this: How should I refer to the color guard unit’s presentation? Is it “posting” of the colors or is it “presentation” of the colors? (Or something else?)

We’re located next door to Quantico. Out of respect for our local military families, I want to be accurate in how I refer to the color guard presentation on our meeting agendas. Thanks in advance for your help.

Sir/Ma’am,

I very much appreciate you wanting to use the correct terminology. I just updated the article to include that information and I’ll provide it for you here.

All colors presentations are a Presentation. When the occasion is more formal, the colors are posted. Your meetings are not in the formal category, so your announcement would be, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of the colors by XYZ high school Junior ROTC.”

Again, thank you for your attention to detail!

At the beginning of our University’s Women’s Basketball game, it has been customary that an ROTC Color Guard enter the Arena, formally, and present the Colors, followed by the National Anthem. During the first game of this season, the Color Guard entered , as usual. The PA announcer directed the audience to join in the playing of the Black Anthem, which was followed by the National Anthem. The audience was standing, holding their right hands on their hearts, expecting the National Anthem. The Black Anthem is a beautiful song with inspirational lyrics, but is it expected that the audience be showing the same respect by standing as if the National Anthem was being played?

Thank you for your question. From a protocol standpoint, the public is asked to stand for national anthems. These anthems represent nations and not just people based on any other factor (language, skin color, etc.). It is respectful to stand for the anthems of friendly foreign countries at sporting events in the USA where a Canadian or Mexican team might play an American team. The foreign anthem is played first and the home anthem, our Star-Spangled Banner is this case, is played last.

The announcer can say, “Ladies and gentlemen, the Black Anthem.” After it is finished the announcer should say, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise, (men remove your hats, and place your right hand over your heart) for the Star-Spangled Banner.” Here is where the color guard would go to Present Arms and the anthem would then begin.

I hope you find this helpful. Protocol and military standards are both very specific.

Hi DrillMaster,

First, thanks for a wonderful website and your time in effort maintaining it.

I am an adult leader and our Boy Scout Troop has been asked to provide the color guard to present the colors for the Veteran’s Day opening day ceremony of our chartered organization school. I’ve read about what you describe as a Show-n-Go, which is what they are asking for. This will take place in the school courtyard where no colors are previously posted. Our Scouts (both Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts) will be in Class-As.

Our color guard would use our American flag on our flag pole. They would enter from audience front left, walk to the center, pivot right, go up some stairs and then use Every Left On to present the colors on the right of the speaker. The Cub Scouts would lead in Pledge of Allegiance, then the school would sing the Star Spangled Banner. Finally we would exit.

I’ve only previously posted colors for our weekly Troop meetings or seen color guard posting colors at Summer Camp.

How does this sound? Anything to improve or change? What would an example script look like for something like this look like?

Thanks for your help!

Sir, Excellent plan!! I’m very impressed that you have read so much of my website and then formulated the process that fits your situation best. Well done! The script might go:

Announer: ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the (playing/singing of the) Star-Spangled Banner.

Colors enter and post.

Pledge and anthem. (Note, both are not necessary. The anthem takes precedence.)

Colors depart.

Announcer: please be seated.

I hope that’s helpful and that you and your Scouts have a great time.

Our Girl Scout troop is excited to participate in their school’s Veterans Day program and has the honor of being the Color Guard. This will be the girls second time and they take this very seriously. The teacher responsible for coordinating the program has requested they both raise the flag and present the Colors. My concern is there is no official “protocol” for this and we may inadvertently offend someone or disrespect the flag/Veterans in attendance in some way by doing this.

Is there a protocol for this? Or should we respectfully push back on doing both? Your guidance is greatly appreciated.

Girl Scout troop leader

Ms. DeLoach,

What a great opportunity for your girls!

There isn’t a protocol problem with having both, but it is out of the norm.

For the colors presentation, the Star-Spangled Banner is played and for the flag raising (called a Flag Detail), the anthem is also played. I suggest only the Flag Detail for this reason.

You can present the colors, have the team remain, bring the Flag Detail in, but if you don’t have enough members to do both simultaneously, the color guard can present and depart.

Please let me know if you require any information specific to the color guard or Flag Detail. I’m more than happy to assist.

I am the director of a community youth choir and we are presenting a Veteran’s Day Concert in a few weeks. I have invited a color guard to present the flags to open the program. I am planning to follow with the Star Spangled Banner. Should the flags be presented in a quiet auditorium or with music in the background? Also, once the flags are on stage should they be retired at the end of the program since this is not a formal event? I’ve read many comments but wasn’t sure. I was wondering about having taps played at the end of the program following a song which honors our veterans. The reason was to honor friends and family of our veterans who may no longer be with us. A veteran told me this should be all right. Is this appropriate (I understand Memorial Day is in memory of those we’ve lost) and should taps be played before flags are retired if at all? I am putting the program together and wanted to make sure we were following correct protocol. Thank you!

Ms. Hesinch,

What a thoughtful question. I appreciate it when my fellow Americans care about doing the right thing.

Here is my suggestion for you to begin the program: Announcer: “Ladies and gentlemen, we will begin in just a few minutes. Please silence all cell phones.” The color guard posts to their staging position and stands at Parade Rest. At the scheduled time: “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation (posting) of the colors.” This is the cue for the color guard to come to Attention, Carry Colors, and to march forward to center on the audience (on stage). Background music is not appropriate but the Trio section of National Emblem is a great military standard. You can find it here: href=”https://youtu.be/xJGATbPTy7E” title=”Trio to National Emblem” rel=”noopener” target=”_blank”> the link opens a new tab in your browser. Playing this section of the march (this slowly) can be very awkward for color guard members who do not have experience. If the team has not marched to music before, I suggest silence.

When the team commander gives “Present Arms!” (it needs to be a loud command), that’s when the Star-Spangled banner is played. When then the music finishes, the team can depart if an American flag is already in view, or they can post the flags in stands on the stage. Once the team posts the flags, they depart and the announcer tells the audience: “Please be seated.”

The lack of formality of the event requires the flags to not be formally retired. The color guard can informally gather the flags after the event is finished. Flags are only retired at “white tie” type events and those are quite rare.

Veterans Day recognizes living veterans, we do not collectively mourn the loss of veterans who have died on this day. It is inappropriate to sound (not play) Taps for the event. The veteran who told you it would be alright is incorrect. Taps is sounded for deceased veterans at their funerals, they are recognized then. As you noted, Memorial Day is for the veterans who did not return home alive and Taps is appropriate then.

Please let me know if you have any further questions and, again, thank you for being diligent in seeking to follow protocol.

Thank you! Your response is very helpful and much appreciated!

Is it ok to present the colors in a uniform other than dress uniform? For example OCPs (Operationl Camouflage pattern)?

The color guard should be in the same uniform as the official party. On a military installation, presenting in the utility uniform can be perfectly accessible. Off base, it’s not a good choice. Class A should be the standard.

What would be the appropriate way to present an Armed Forces Color Guard and a foreign national flag at an event.

The Army, Air Force, and Space Force, according to their regulations, can include the foreign national flag in the formation.

The Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard, according to their regulations, must have a separate three-man team to carry the foreign national flag.

So, whichever standards you follow, or, if you are a mixed (veteran) group, choose to follow, you are covered.

Thank you for the response. To elaborate it is an active duty Armed Forces Color Guard (9 Person with all services). I’ve heard that with joint service teams the senior service manual is used, however I haven’t seen any clear guidance or regulations for Joint Service Color Guards.

The joint service color guard made up of the service honor guard units in and around Washington DC use the Army ceremonial techniques.

The same goes for any time two or three teams perform at the same ceremony. The senior service always leads.

From this we can take note that the senior service is the one to follow.

Hello, we are wanting to have a flag posting for the first day of school, we have two options for an outdoors ceremony: Have color guard advance with folded standard which is then presented and then hoisted, recite pledge, and then sing school song. OR; Have standard posted on outdoor pole, and then have color guard advance with U.S. flag and school flag, present the colors, say pledge, sing school song, and then dismiss flags, then carry on the rest of the ceremony. Which would be the best alternative? And perhaps the wording of the best alternative-“please stand for the presentation of the colors”, etc.

Mrs Peterson,

Thank you for your question. What great ideas!

Your first idea is for a Flag Detail (not called a color guard). The flag detail brings in the national (state, school) with one bearer per flag and two team members to work the halyard. I would stick with just raising the national on one pole if you have separate poles and then raise the others after the ceremony or, if you have one pole and two flags, that would work just as easily. The procedure would be: Announcer- “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the advancement and raising of our national flag (nation’s colors).” Everyone stands, flag detail enters, attaches flag, commander gives “Present, ARMS”, flag is raised to the top, halyard secured, halyard bearers salute, commander gives “Order, ARMS”. Flag Detail remains at pole (can be dismissed, but adds to the timing and can seem awkward for what follows). Announcer-“Please join in the Pledge of Allegiance.” Recitation. Sing school song. Dismissal. If you are going to have the color guard, same procedure as above except for the following. Announcer- “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the presentation of the colors.” Color guard is centered and facing the audience, commander gives “Present, ARMS”. Pledge, song. Announcer- “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the dismissal of the colors.”

If everyone is standing and no one is seated, then the announcement could be, “Ladies and gentlemen, please direct your attention to the front (flag pole) for the…”

I hope that helps. Please let me know if you have any further questions.

Our City is organizing a 9/11 event and would like our Color Guard team to perform. We are always first up to start off any event we attend. They have us scheduled for the end. What is your take on that? Thank you!

MSgt Piccolo,

Thank you for your question. I first thought you were going to say that the team would be second, maybe third, but last?

It’s quite possible that another color guard will formally present the colors for the anthem and that your team will have a special presentation (akin to retrieving the colors possibly) to close out the event.

I know that many event organizers try to include as many local organizations as possible and even rotate through these organizations for yearly events.

I do think you should contact those in charge and see what their thinking is and how your team fits in as presenting last is unusual. You want to guard against thinking that puts the honor of the flag and the team at risk.

Please let me know what happens as I am quite curious!

Dear sirs We are having a family reunion and would like to have a flag presentation of some kind. We have no scout troops and no one in uniform. What would be acceptable.

May I suggest either mount the flag on a building or post or have a pole, permanent or temporary, in the ground and raise the flag and have everyone recite the Pledge.

OK US Flag is prePosted at stage on left about fron left of table-podium with Eagle facing away from assembly. To present or is it Post the colors, they rotate the Eagle towards the assembly. And we salute during the Turning saying “PRESENT ARMS” then when done say “TWO”.

We are being told that US Flag should be PUSHED BACK away from Podium-Table to RETIRE IT?

Where is this WRITTEN as FLAG ETIQUETTE? To Move US FLAG forward to Front of Podium-Table at beginning of a Meeting and then Push it Back to RETIRE it? This has caused some negative comments as to what is the right way to PRESENT prePosted US Flag and then to RETIRE a PrePosted US FLAG???? I trust my questions about situation makes sense as to how to CORRECTLY prsent and retire a prePOSTED US FLAG. Thanks.

Neither rotating nor pushing a posted flag back and forth has anything to do with flag etiquette. Whoever thought this up did just that- thought it up. It has no basis in reality as far as protocol is concerned.

Posting a flag means to bring it before an audience, present it with the Star-Spangled Banner, post it and have the individual depart. The Pledge can be a substitute, but is usually for civilian audiences. Military audiences use the national anthem since our oath covers us for life.

To retire the colors means the opposite: to retrieve the flag, salute it, and have the flag leave the presence of the audience.

The commands for rendering a salute are: “Present, ARMS!” and then “Order, ARMS!” that is the Army, Air Force, and Space Force technique. “Hand, SALUTE!” followed by “Ready, TWO!” are the commands that the Marine Corps, Navy, and Coast Guard use. You are mixing the two and using an incomplete command.

Having a preposted flag is just fine. It should not be rotated, pushed forward, or pushed backward. As long as the flag has a prominent place during your meetings, you are following protocol. Any other time, the flag can be less prominent- pushed back to the rear of the stage.

I hope this helps. DM

Hello, Recently I was at a High School Graduation and the U.S. Flag was present on stage along with the state flag. Before the graduation started the color guard marched in with the U.S. Flag and state. The National Anthem was played and the color guard marched out with the U.S. Flag and state. Is this proper, to have two U.S. Fags present?

This is a great question, thank you for it.

I have recently found out that some believe having two American flags at the same ceremony is somehow inappropriate. I don’t know where this idea comes from but it’s not true.

What you saw is called a show-n-go in the ceremonial drill world and is perfectly acceptable. It’s performed when posting the colors would be too formal and a school graduation is not a formal enough occasion.

I hope this answers your question satisfactorily.

We may have an event where one set of flags (American flag and two organizational flags) will be pre-posted and one will be posted by the color guard. I am directing the color guard, but I am *very* low pay-grade, and this is a national organization. Our Administrator will be there. I am urging a show-and-go, but I’m not optimistic. If we *must* post the colors, where should the pre-posted colors be, and where should we post? I’m thinking pre-posted on their own left and posting on their own right. There will be a stage. Would it be better to have the pre-posted flags on the stage? If so, do we post to the left or would splitting be better (American on its right on one side of the stage; organizational flags on the other side)?

I feel your pain here. If you are unable to show-no-go (so glad you are aware of that!), I think your split post idea on the stage sounds like your best option. As I picture it in my mind, the split would have less of an impact on everyone noticing that org flag(s) will already be there. It’s bad protocol to not post all flags, but you have to work within your parameters.

Does the Color Guard dip the Service Flag when taps are being played?

Mr. Koehmlein,

Yes. Taps requires a salute when played at a funeral.

If you are posting colors at an organizational event but the aisle is not very wide, would it be appropriate to line up single file, American Flag in the front and Organization banners bringing up the rear?

Yes, that is called column formation. It is most appropriate!

I FEEL LIKE A FOOL, BUT WHAT DOES THE HONOR GUARD DO AND WHAT DOES THE COLOR GUARD DO. I HAVE TO PLAN A MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT FLAGS THE COLOR GUARD CARRIES. WE HAVE CG, ARMYNG, MAARNG, AIR FORCE, 6W SPACE SQUADRON AT OUR SERVICE. WHICH FLAGS DO WE ASK TO BE PRESENT?

Hello sir, Many people get the terms honor guard and color guard confused. An honor guard is a ceremonial unit, a team of individuals. This unit breaks down into the three ceremonial elements: color guard, pallbearers, and firing party. Team members also perform a variety of other ceremonial duties: cordon, personak escort, Missing Man Table, Flag Detail, etc. The flags of each service present would be appropriate. Depending on the ceremony, you could have all six departmental flags posted on the stage (or just the American and state flags) and have the color guard bring in the flags of the services present for a presentation only and not have them posted. That would be the easiest.

JROTC in my child’s High School practices presenting colors in the morning (by the parking lot where students get dropped off) with the USA flag fully flying. Is flying the colors during practice appropriate? I’ve been out of the military for a while, but it seems disrespectful to fly the colors during practice and see cars and students casually walk by the colors without saluting it. Seems to me that practicing presenting colors should be done with just a flag pole.

I understand how you feel about this and I wholly agree your assessment. Only the Marine Corps Order (governing the Marine Corps, navy, and Coast Guard) states that practice should be accomplished with a furled and cased flag.

The issue we come across is muscle memory. Cadets practice and rehearse the exact procedures for a color guard in competition. The techniques they use require full access to the flag for the realism of practice so that nothing is a surprise when they step onto the competition deck. TO that end, it’s my opinion that color guards should practice with two state flags or practice flags made specifically for this situation.

The last thing we want is to have the presence of the American flag to be seen as commonplace and ignored. We may be too late in that regard.

Thank you very much for your comment.

How do one person post the US Flag inside?

You would enter into the room, stand centered on and facing the audience for the Pledge or anthem, and when either (not both) is finished, turn and post the flag. It’s not ideal, but it is a situation that some are forced into.

Is it allowed for the Color Guard to prese.t the colors to any other song then the national anthem?

Just to be sure, a color guard never dips the American flag, it remains vertical or slightly angled forward, depending on the service (See “The Why of the Color Guard” series of articles for more information). A color guard carrying one or more US military service colors only dips those colors in salute to the national anthems of the US and friendly nations. These requirements are spelled out in AR 840-1, MCO 5060.2, and AFI 34-1201 and apply to all services. All state flags are dipped to the anthems as well. There is no other music where dipping flags would be appropriate.

We post the colors at our Catholic Church every Memorial Day. Usually we have two of us in Class A uniform. I will be in uniform and a Knights of Columbus in uniform. I will be in class A uniform and carrying the Flag and he will carry the church Flag. We mean no disrespect, and honor Memorial Day. There is limited space, We pray that the critics will have a soft heart , we stand for the Flag and kneel for the Fallen

Mr. Zimmerman,

I have done the same thing on past Memorial Days, it’s just been me in uniform posting the American flag. The other veterans in my congregation have at least 20 years on me and have been happy to let me do it. You work with what you have and if you have just the two of you, all that matters is the intent behind your actions. Thank you for stepping up to serve our country years ago and now honor our fallen brothers- and sisters-in-arms.

I think I know the answer but want to clarify. During the Covid thing we are dealing with, my veterans org has been asked to do a color guard for a Memorial Day service. The current policy of the organization (all vets orgs in this state at the moment) is that we do not do color guards, so that means uniforms are out. If I am reading this correctly, color guards are done in class A’s, period. Am I correct in assuming that I will be disappointing the guy putting this together? IMHO, doing it wrong is more disrespectful than not doing it. It might be a moot point due to the short notice I may not get enough people anyway but I would like to know.

I don’t understand why your organizations would not perform colors presentations. Have we in the military not stood up in times of need?

Orders from a government official are not enforceable law.

Class A or B is appropriate for colors, A being preferable.

This may be a moot question, as it pertains to a fictional situation, but I like to have my writings as accurate as possible, despite it being science fiction.

The situation is a wedding. The Bride is a RAAF Flight Lieutenant, the Groom a USSF Captain. The ceremony takes place in an ecumenical chapel on a privately-owned, UN-administered island in the South China Sea. (Ceded from a future Chinese government for the establishment of an international space launch center.)

I’d like to begin the ceremony with positing of colors, with one flag bearer and one guard from each service. Would this be proper, given the circumstances? And would this happen before or after the entry of the mother of the Bride (the traditional signal for the start of a Christian wedding ceremony)?

Please and Thank You.

Mr. Harris,

Posting the colors before the whole ceremony would be perfectly acceptable but only on the fourth Monday of June in a year ending with an even number if the moon was in it’s 3/4 waxing state and there was a partial solar eclipse the following Thursday afternoon between 1343 and 1427. :-)

Seriously, colors are not presented or posted for weddings. If colors are present in the chapel, they are pre-posted and only the two national colors are authorized in this situation. The Christian flag could also be displayed.

Oh, and China would never give up any land whatsoever for any kind of use.

Is there a standard size, ie 5×8, for the colors being presented in a Show-n-Go? Also, do the colors have to have a fringe? I’m inquiring about a color guard that will be composed of Boy and Girl Scouts.

Thanks, Dimitra

Hello Dimitra,

Thank you for your question.

For Scouting programs I suggest the 3’x4′ flag on an 8′ staff. If you were to follow the Army standard, which most do, all flags are required to have gold colored fringe.

I hope that is helpful and am happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Copy all and thanks. The colors will not be presented at scouting events. They will be presented at Township functions such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and parades. The older scouts will be carrying them. Should they be larger given their purpose?

Good copy and thanks. The colors will be presented at Township events such as Memorial Day, Veterans Day and parades. They will be carried by our older scouts. They are not for scouting events. Given their purpose would I require larger flags?

Not at all. In the ceremonial drill world, you would want 9’6″ staffs with 4’4″x5’6 flags. It’s not necessary to go all out for Scouts, not that Scouts cannot handle it, it’s just not necessary to “go big” when the smaller flags and staffs would fit the bill.

Thanks again. Last set of questions. Is the following flagpole hardware appropriate for our colors: Eagle for the US flag and military spear for the Township and State flags? Or does the hardware have to be uniform, ie all colors have military spears. Lastly, most of our events are outdoors, so which flagpole type is more appropriate wood or aluminum pole?

I would suggest the light ash wood guidon staffs topped with the Army Spearhead finial for all flags. Having said that, I can only recommend. The guidon staffs are built to last when maintained properly (use graphite on all the screws and joints and regularly ensure that the screws are tight).

Dear Drillmaster,

I am in the process of ordering flags and equipment for our boy scout color guard to be used primarily at our Township Veterans Day and Memorial Day ceremonies. I have decided with the flag sizes of 4′.3” x 5′.5” in accordance with the flag code for the US, State and Township flags. I read your blog on To Fringe or not to Fringe and tend to agree with you that nothing should be attached to the US flag as per the code, although I understand this requirement varies by each branch of service. For my purposes, what do you advise? Keep it simple and use flags with no fringes? Or include the fringes?

Hello Dimitra! I really appreciate your research into this, it makes the process so much easier and you end up spending money on the right equipment. Well done! I say, forget the fringe. Whole it may have served a purpose a hundred-plus years ago, it’s no longer necessary, nor appropriate, even. If you would, please send me a photo of your your troop with their new equipment, I would very much enjoy seeing and posting about a leader who has done things the right way. By the way, http://www.colonialflag.com is your best friend in this situation. Let them know I sent you.

I seek a practical reality check about long distance marching with the flag. Just as a matter of physical activity doing 10-20 miles several days in a row is a lot different than hiking with a pack. Obviously a color guard would want to work up to this, as athletes train for any event. I’d appreciate insight as to knowing whether such a goal is a reasonable one in the first place? Between the weight, the size, the length of the staff, the terrian and the weather there are obviously many factors. Do you experienced flag marchers have any insights or rules of thumb etc to share?

When our city has a parade, they have a chorus stand in front of the color guard and sing the national anthem. Many of us think that is wrong. We think the chorus should stand behind the color guard. What is the proper way to do this or doesn’t it matter?

The colors should be front and center for presentations. The choir needs to be heard, not seen. The color guard is what needs to be seen. While our Flag Code does not specifically address this type of situation, we can get a sense of color guard location from reading the guidelines set forth in it: the flag is always to have the position of honor and dignity. It is to be seen clearly by as many people (in this case) as possible.

Thank you very much for your question, I hope this helps shed light to help your community better honor the flag.

Yes, thank you. It was just what I was looking for.

Drill Master,

I’m the MC for an upcoming Veterans Day Ceremony which consists of Presentation of Colors and the playing of the National Anthem.The event will be outdoors at a Veterans Park Memorial. The scouts will be carrying the colors. The scoutmaster is prior service like myself and we both want to introduce some military protocol with the civilian scout commands. The mayor will be speaking at the event. Is it appropriate at an outdoor event prior to posting the colors for the scoutmaster to report ‘The Colors are Present’ to the mayor since she is highest ranking? Or is it more appropriate to present the colors to the audience, present arms, National Anthem is played, colors are posted? Similarly, before the colors are retired is it appropriate outdoors to request permission to retire the colors?

Great questions! What you are talking about is an Army procedure of reporting to the commander at a dining-in (for instance). The commander would know exactly what to do and say. Since you are dealing with a civilian for your ceremony, the mayor, I would suggest not introducing something that is accomplished in a military setting. On a similar note, I truly appreciate the scoutmaster and you wanting the scouts to be more aware of colors standards! One last suggestion – have a set of flags already posted and the scouts present a second set colors and march out. What we in the ceremonial drill world call a Show-n-go. The reason being is that posting the colors is for more formal occasions and indoor settings. So, the sequence of events would look like this: announcement to stand, colors brought forward, salute, Anthem, back to Carry/Port, depart, continue with the ceremony.

Thank you for your prompt and thorough response. I have one follow up question. I’m falling in on a program which always involved posting and retiring the colors and the program has been printed with this protocol. I never questioned it until I started to research the protocol since I am the MC. Even if we don’t execute a show-n-go is it proper to post and retire outdoors? I read in the FM that this protocol is reserved for indoors but can it still be executed outdoors? We also don’t have two sets of colors unless the scouts have a presentation set. The American, State and Township colors will be borrowed from the courthouse.

Having the program already printed presents a challenge for you this year. Since you don’t have two sets of colors, you might have to follow the program, however here us an idea: pre-post the US, state, & township colors and then borrow another US and state (& township) from a local police or fire department, sheriff’s office, or even the local staties for the scouts. The presentation would be easily glossed over instead of having the scouts post. No problem there except for wording. The retirement of the colors (really only accomplished on *very* formal occasions- black tie/mess dress) could be substituted with the Pledge or skipped with an announcement like, “That concludes our Veterans Day ceremony, thank you for attending.” or something similar.

Thank you very much. I think we can make that happen. The reference to retiring of the colors is at the very end In small font. There is no reference to posting in the program, only Presentation of the Colors. I could white out retiring of the colors if necessary. I’m having a meeting with the scout leader prior to our rehearsal next week where I expect to flush all this out. Thanks again. Your advise is very helpful. Dimitra

My pleasure, I’m glad I could help.

At the beginning of a football game, a local group of Boy Scouts will be unfurling a large US flag on the field. What is proper protocol for color guard ? thank you

Stand on the side where the bottom of the flag will be and present to that side of the stadium. The crowd on that side should see the large American flag opened so that the canyon is in the upper left corner.

DrillMaster–thank you very much for getting back to me so quickly. Will do!

I was wondering I see the USAF Honor Guard shouldering their rifles on their outside shoulders. Where is that exactly written?

The USAF Honor Guard, including the base-level teams use their own manual but it is based off of AFMAN 36-2203 where you see both rifle guards at the outside shoulder.

In a parade, does a national veterans service organization colorguard, such as the VFW, have a higher precedence (order of unit line up) than a non-veteran color guard such as the Shriners?

Great question. I would say yes, but a parade lineup doesn’t necessarily have precedence, although it can. The organizers can and do place entrants however they wish.

RE: The Pledge and National Anthem DO NOT go together. It’s one or the other. DO not use both. Can you elaborate? What reference establishes this protocol or instruction to which, or all, Services?

I’ve seen many ceremonies with the color guard presenting arms for the anthem, then port arms and wait for the pledge before retiring with the colors.

I’ve seen several ceremonies where both happen as well, doesn’t make it right.

Each set of service manuals (drill and ceremonies, protocol, and flag) explains when to dip the American flag, ceremonies are explained with reference to the Star Spangled Banner sung or played. We do not add to or take away from the protocols for these ceremonies and that includes recitation of the Pledge. We, in the military, do not have the Pledge as a part of any ceremony due to our oath. Too many people, wholly ignorant of service standards and traditional want to make things “specialer” or “ceremonialer” by adding their own selfish personal touch, making the ceremony about them. You won’t find the negative of what I have stated in a service manual, my statement is mix of the intent of several manuals.

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I recently attended a funeral – the PGR provided honors…during the ceremony, the PGR Flag Line held the American Flag in the left hand and when “Present Arm’s” command was given, each and every flag holder followed the command and rendered the hand salute via their right hand. Is this a proper, rendering a hand salute while bearing the flag?

Mr. Rudell,

Saluting while holding the flag is not proper. Even though the people holding the flags are not part of a color guard complete with rifle guards, they are still color bearers and considered “armed” (the flagstaff is a modern modification of the ancient spear). When your hand is occupied with a flag, you do not salute. Most likely the majority of PGR members are former military and should know better.

When standing a Flag Line at a funeral as an American Legion Rider, standing at attention with U.S.A flagstaff vertical in right hand, bottom of flagstaff on the ground to the right of foot and the VFW Honor Guard caller gives the command “present Arms”, should we raise our flag staff, or just stand there with no action?

Mr. Murphy,

Thank you for your question and continued support as an ALR.

On the command, you and the other flag bearers would remain at Attention. I’m do glad that you are holding the flag properly in the right hand. Many, hold it in the left and render a hand salute, which is incorrect.

While you and the others may want to do more, I can assure you that your presence at funerals is the “salute” that every patriot appreciates.

Good Morning, we are having a July 4th parade are want to make sure we are doing things right. The Navy Color Guard will be front of the parade. When they arrive at the grand stand the national anthem will be sung by a young girl. When is the apporiate time to start singing?

Hi Paul, At the appointed time of the parade start, the MC could say, Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the National Anthem.” At that point the commander of the color guard, the National Ensign bearer, should give a loud,” Present, ARMS!” and then the singing can begin. At the end of the music, the color guard commander can give “Order, ARMS!” and then “Forward, MARCH!” At that, the festivities begin!

Drill master, I just posted colors for an event there was four of us we had two rifles the American flag bearer and the Washington State flag bearer. When we posted flags into their stands I was under the understanding that when they seated the flags then dress them that they took one step back and the person with the American flag was the only one to render a salute and then they both marched off what is the procedure for this and?

That’s one technique and that’s fine. There are several different ways to post the colors and you seem to have accomplished the mission with honor.

When posting flags what is the proper location of the American flag, does the American flag get posted by it self and all others to the opposite side of the speaker

Mr. Pinkman,

This is a great question! I wrote an article, https://thedrillmaster.org/2017/10/03/the-logical-separation-of-colors/ and have updated the article above to include this.

If you have any further questions, please ask!

What is your experience when it comes to presenting colors for an event and one of the members is a no-show or is dropped last second due to an injury. What would you do if there is no backup and it is go time? I would think go with no secondary flag and present colors with the national flag bearer and two guards??? Or would it be a situation you just do not perform and inform the event coordinator we can’t perform the event?

Hi Carlos, If you have two guards and an American flag bearer, you are good to go. It’s not usual, but three is the minimum and quite appropriate for military, first responders, explorers, and cadet organization color guards.

our flag should always have guards alongside even not armed but with axes and or just personnell alongside her

Mr. Farrington,

It all depends on the unit. Military color guards are required to be armed with rifles except in a chapel, then they are uncovered and unarmed. Church-based color guards do not have armed guards. Firefighters use the ceremonial fire axe or a rifle, depending on their location/tradition. I’ll be writing an article soon about this.

Current situation,

Have a scout group carrying a folded national standard for hoisting at the beginning of a Memorial Day service…

Service flags in procession to follow for posting in stands around fixed pole.

Was considering the following order of events

BS Unit hoists Colors GS Unit leads pledge National Anthem (now contraindicated by your page information)

Would it be appropriate to have BS hoist while playing “To the Colors” then GS lead pledge?

To the Colors and Pledge sound like the makings of a great ceremony!

For US Army ceremonies (Relief in Place/Transfer of Authority) should a pre-posted National Color be displayed if the ceremony has a Color Guard “posting” another set of colors?

The color guard can enter and formally present the colors and then depart while a set of colors is pre-posted for the ceremony. If the team is actually going to post the colors, no other flags should be in the stands. I hope that helps. If not, I’ll email you or we can talk on the phone.

Preface: I am not military or Law Enforcement. Just looking for some advice so we do the right thing in parades and ceremonies. I belong to a Division of the Ancient Order of Hibernians (an Irish/Catholic benevolent Order). When we march, we can carry up to six flags and to pikes. We always put the American flag in the proper place of honor, on its own right. However, there always seems to be confusion on where to place the remaining flags. They are as follows: Current Irish flag (tri-color), Old Irish flag (green field with gold harp), Catholic flag, NY State flag, and the Irish provincial flag (represents the four ancient provinces of Ireland). I know the pikes go on the outsides to “guard” the flags. In what order, starting from the American flag, should the rest be placed?

Hello Patrick,

What a great question! Here’s my take on the order (and the reason why):

1. Right guard 2. American (on American soil) 3. Current Irish (foreign national) 4. NY state (states come after national) 5. Catholic (organizational flag) 6. Old Irish (previous foreign national not officially used) 7. Irish Provincial (ancient foreign national not officially used) 8. Left guard

I hope this helps.

Thank you very much. That is most helpful! Ignore the email I sent you. It was just incase this was not the appropriate place for this question.

Hello and thank you for this informative article. Question: is it appropriate to post the colors while wearing a bowtie? Uniform for upcoming ROTC ball requires the bowtie but I have seen elsewhere that only the straight tie would be appropriate for the posting/retiring of colors. Thanks for your help.

Great question! Simple answer: No. The color guard is dressed in the service dress/Class A or a ceremonial-type of uniform. What you are describing is a mess dress uniform and that is not authorized to be worn for presenting the colors. Mess dress does not include a cover (hat) and a color guard is covered (wears hats) in all situations except inside a chapel.

My JROTC Color Guard has been requested to present/post the Colors at an affair. The host wants us to post the Puerto Rican Flag as well. I’ve never seen this done before. How do we go about it?

If your JROTC is Army or Air Force, the PR flag is included in the formation and posted with the other colors. If your JROTC is Marine Corps, Navy, or Coast Guard, you form another three-man color guard for the PR flag with two guards. The PR and other US territory flags are considered foreign national flags when it comes to flag protocol. Don’t forget your departmental/JROTC flag as well. My recommendation is, if it is an informal occasion, have a full set of colors preposted and come in to formally present the colors and depart. If you cannot do that, post what you have.

Is it appropriate to have a ceremonial rifle as part of the honor guard in a church? I think weapons are not appropriate in churches.

Thank you for your great question. You will want to read this recent article, https://thedrillmaster.org/2016/09/27/weapons-inside-a-chapel/

color members with weapons, is there any requirement to have them on opposite shoulders when marching? one member is at right-shoulder arms, the other is left shoulder arms.

It depends on which service manual you follow. Army has both guards at Right Shoulder. All other services and United States Certified Ceremonial Guardsmen place rifles or axes on the outside/outboard shoulder.

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How to Choose the Best Colors for Your Presentations

Choosing colors for your slides is one of the most crucial decisions to make even before starting to work on your Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation. Basically, colors can help you communicate your message more effectively, and they can evoke many different feelings or emotions on your audience. Keep reading to find out how to choose the best colors for your presentation.

Color Psychology

Color temperature, neutral colors, some tips on how to combine colors for your presentation.

It is quite important to know how your audience perceives colors and how these are related to the topic you are talking about. For example, red can convey a sense of danger, but also love, depending on the context. These are some common connotations that colors have on humans:

• Red : Evokes passion and strength. It’s an energetic and intense color that represents power and determination. It’s usually present on brands related to beverages, gaming and the automotive industry.
• Blue : Conveys a sense of security, confidence, responsibility and calmness. It is the most representative color in the healthcare and finance industries.
• Yellow : This is the color of light. It is a stimulating color that conveys energy, awakes awareness and inspires creativity. You will surely find yellow in the food industry.
• Green : Undeniably, the color of nature, life and peace. This color conveys a sense of growth, balance and stability like no other. It is quite popular among big companies, especially in the energy and tech industries.
• White : It is considered the color of purity and innocence. When it comes to evoking simplicity, optimism and integrity, white is second to none. You will find it for sure in the healthcare industry, and it is making its way in the fashion industry too.
• Black : Even though black is associated with seriousness, it can also convey elegance and courage. Fashion brands and luxury products make good use this color.

Take note of these hints and try to choose the color that best suits your message. For example, in this template we used bright and vibrant colors, since it is an education-themed presentation intended for a very young audience:

Click here to download this template

Colors can be grouped based on their temperature , which can be determined by comparing any given color in the visible spectrum with the light that a black body would emit when heated at a specified temperature. So, according to their temperature, there are two groups of colors: 

• Warm colors: These range from red and orange to yellow. If you click on the footer below, you will be able to download one of our templates containing a palette full of warm colors:

• Cool colors: These range from green and blue to violet. Again, click on the footer below to download a template that contains cool colors:

Mainly, warm colors convey energy and optimism—it is like giving a warm reception to your audience. On the other hand, cool colors are associated with serenity and confidence, just what you need to have a peaceful time.

White, black and all shades of gray are not considered neither warm nor cool. In fact, we could say colors such as creme, beige, brown and others with a high amount of gray are also neutral.  These colors do not influence others and can actually be combined with almost any color. As for their meaning, elegance and solemnity are pretty much guaranteed, as well as harmony.  When combining neutral colors, oftentimes a bright color is used as a contrast to highlight certain elements and bring them to the front. Click on the footer below to see an example of a presentation with neutral colors: 

To achieve a nice color harmony and make the most of it, it is best if you take into account the color wheel, as well as the concepts of hue, saturation and brightness. 

• Hue is basically what differentiates a color from any other. Thanks to the hue, you can visually tell apart red from blue, for example.
• Brightness defines how light or dark a hue is, and measures its capacity to reflect white light.
• Saturation refers to how pure a hue is. A saturated color appears more vivid, whereas a desaturated color looks duller.

With this information, you can make several different combinations: 

• Monochromatic Color Scheme: These contain different shades of a single color. Click on the footer to see one of our monochromatic templates based on red.

• Complementary Color Scheme: These are composed of a pair of opposing colors on the color wheel. If you click on the footer below, you will be able to download a presentation template with this scheme.

Analogous Color Scheme: This scheme includes colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel. Click on the footer to see an example of this scheme applied to a presentation: 

Triadic Color Scheme: This uses three colors equally spaced on the color wheel. Click on the footer to download a presentation that makes use of the triadic color scheme.

In order to get the best combination, you will need to consider how many colors you will use in each slide and how you will manage the contrast between them. These should also be suitable for your intended message or your brand.   Finally, try not to overuse very intense colors—use them only for emphasis. Keep everything consistent by applying the same color to each instance of an element within your presentation (for example, use the same color in all the titles). Include illustrations or pictures that work well with the chosen palette. If you need to apply filters to the pictures, you can refer to our “ How to Apply Filters to the Pictures in Google Slides ” tutorial, or its PowerPoint equivalent. Some of our templates include color variants, making it so much easier for you to adapt them to your topic and/or brand. Just click one of the options that you will find below “Themes” on the right side of the screen. 

Selecting color variants

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How to Use Color to Build Compelling Presentations

Home / TPC Blog / How to Use Color to Build Compelling Presentations

Whether you consciously realize it or not, color is a powerful way to associate ideas or products with certain emotions. The Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science found that colors influence brand personality, familiarity, and most importantly, desirability. Color is never arbitrary. Deep scarlet, mellow yellow, or striking tangerine each have the power to alter the general perception of your presentation. Of course the colors and branding for presentations matter just the same.

Here are four simple color tactics for creating clear, influential presentations that help get your message heard: 

1. Consider How You Want Color to Enhance Your Message

When it comes to presenting, colors can seriously affect how people feel about your message. This has dramatic implications for visual communications. When creating visuals for a presentation, consider how the colors you choose will affect the audience’s emotions: will they complement your message or detract from it? Fiery, passionate, red is a commanding, “hot” color. But is that the message you want to convey? Would cool, loyal, conservative blue—the choice of many financial institutions—be a better choice for you? Orange might seem eye-catching and friendly, but it can also be overstimulating. White might seem clean and inviting, but is it conveying your true personality?

The chart below will guide you in understanding the emotions your color choices will evoke—and when to avoid them.

2. Let the Color Wheel Guide You

One of the greatest tricks of design is color contrast. Beyond establishing mood, this approach uses color to direct attention to your key message.

Colors that are next to each other on the wheel, such as red and orange, typically make poor color match because their contrast is similar (in both hue and value), which can make it difficult to see—especially if your slides are being projected. Better color combinations are usually found using colors that are opposite on the color wheel, such as blue and orange. Black works well with light colors, and white coordinates with darker colors. For example, yellow and black are a good match because they are different in the contrast of both hue and value.

The chart below shows blue and orange contrasting in a very simple way. The colors immediately draw the idea to capture the chart’s key message.

3. Subdue…then POP!

Sometimes, you don’t have to choose complementary color wheel colors. One of our favorite tricks to making your key data pop is to keep all data gray except for one pop of color that draws emphasis to your key message. See below.

4. Always be Consistent with Your Corporate Palette

There is no question that the techniques above will help you convey non-verbal ideas and incite emotion. But if you’re building a presentation on the job, it’s critical to always start with the colors found in your company’s brand guidelines. Not only will this keep your branding team happy, but it will guarantee visual consistency across all materials and ensure your presentation looks professional and on-brand.

Color helps your message is understood at-a-glance

The important concept at work here is that it is critical to focus your audience’s attention. Using color to highlight your key insights helps ensure that your audience will be able to quickly and accurately grasp the meaning. This is ultimately the best way to use color to maximize the influence of your ideas.

Our  Influencing with Visuals workshop goes well beyond use of color, teaching you how to organize your ideas into clear, memorable, persuasive visual messages. Contact us to learn more about training your team to design effective visual presentations.

What are the colors of the Lesbian Pride Flag? Get to know variations of the Pride Flag

In the LGBTQ+ community, there are many flags that signify pride . From the Rainbow Pride Flag to the individual sexual orientation Pride flags, there are various and unique symbols representing the joy, pride and persistence of the LGBTQIA individuals.

According to a  2023 Gallup poll , 7.6% of U.S. adults self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual. In the last 11 years, this statistic has increased by 4.1%. Today, over 20% of  Gen Z  adults – those between the ages of  18 to 26  – identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community, Gallup reports.

Whether you identify with the community or want to learn more, here is what to know about the Lesbian Pride Flag from its history to the meaning of its colors. 

What are the colors of the Lesbian Pride Flag?

There is no single, official lesbian flag; there are several  which represent the lesbian community. The most widely accepted is the "Orange-Pink" Lesbian Flag. 

In 2018, a new flag was created featuring a seven-stripe layout with colors ranging from orange to pink. The colors represent : 

• Dark orange: gender non-conformity
• Orange: independence
• Light orange: community 
• White: unique relationships to womanhood
• Pink: serenity and peace
• Dusty pink: love and sex
• Dark rose: femininity

LGBTQ Pride flags go beyond the classic rainbow. Here's what each one means

History of the Lesbian Pride Flag

Throughout history, there have been many iterations of the lesbian flag.

The  Labrys Lesbian Flag was created in 1999 by Sean Campbell. It features a white labrys in an inverted black triangle on a purple backdrop. In the 1970s, the labrys was adopted by the lesbian feminist community as a symbol of empowerment. The usage of the inverted black triangle reclaimed the symbol once used by Nazi Germany to identify lesbian women in concentration camps. 

The " Lipstick Lesbian " Flag was created by Natalie McCray, who posted it on the blog "This Lesbian Life" in 2010. The flag features six shades ranging from pink to red with a white stripe in the center. The original "lipstick lesbian" flag also featured a kiss on the top left corner, but the non-kiss version was more frequently used.

While some still use this version of the lesbian flag, others oppose it. McCray's blog, which is now deleted, contained racist, biphobic and transphobic statements, leading many to stop using the flag. "Lipstick lesbian" is also a derogatory term within the community. 

The " Orange-Pink " Lesbian Flag was created in 2018 by Tumblr blogger Emily Gwen. It initially had seven stripes but a five-stripe version was later introduced, featuring the colors: dark orange, light orange, white, pink and dark rose.

When is Pride Month 2024? How the celebration of LGBTQ+ identities came to be.

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'Mean Girls' star Avantika talks colorism, says she feels 'uglier in India' than in the U.S.

“Mean Girls” star Avantika is speaking out about colorism in India and the negative perceptions of darker-skinned women from South India.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan , the 19-year-old actor, who just goes by her first name, said she feels Indian beauty standards malign women with her complexion, and those darker.

“I have definitely always felt uglier in India than I have here,” she said. “The colorism situation is primarily one of the biggest reasons why.”

Growing up, she said, both American and Indian media that she watched failed to portray people who looked like her and were of her particular background. North Indian and light-skinned women tended to dominate across platforms.

“I’m South Indian, and there’s this perception that North Indian women are more beautiful than South Indian women,” she said. “And the South Indian women who do reach insane levels of success in India are very light-skinned — some have become lighter skinned.”

But in recent years, she said, she sees Western media embracing South Asian women with darker complexions.

“So seeing myself represented in ‘Bridgerton’ Season 2’s Charithra Chandran and Simone Ashley — beautiful, dusky-skinned women … in Hollywood has made me so, so happy,” she said.

Avantika is also finding acceptance herself — with her career taking off and spanning genres. She played Karen Shetty in “Mean Girls” this year, cementing a new brown-skinned face for the iconic character, originally named Karen Smith in the 2004 version of the film.

In an interview with The Cut earlier this year, she said she and screenplay writer Tina Fey collaborated on how to add her identity to Karen, and she suggested a change to the last name.

“It was an amazing opportunity to use not just a South Asian, but a specifically South Indian last name,” she said. “Opportunities for brown women in this industry are few and far from many, so we don’t really have the privilege of specificity. When you get the chance, you jump on it for your own people.”

She also just made her debut as a scream queen in the horror movie “Tarot,” which released this month.

“I have definitely found that the odds are a bit less stacked against me here than they are [in India] because I can’t change my skin color,” she said. “But I can convince people that I’m talented and that I deserve an opportunity or that I have a voice that needs to be heard.”

South Indian fans online praised Avantika for speaking out about something they’ve experienced all their lives too, they said.

“South Indian women are some of the most beautiful women in the world...the colorism and featurism pervading South Asian culture is some of the worst in the world,” one fan said in a post on X. “I’m glad Avantika is speaking out about this.”

“Oh avantika you’ve got my vote this november,” another person on X joked .

Sakshi Venkatraman is a reporter for NBC Asian America.

King Charles' first official portrait is dividing the art world

• The first official portrait of King Charles III since his coronation is dividing the art world. 
• Some critics panned the painting, which took British artist Jonathan Yeo three years to complete. 
• UK-based art critic Tabish Khan said the use of red paint reminded him of "The Shining."

If King Charles had high hopes for how the world would react to his first official portrait , they might be dashed by now.

The painting, which British artist Jonathan Yeo spent three years working on, was unveiled at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday and instantly sent the art world into a tailspin.

It depicts the king in military garb amid a sea of red brushstrokes, with a single monarch butterfly floating above his right shoulder. Hidden details subtly nod to Charles's passion for the environment and his royal lineage.

The painting may have gotten a seal of approval from Queen Camilla, who told Yeo that he "got" her husband, according to the BBC , but some art critics have been less positive.

The Washington Post's art critic called it a "stylistic mess," while an artist and faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design told Today its red brushstrokes remind him of dripping "blood."

Soon after its debut, the portrait also stirred up debate on social media , dividing royal fans into those who enjoy the piece and those who are less appreciative of the artistic direction.

Two critics gave Business Insider their takes.

The portrait's red color is a nod to bloody imperialism

Tabish Khan , a London-based art critic and visual arts editor for The Londonist, told Business Insider he wasn't surprised that the portrait has received some flak.

Its red color is particularly evocative, Khan added.

"It almost alludes to some sort of massacre that he's been part of," Khan said. "Given the royal family's history and ties to colonialism and imperialism, it's not hard for people to look at it and then make the leap that it's somehow related to that."

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"There's almost always a 'Shining'- esque feel about him being soaked in blood," he continued, referencing a scene in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror movie classic " The Shining" where blood gushes out of an elevator.

Jonathan Yeo was a 'safe choice' for a royal portrait, one critic said

Khan said he's fairly confident that drawing links to the royal family's murky past with colonialism wasn't on Yeo's agenda. In fact, he added, it's likely the palace commissioned the 53-year-old painter because he's "known for doing flattering portraits."

"He's painted a lot of celebrities and — let's be honest — when you're going for a royal portrait, you generally go for a safe choice, and that's what Jonathan is," Khan said.

Khan said he would have liked to see Charles break with royal tradition and hire an artist with a more innovative approach.

"People were holding out hopes of Charles being a bit of a reformer for the royal family. I think a lot of people thought he might be the first monarch to officially apologize for Britain's history in colonialism," Khan said. "It feels like a step backward and in the wrong direction."

Given Charles's passion for the environment, Khan also said he found it "odd" that there was only one allusion to it: the lone butterfly.

"You could put more into the portrait about his environmental side that would make him a bit more personable and more relatable," Khan said.

The painting captures Charles' 'flaws' and 'mortality,' another critic said

There's at least one fan of Charles's new portrait: art historian Richard Morris , who specializes in American, British, and European paintings from the 19th and 20th centuries.

In an email to Business Insider, Morris said he thought Yeo's painting is "extraordinary and probably the most insightful of a British monarch since Holbein's portrait of Henry VIII , because we see the King for all his flaws and his mortality."

"It's a piece of philosophy, a painting that invites us to think about age, responsibility, openness, and the limits of being human," Morris added. "We can see the weight of the King's responsibility, his age, the grief over the death of the late Queen and in his face, wisdom, worry, and concern. It makes him human."

Morris said he also found the piece to be "refreshingly modern."

As for the overwhelmingly red palette, Morris said he could see why some viewers might think of blood.

"It's an audacious color, a color that might well overwhelm someone less certain of his past, his future, and the future of Britain in a modern world," he said.

But in Morris' view, the red is "dramatic and suggestive," conjuring up "notions of love, passion, but also the blush of youth, ripe fruit, and age." It also reflects the color of the king's military uniform, he added.

Khan, the London-based critic, admitted that he likes at least one element of the royal portrait.

"The face captured his likeness well," he said. "If the face was in isolation, I wouldn't say it's such a bad portrait — but the rest doesn't help."

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King Charles' polarizing portrait, explained by the artist himself

After a dramatic new portrait of King Charles III caused a stir around the world earlier this week, many art experts are weighing in with their opinions about the painting.

The bold portrait, painted by British artist Jonathan Yeo, is the first official portrait of the 75-year-old king since his  May 2023 coronation . It was unveiled inside Buckingham Palace on May 14.

The portrait, drenched in the color red, depicts Charles wearing the red military uniform of the Welsh Guards, as he sits with his hand on his sword, amid a vibrant red background. A monarch butterfly hovers over the king's right shoulder.

Yeo told the BBC that Charles himself approved of the contemporary portrait. He noted that when the king first saw a "half-done" version of the painting he was "initially mildly surprised by the strong color but otherwise he seemed to be smiling approvingly."

Camilla, the queen consort, also seemed to like the portrait, telling Yeo, "Yes, you’ve got him," when she first saw it, the artist recalled.

Still, like royal watchers around the globe, many in the art world are polarized in their response to Yeo's portrait.

Art critic Richard Morris  wrote on X , “I really like the portrait of King Charles by Jonathan Yeo — the go-to artist for slightly edgy but convincingly recognizable contemporary portraits; before photography, to have a great painter capture your real appearance you accepted the revelation of your flaws and your mortality. It’s what Yeo captures here.”

On the other hand, artist Robert Brinkerhoff, who teaches at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, Rhode Island, tells TODAY.com he was surprised by the portrait when he saw it online.

"The instant I saw it, having no idea what to expect, I literally heard the word 'blood' in my head. It was a bit of a shock — all that red, dripped here and there and scrubbed on and scrubbed off," Brinkerhoff says.

Other art critics called it a " stylistic mess "

The king's "mottled" face and hands, which seemed to jump out from the background, says Brinkerhoff, add to the portrait's weird quality.

"The face is gentle, weary and a little sad. I feel less empathy for the face when I study the hands— which are a bit like talons. They’re not painted badly — they just evoke something a little monstrous to me," he tells TODAY.com.

Read on to learn more about what inspired Jonathan Yeo's painting of King Charles III.

Yeo wanted to put a 21st century spin on a traditional royal portrait

Yeo, who has previously painted  the queen consort  and the  late Duke of Edinburgh , told the BBC that he wanted his portrait of King Charles to break with the past.

Yeo opted to depict Charles in his military uniform of the Welsh Guards as he would be appear in the traditional royal portraiture of days past.

Charles was made Regimental Colonel of the Welsh Guards in 1975 and holds the position today.

He mixed it up, however, with his bold red color palette and the addition of the symbolic butterfly.

Yeo wanted the painting to “make reference to the traditions of royal portraiture but in a way that reflects a 21st century monarchy," he said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace on Dec. 14.

The symbolism of the color red

The royal family posted the first image of Yeo’s portrait May 14 on its official Instagram account . Many fans of the monarchy were shocked by the painting's blast of red color.

“I’m sorry but his portrait looks like he’s in hell,” one person wrote in the comments. 

"Without sounding rude this is the worst royal portrait I’ve ever seen," wrote another.

Others remarked that the red color reminded them of blood, violence and passion.

Brinkerhoff wonders if the red was meant to symbolize the violence in the royal family's past, or perhaps the emotions Charles has had to publicly suppress as one of the family's most prominent members.

"Is it the blood that has been shed as a result of British colonialism for centuries?" he says. "Is it the rarely seen, passionate emotion of a man constrained by generations of stiff convention and regal duty?"

Interpretations abound — but on his website , Yeo provided insight as to the use of the “vivid color.”

The red shades are meant to “echo the uniform’s bright red tunic, not only resonating with the royal heritage found in many historical portraits but also injecting a dynamic, contemporary jolt into the genre with its uniformly powerful hue.”

The meaning of the butterfly

Yeo included the image of a monarch butterfly in his portrait to illustrate Charles' evolving role in recent years, he told the BBC.

“In history of art, the butterfly symbolizes metamorphosis and rebirth,” explained Yeo, who was commissioned by The Drapers’ Company to paint Charles portrait in 2020 when he was still the Prince of Wales.

The butterfly, said Yeo, also represents the king's work for environmental causes, which “he has championed most of his life and certainly long before they became a mainstream conversation."

His website says the butterfly is a "visual contrast to the military steeliness of the uniform and sword." Butterflies also symbolize rebirth and transformation, representing Charles' transition into becoming king while the portrait was being created.

Yeo told the BBC the butterfly was Charles' own idea, chosen as a symbol for his reign.

“I said: ‘When schoolchildren are looking at this in 200 years and they’re looking at the who’s who of the monarchs, what clues can you give them?’

“He said: ‘What about a butterfly landing on my shoulder?’” It's worth noting the butterfly is a monarch .

Did royal family anticipate the intense reaction to the portrait?

Neither Yeo nor the royal family have commented on the divided response to Yeo's polarizing portrait.

"Charles himself is no stranger to art, so I think he knew what the effect and the reaction would be," Brinkerhoff says. "In that sense, it’s a pretty bold move — maybe even a little honorable — and I think that’s worth reflecting on. Controversy is usually more important than convention in art, even when the reactions are harsh.

"This is my favorite thing about the painting: it depicts a man with a lifetime of inherited history: he may be conceding all the weight of social constraints, public attention and bloody pursuit of power," he adds.

But ultimately, it's up to interpretation.

Gina Vivinetto is a writer for TODAY.com.

'Demon Slayer' Sword Colors Explained: A Guide to the Many Nichirin Blades

Your definitive guide to what the colors represent and who wields each sword.

The Big Picture

• In Demon Slayer , the Nichirin blades used by Demon Slayer Corps members are made from Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore collected from mountains that are bathed in sunlight all year round.
• Each color of the Nichirin blades represents a different element or inspiration, as well as the personality and power of the demon slayer wielding it.
• The different colors of the Nichirin blades have distinct characteristics and are associated with unique Breathing techniques.

Demon Slayer (or Kimetsu no Yaiba , in the Japanese original) is one of the most popular anime and manga franchises right now, especially with Season 4 debuting its highly-anticipated run . It follows Tanjiro Kamado, an insecure boy who pledges vengeance on demons after his entire family is killed by one. He does this by joining the Demon Slayer Corps, a group of sword-wielding individuals who fight demons as the creatures attack innocent people after sundown . Getting rid of a demon is no easy feat. The anime has incredibly skilled evil spirits who find creative ways of launching deadly attacks to make us desperate – from the traditional body snatching to limb-deteriorating bouncing balls. In the Demon Slayer universe, one of the few ways to kill a demon is by exposing them to sunlight. This is the reason why the swords used by demon slayers go through lengthy sun exposure during their manufacturing. But how are they made, anyway?

Demon Slayer

A family is attacked by demons and only two members survive - Tanjiro and his sister Nezuko, who is turning into a demon slowly. Tanjiro sets out to become a demon slayer to avenge his family and cure his sister.

What Is a Nichirin Blade in ‘Demon Slayer’?

A Nichirin blade is the steel specially made for the swords that Demon Slayer Corps members use to kill demons. According to the Demon Slayer manga (which would be the “bible” of the anime series), the blade is made out of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand and Scarlet Crimson Ore, which are collected from the mountains. But the materials aren't collected from just any mountain. They are picked from mountains that stand above the clouds, meaning they are bathed in sunlight all year long , without interference from the rain or having sunlight blocked. The sword is made from a material that has absorbed sun, the one thing that can kill demons. Another distinct characteristic of the Nichirin blade is that they change colors once their owners pick them up for the first time. Each color represents a different element or inspiration, as well as the personalities and the type of power that each demon slayer holds, and you can find the difference between all of them below:

Black Nichirin Blade

The most mysterious sword color from Demon Slayer is the one Kanjiro wields. The black blade represents the Sun and is surrounded by prejudice and misconceptions , as historically every demon slayer who held it lived a short life. This could mean that Tanjiro is destined to break the pattern and set a new legend for black Nichirin blades in the Demon Slayer universe. Also, black is frequently perceived as the absorption of all colors, which might mean that Tanjiro is set to navigate through sword colors and Breathing — which is a demon slayer technique that allows them to hone in the power that they hold within themselves to the sword.

Gray Nichirin Blade

The wielder of the gray Nichirin blade is the one who breaks the pattern and shows that the Nichirin doesn’t necessarily have to be used as a sword. Gyomei Himejima has the gray blade that represents the Stone and, instead of having a sword, he uses an ax attached to a chain . Curiously, Gyomei’s personality is the opposite of what the Stone represents: he’s calm and compassionate, and is constantly crying — even though he’s one of the strongest demon slayers.

Indigo-gray Nichirin Blade

The indigo-gray sword represents Beasts, and, appropriately, its holder in the anime wears a giant hog head as a helmet in order to hide his face. Inosuke Hasibira also uses two swords at the same time, and both of them have the potential to not only kill a demon but make a messy job out of it: the swords are built with jagged edges which resemble a predator’s teeth.

Red Nichirin Blade

Red often means intensity, and in Demon Slayer this is no different. The red sword represents Flame and Kyojuro Rengoku’s excentric and expansive personality translates that. The fire Breathing allows for some incredible visuals, including the Dance of the Fire God, which became one of the anime’s most famous scenes yet (beware of spoilers for Season 1 in the link).

Amber Nichirin Blade

The amber blade represents Sound, and it is wielded by Tengen Uzui. The Sound Breathing uses noise to confuse adversaries, and the ones who use it have an extremely developed sense of hearing. Tengen also uses the blades with different weapons: his amber Nichirin blade is used in a set of kusarigama, which is a cleaver-like hand weapon.

Yellow Nichirin Blade

The yellow blades draw from Thunder , and in the manga and anime this ends up represented by Zenitsu Agatsuma, a boy who is scared of his own shadow, but, when put under extreme desperation, unleashes a sharp and fast personality who may cause mayhem through his sword blade.

Blue Nichirin Blade

One of the most prominent swords seen in Season 1 , the blue sword represents Water and its owner, Giyu Tomioka uses it in fluid movements that make him a skilled and formidable killer. The movements used for Giyu’s water Breathing resemble the ocean: a calm body of water that can be deadly under specific circumstances.

Pink Nichirin Blade

The pink blade represents Love, which may seem kind of abstract when put together with the other blades, but it has an explanation: the Love Breathing has a peculiar nature, and it was developed by the pink Nichirin blade wielder herself , Mitsuri Kanroki. She was inspired by the Flame Breathing after being trained by Kyojuro Rengoku. Her sword is also extremely peculiar; it’s thin and resembles a whip, and she’s the only one who can wield it properly.

What You Should Know Ahead of ‘Demon Slayer’s Hashira Training Arc

White nichirin blade.

The white in Demon Slayer sword colors represents the mist , which is embodied by Muichiro Tokito in the manga and anime series. The mist Breathing is frequently associated with a calm and distant personality, and Muichiro never lets emotions get in the way of his judgment. This sword color has techniques derived from wind Breathing.

Lavender Nichirin blade

This blade represents the Serpent , the reason why Obanai Iguro’s sword resembles the body of a snake. The Serpent Breathing is derived from Water Breathing and the techniques resemble the movements of the animal it represents.

Light Pink Nichirin Blade

Derived from Water Breathing, the light pink Nachirin blade represents the Flower , and it is used by Kanao Tsuyuri and Kanae Koucho, the sister demon slayers who developed their own shared Breathing.

Green Nichirin Blade

The Breathing that inspired many other techniques is represented by the green sword color. Wind is the element of the green Nichirin blade and Sanemi Shinazugawa is the one who wields it in Demon Slayer . His twisted personality made for a dangerous welcome when Tanjiro was transported to a very special place by the end of Season 1.

Purple Nichirin Blade

The purple blade represents the Moon, which is the exact opposite of the sword that Tanjiro uses . Not by chance, this is the sword that one of the main antagonists of the series so far, Kokushibo, wields. The Moon Breathing is an improved version of the Sun Breathing, which was enhanced by the use of some obscure techniques.

Demon Slayer is available to stream on Crunchyroll in the U.S.

Watch on Crunchyroll

Apple unveils stunning new iPad Pro with the world’s most advanced display, M4 chip, and Apple Pencil Pro

Thinnest Apple Product Ever

World’s Most Advanced Display

Only Possible with M4

Outrageously Powerful Device for AI

Pro Cameras

Pro Connectivity

Apple Pencil Pro

All-New Magic Keyboard and Smart Folio

Powerful iPadOS Features

Logic Pro for iPad 2

Final Cut Pro for iPad 2

iPad Pro and the Environment

• Customers can order the new iPad Pro with M4 starting today, May 7, at apple.com/store , and in the Apple Store app in 29 countries and regions, including the U.S., with availability in stores beginning Wednesday, May 15.
• The new 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro will be available in silver and space black finishes in 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB configurations.
• The 11-inch iPad Pro starts at  $999  (U.S.) for the Wi-Fi model, and  $1,199  (U.S.) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. The 13-inch iPad Pro starts at  $1,299  (U.S.) for the Wi-Fi model, and  $1,499  (U.S.) for the Wi-Fi + Cellular model. Additional technical specifications, including nano-texture glass options, are available at apple.com/store .
• For education, the new 11-inch iPad Pro is available for  $899  (U.S.) and the 13-inch iPad Pro is $1,199 (U.S.). Education pricing is available to current and newly accepted college students and their parents, as well as faculty, staff, and home-school teachers of all grade levels. For more information, visit  apple.com/us-hed/shop .
• The new Apple Pencil Pro is compatible with the new iPad Pro. It is available for $129 (U.S.). For education, Apple Pencil Pro is available for $119 (U.S.).
• Apple Pencil (USB-C) is compatible with the new iPad Pro. It is available for $79 (U.S.) and $69 (U.S.) for education.
• The new Magic Keyboard is compatible with the new iPad Pro. It is available in black and white finishes. The new 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $299 (U.S.) and the new 13-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $349 (U.S.), with layouts for over 30 languages. For education, the 11-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $279 (U.S.) and the 13-inch Magic Keyboard is available for $329 (U.S.).
• The new Smart Folio is available for $79 (U.S.) in black, white, and denim finishes for the new 11-inch iPad Pro and $99 (U.S.) for the new 13-inch iPad Pro.
• Logic Pro for iPad 2 is available on May 13 as a free update for existing users, and for new users, it is available on the App Store for $4.99 (U.S.) per month, or $49 (U.S.) per year, with a one-month free trial. Logic Pro for iPad 2 requires iPadOS 17.4 or later. For more information, visit apple.com/logic-pro-for-ipad .
• Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 will be available later this spring on the App Store for $4.99 (U.S.) per month, or $49 (U.S.) per year, with a one-month free trial.
• Apple offers great ways to save on the latest iPad. Customers can trade in their current iPad and get credit toward a new one by visiting the Apple Store online , the Apple Store app, or an Apple Store location. To see what their device is worth, and for terms and conditions, customers can visit apple.com/shop/trade-in .
• Customers in the U.S. who shop at Apple using Apple Card can pay monthly at 0 percent APR when they choose to check out with Apple Card Monthly Installments, and they’ll get 3 percent Daily Cash back — all upfront.

Text of this article

May 7, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Featuring a new thin and light design, breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, and outrageously fast M4 performance with powerful AI capabilities, the new iPad Pro takes a huge leap forward

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple today unveiled the groundbreaking new iPad Pro in a stunningly thin and light design, taking portability and performance to the next level. Available in silver and space black finishes, the new iPad Pro comes in two sizes: an expansive 13-inch model and a super-portable 11-inch model. Both sizes feature the world’s most advanced display — a new breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display with state-of-the-art tandem OLED technology — providing a remarkable visual experience. The new iPad Pro is made possible with the new M4 chip, the next generation of Apple silicon, which delivers a huge leap in performance and capabilities. M4 features an entirely new display engine to enable the precision, color, and brightness of the Ultra Retina XDR display. With a new CPU, a next-generation GPU that builds upon the GPU architecture debuted on M3, and the most powerful Neural Engine yet, the new iPad Pro is an outrageously powerful device for artificial intelligence. The versatility and advanced capabilities of iPad Pro are also enhanced with all-new accessories. Apple Pencil Pro brings powerful new interactions that take the pencil experience even further, and a new thinner, lighter Magic Keyboard is packed with incredible features. The new iPad Pro, Apple Pencil Pro, and Magic Keyboard are available to order starting today, with availability in stores beginning Wednesday, May 15.

“iPad Pro empowers a broad set of pros and is perfect for anyone who wants the ultimate iPad experience — with its combination of the world’s best displays, extraordinary performance of our latest M-series chips, and advanced accessories — all in a portable design. Today, we’re taking it even further with the new, stunningly thin and light iPad Pro, our biggest update ever to iPad Pro,” said John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. “With the breakthrough Ultra Retina XDR display, the next-level performance of M4, incredible AI capabilities, and support for the all-new Apple Pencil Pro and Magic Keyboard, there’s no device like the new iPad Pro.”

The new iPad Pro — the thinnest Apple product ever — features a stunningly thin and light design, taking portability to a whole new level. The 11-inch model is just 5.3 mm thin, and the 13-inch model is even thinner at a striking 5.1 mm, while both models are just as strong as the previous design. The 11-inch model weighs less than a pound, and the 13-inch model is nearly a quarter pound lighter than its predecessor — allowing pro users to extend their workflows in new ways and in more places. The new iPad Pro is available in two gorgeous finishes — silver and space black — both with 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosures.

The new iPad Pro debuts the Ultra Retina XDR, the world’s most advanced display, to provide an even more remarkable visual experience. The Ultra Retina XDR display features state-of-the-art tandem OLED technology that uses two OLED panels and combines the light from both to provide phenomenal full-screen brightness. The new iPad Pro supports an incredible 1000 nits of full-screen brightness for SDR and HDR content, and 1600 nits peak for HDR. No other device of its kind delivers this level of extreme dynamic range. Tandem OLED technology enables sub-millisecond control over the color and luminance of each pixel, taking XDR precision further than ever. Specular highlights in photos and video appear even brighter, and there’s more detail in shadows and low light than ever before on iPad — all while delivering even more responsiveness to content in motion. For pro users working in high-end, color-managed workflows or challenging lighting conditions, a new nano-texture glass option comes to iPad Pro for the first time. 1 Nano-texture glass is precisely etched at a nanometer scale, maintaining image quality and contrast while scattering ambient light for reduced glare. With its breakthrough tandem OLED technology, extreme brightness, incredibly precise contrast, brilliant colors, and nano-texture glass option, the new Ultra Retina XDR display is the world’s most advanced display, giving iPad Pro customers an unparalleled viewing experience.

The incredibly thin and light design and game-changing display of the new iPad Pro is only possible with M4, the next generation of Apple silicon that delivers a huge leap in performance. M4 is built on second-generation 3-nanometer technology that’s even more power efficient, which is perfect for the design of the new iPad Pro. With an entirely new display engine, M4 introduces pioneering technology for the stunning precision, color, and brightness of the Ultra Retina XDR display. The new CPU offers up to four performance cores and now six efficiency cores, 2 with next-generation machine learning (ML) accelerators, to deliver up to 1.5x faster CPU performance over M2 in the previous-generation iPad Pro. 3 M4 builds on the GPU architecture of M3 — the 10-core GPU includes powerful features like Dynamic Caching, and hardware-accelerated mesh shading and ray tracing, which come to iPad for the first time. Coupled with higher unified memory bandwidth, pro rendering apps like Octane will see up to 4x faster performance than M2. 3 M4 also delivers tremendous gains and industry-leading performance per watt. Compared to M2, M4 can deliver the same performance using just half the power, and compared to the latest PC chip in a thin and light laptop, M4 can deliver the same performance using just a quarter of the power. 4 A new advanced Media Engine includes support for AV1 decode, providing more power-efficient playback of high-resolution video experiences from streaming services.

The new iPad Pro with M4 features Apple’s most powerful Neural Engine ever, capable of 38 trillion operations per second, which is 60x faster than Apple’s first Neural Engine in the A11 Bionic chip. Combined with next-generation ML accelerators in the CPU, a high-performance GPU, more memory bandwidth, and intelligent features and powerful developer frameworks in iPadOS, the Neural Engine makes the new iPad Pro an outrageously powerful device for AI. With iPad Pro with M4, users can perform AI-enabled tasks even faster, like easily isolate a subject from its background in 4K video with just a tap with Scene Removal Mask in Final Cut Pro. With this advanced level of performance, the Neural Engine in M4 is more powerful than any neural processing unit in any AI PC today.

iPadOS also has advanced frameworks like Core ML that make it easy for developers to tap into the Neural Engine to deliver phenomenal AI features locally, including running powerful diffusion and generative AI models, with great performance on device. iPad Pro also supports cloud-based solutions, enabling users to run powerful productivity and creative apps that tap into the power of AI, such as Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Adobe Firefly.

The updated camera system on the new iPad Pro delivers even more versatility, and with its rich audio from four studio-quality mics, users can shoot, edit, and share all on one device. The 12MP back camera captures vibrant Smart HDR images and video with even better color, improved textures, and detail in low light. It also now features a new adaptive True Tone flash that makes document scanning on the new iPad Pro better than ever. Using AI, the new iPad Pro automatically identifies documents right in the Camera app, and if a shadow is in the way, it instantly takes multiple photos with the new adaptive flash, stitching the scan together for a dramatically better scan.

On the front, the TrueDepth camera system moves to the landscape location on the new iPad Pro. The Ultra Wide 12MP camera with Center Stage makes the experience of video conferencing in landscape orientation even better, especially when iPad is attached to a Magic Keyboard or Smart Folio.

iPad Pro includes a high-performance USB-C connector with support for Thunderbolt 3 and USB 4, delivering fast wired connectivity — up to 40Gb/s. Thunderbolt supports an extensive ecosystem of high-performance accessories, including external displays like the Pro Display XDR at its full 6K resolution, and external storage, all connected using high-performance cables and docks. iPad Pro supports Wi-Fi 6E for super-fast Wi-Fi connections for pro workflows on the go. Wi-Fi + Cellular models with 5G allow users to access their files, communicate with colleagues, and back up their data in a snap while on the go. Cellular models of the new iPad Pro are activated with eSIM, a more secure alternative to a physical SIM card, allowing users to quickly connect and transfer their existing plans digitally, and store multiple cellular plans on a single device. Customers can easily get connected to wireless data plans on the new iPad Pro in over 190 countries and regions around the world without needing to get a physical SIM card from a local carrier.

Apple Pencil Pro features even more magical capabilities and powerful new interactions that take the Apple Pencil experience even further. A new sensor in the barrel can sense a user’s squeeze, bringing up a tool palette to quickly switch tools, line weights, and colors, all without interrupting the creative process. A custom haptic engine delivers a light tap that provides confirmation when users squeeze, use double-tap, or snap to a Smart Shape for a remarkably intuitive experience. A gyroscope allows users to roll Apple Pencil Pro for precise control of the tool they’re using. Rotating the barrel changes the orientation of shaped pen and brush tools, just like pen and paper. And with Apple Pencil hover, users can visualize the exact orientation of a tool before making a mark.

With these advanced features, Apple Pencil Pro allows users to bring their ideas to life in entirely new ways, and developers can also create their own custom interactions. Apple Pencil Pro brings support for Find My for the first time to Apple Pencil, helping users locate Apple Pencil Pro if misplaced. It pairs, charges, and is stored on the side of iPad Pro through a new magnetic interface. iPad Pro also supports Apple Pencil (USB-C), ideal for note taking, sketching, annotating, journaling, and more, at an incredible value.

Designed for the new iPad Pro, an all-new thinner and lighter Magic Keyboard makes it more portable and versatile than ever. The new Magic Keyboard opens to the magical floating design that customers love, and now includes a function row for access to features like screen brightness and volume controls. It also has a gorgeous aluminum palm rest and larger trackpad that’s even more responsive with haptic feedback, so the entire experience feels just like using a MacBook. The new Magic Keyboard attaches magnetically, and the Smart Connector immediately connects power and data without the need for Bluetooth. The machined aluminum hinge also includes a USB-C connector for charging. The new Magic Keyboard comes in two colors that perfectly complement the new iPad Pro: black with a space black aluminum palm rest, and white with a silver aluminum palm rest.

The new Smart Folio for iPad Pro attaches magnetically and now supports multiple viewing angles for greater flexibility. Available in black, white, and denim, it complements the colors of the new iPad Pro.

iPadOS is packed with features that push the boundaries of what’s possible on iPad. With Reference Mode, iPadOS can precisely match color requirements of the Ultra Retina XDR display for tasks in which accurate colors and consistent image quality are critical — including review and approve, color grading, and compositing. Stage Manager enables users to work with multiple overlapping windows in a single view, resize windows, tap to switch between apps, and more. With full external display support of up to 6K, iPad Pro users can also extend their workflow, as well as use the built-in camera on an external display for enhanced video conferencing. Users can take advantage of the powerful AI capabilities in iPad Pro and intelligent features in iPadOS, including Visual Look Up, Subject Lift, Live Text, or Live Captions and Personal Voice for accessibility.

With iPadOS 17 , users can customize the Lock Screen to make it more personal — taking advantage of the larger display on iPad — and interactive widgets take glanceable information further with the ability to get tasks done right in the moment with just a tap. The Notes app gives users new ways to organize, read, annotate, and collaborate on PDFs, and working with PDFs is also easier with AutoFill, which intelligently identifies and fills fields in forms.

Logic Pro for iPad 2 , available starting Monday, May 13, introduces incredible studio assistant features that augment the music-making process and provide artists help right when they need it — all while ensuring they maintain full creative control. These features include Session Players, which expand on popular Drummer capabilities in Logic to include a new Bass Player and Keyboard Player; ChromaGlow, to instantly add warmth to tracks; and Stem Splitter, to extract and work with individual parts of a single audio recording.

Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 , available later this spring, introduces Live Multicam, a new feature that transforms iPad into a mobile production studio, allowing users to view and control up to four connected iPhone and iPad devices wirelessly. 5 To support Live Multicam, an all-new capture app also comes to iPad and iPhone, Final Cut Camera, 6 giving users control over options like white balance, ISO, and shutter speed, along with monitoring tools like overexposure indicators and focus peaking. Final Cut Camera works as a standalone capture app or with Live Multicam. Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 also allows users to create or open projects from external storage, giving editors even more flexibility, and offers new content options. 7

The new iPad Pro is designed with the environment in mind, including 100 percent recycled aluminum in the enclosure, 100 percent recycled rare earth elements in all magnets, and 100 percent recycled gold plating and tin soldering in multiple printed circuit boards. The new iPad Pro meets Apple’s high standards for energy efficiency, and is free of mercury, brominated flame retardants, and PVC. The packaging is 100 percent fiber-based, bringing Apple closer to its goal to remove plastic from all packaging by 2025.

Today, Apple is carbon neutral for global corporate operations, and by 2030, plans to be carbon neutral across the entire manufacturing supply chain and life cycle of every product.

Pricing and Availability

• Nano-texture glass is an option on the 1TB and 2TB configurations of the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models.
• iPad Pro models with 256GB or 512GB storage feature the Apple M4 chip with a 9‑core CPU. iPad Pro models with 1TB or 2TB storage feature the Apple M4 chip with a 10‑core CPU.
• Testing was conducted by Apple in March and April 2024. See apple.com/ipad-pro for more information.
• Testing was conducted by Apple in March and April 2024 using preproduction 13-inch iPad Pro (M4) units with a 10-core CPU and 16GB of RAM. Performance was measured using select industry‑standard benchmarks. PC laptop chip performance data is from testing ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405MA) with Core Ultra 7 155H and 32GB of RAM. Performance tests are conducted using specific computer systems and reflect the approximate performance of iPad Pro.
• Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 is compatible with iPad models with the M1 chip or later, and Logic Pro for iPad 2 will be available on iPad models with the A12 Bionic chip or later.
• Final Cut Camera is compatible with iPhone X S and later with iOS 17.4 or later, and iPad models compatible with iPadOS 17.4 or later.
• External project support requires iPadOS 17.5 or later.

Press Contacts

Tara Courtney

[email protected]

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Apple Media Helpline

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The Multi-Colored, $1,545 USD COMME des GARÇONS x Salomon SR811 Platform Is a Sensory Spectacle

First seen as part of cdg’s ss24 women’s presentation at paris fashion week..

COMME des GARÇONS sent a wealth of kaleidoscopic pieces down the runway as part of its SS24 women’s collection at Paris Fashion Week in September 2023, and now those pieces — including a wildly colored Salomon collaboration — are starting to hit retailers. Officially dubbed the SR811 Platform, the high-stacked sneaker continues COMME des GARÇONS and Salomon’s rich collaborative legacy but cranks the color dial to the max, a vast departure from the duo’s past monochromatic efforts.

Covered from collar to midsole in an array of digitally-printed geometric shapes, the shoe is a sensory spectacle from all angles. If you look past the collision of colors and sharp lines, you’ll catch other, more traditional details. These include a debossed Salomon logo on the lateral heel, hiking-style eyelets and a familiar Contagrip traction pattern on the outsole, the only outward-facing part of the shoe, sans the laces, that’s not done up in the multicolor print. A finishing touch is provided by co-branded insoles and fatigue-reducing Energy Foam midsole tech. The multi-colored collaboration is both a push into the future and a nod to the past for the partnership: though it’s a new color scheme, it makes use of the same platform-soled silhouette that served as the base for COMME des GARÇONS and Salomon’s very first collaboration , released as part of the former’s SS21 line.

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