Politics can be colourful. But this is mostly why lawn signs of political figures are red, blue, black, orange, etc. The most obvious solution is to establish differences between the parties. You can tell which party name is connected to which party. But it’s all branding and marketing. Some political colours were established by traditions older than the countries its popular in; for others, it was for convenience for the public. No HEX codes or images can be given with this post due to it being about politics.
In Canada
In Canada, there are a multitude of parties that can run for office due to the Westminster style of government. For the federal government, six parties can run to become the leading party of Canada which are the Liberal party of Canada (Liberal Party), the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), the Green Party, the Bloc Quebecois (The Bloc), and the Peoples Party of Canada (PPC). In Canada, when we talk about politics, we use phrases like Orange Crush, Blue Wave, Red Tory, or Purple Rising to reference political parties as nicknames. Each of these parties has different brand colours that have been a part of their party’s existence since they were established.
The Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is Canada’s oldest party. It has been in Canada as a ruling party since the formation of the country. The colour red had always been connected to the party since the Parti Rouge. The Parti Rouge is the successor party of the Parti Patriotes, a francophone party led by members of liberal professions like merchants, labourers, craftsmen and farmers in the 1820s. The popular movement contributed to the 1837-1838 Rebellion. The Parti Rouge was a radical liberal party from Canada East (Quebec). From the 1840s to Confederation, the Opposition of the Parti Bleu fought for democratic reforms like universal suffrage, but due to their own radicalism and anticlerical attitudes, they were not a popular party at the time. The colour red means revolutionary and radical to the party. The signed coalition government with the Clear Grits, Upper Canadian Reformers who became discontented with the conservatism of the Baldwin-LaFontaine ministry after 1849, joined to create the Liberal Party of Canada. The red colour stayed around because it became more associated with British Liberalism, as noted in a 1877 speech by Wilfred Laurier about modernizing the party away from European Liberalism.
The Conservatives
The conservative parties, the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Progressive Conservatives, in Canada, have always been blue. There have been different forms of a conservative party over the years, but two things remain the same: their blue and sometimes called the Tories. This reflects the 1867 merger of the Tories, the Ontario British parliament right-wing name that was in parliament pre-1867, and the Parti Bleu, which is where the blue colour comes from. The Parti Bleu supported the Roman Catholic church in Canadian society, conservatism, confederation and the Opposition of Parti Rouge. Throughout the political battles in the 1850s and 1860s, the clergy would often come out to support the Parti Bleu and detest the support of the Parti Rouge, saying “Le ciel est bleu et l’enfer est rouge.” (Heaven is blue and Hell is red.) Some pulpits in the 19th century said blue was the colour of heaven, and since the colour blue was connected with the church, it was connected with the party.
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party is orange, not really a colour connected to the history of Canada like Britain and France. The party was established when the Canadian Labour Congress merged with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1962. The NDP is a left-wing democratic socialist party with roots in labour rights and social reforms. The NDP orange was used in the 1968 elections with Tommy Douglas as the leader of the party. Most social democratic parties use orange as a party colour; furthermore, it pops out on political maps.
The Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is usually abbreviated to the Bloc. The party’s first test was the 1992 Charlottetown Accords, when the party contributed to the “NO” side at 57%, a victory in Quebec. It’s a party that came into formation after the 1993 elections, with the Bloc Québécois and the Reform Party being formed. The Bloc is a major party that won’t be able to form government because it only runs in Quebec. But they are a federal party that stands for Quebec nationalism and sovereignty, for example, the French language rights, anti-monarchy, Quebec Secularism law, and anti-Canadian Senate. Quebec came close to separate from Canada with the 1995 Quebec referendum asking the Quebecois public as follows: “Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the Bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on 12 June 12 1995?” This was from the failure of the Charlottetown Accords and Meech Lake Accords attempting to change the constitution but ended up having Québec recognized as a “distinct society” and guaranteeing Québec a de facto veto over constitutional changes. Their political colour has always been light blue, almost aquamarine, since formation. The light blue was most likely chosen because there is already a blue party in Canadian politics, the Conservatives, and iconography connected with the reminiscence of the Parti Bleu and Quebec’s connection with France.
The Green Party
The Green Party is a green politics party that was formed in November 1983 at a Carleton University conference. Their political party colour is green. They are a party that stands for environmentalism, ecological sustainability, socialism and civil liberties.
The People’s Party of Canada
The newest party in Canada is a right-wing populist party called the People’s Party of Canada. They formed in the 2020s to be a political spoiler to the CPC. They have more conservative views on politics when it comes to immigration, multicultural policies, environmental reform policies, economics and law enforcement. Their party colour is purple. They chose the colour because it was considered to be a post-partisan purple and didn’t have any political baggage.
In The USA
The predominant political colours are just red, blue and purple. Purple is the combination of red and blue, which in political speak means half Republicans and Democrats.
The story of the American political party came from the first full-colour live political Debate of Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter and Republican incumbent Gerald Ford in October 1976. Anchorman John Chancellor from NBC introduced a map of America with red and blue states representing the states that supported Democratic and Republican representatives. The map was constructed on a wooden frame with light bulbs and plastic in front of each state. The signage had issues with overheating and melting. By election night on November 2, 1976, the lightbulbs would change from red for Democrat, blue for Republican and white for undecided. The assignment of red and blue to political parties happened for the first time.
But the colours were reversed to what we know them to be today. The colours flipped back and forth with each political race until the 2000 race between Governor George W. Bush of Texas and incumbent Vice President Al Gore cemented red states for Republican and blue for Democrat.
Reference
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/post-partisan-purple-the-rise-of-canadas-newest-and-most-fabulous-political-colour
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-republicans-became-red-democrats-became-blue-104176297/
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/parti-rouge
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/parti-bleu
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/readings/partibleuparty.html
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/readings/PartiRougeParty.html
Under The Moonlight 
Politics can be colourful. But this is mostly why lawn signs of political figures are red, blue, black, orange, etc. The most obvious solution is to establish differences between the parties. You can tell which party name is connected to which party. But it’s all branding and marketing. Some political colours were established by traditions older than the countries its popular in; for others, it was for convenience for the public. No HEX codes or images can be given with this post due to it being about politics.
In Canada
In Canada, there are a multitude of parties that can run for office due to the Westminster style of government. For the federal government, six parties can run to become the leading party of Canada which are the Liberal party of Canada (Liberal Party), the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), the New Democratic Party of Canada (NDP), the Green Party, the Bloc Quebecois (The Bloc), and the Peoples Party of Canada (PPC). In Canada, when we talk about politics, we use phrases like Orange Crush, Blue Wave, Red Tory, or Purple Rising to reference political parties as nicknames. Each of these parties has different brand colours that have been a part of their party’s existence since they were established.
The Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is Canada’s oldest party. It has been in Canada as a ruling party since the formation of the country. The colour red had always been connected to the party since the Parti Rouge. The Parti Rouge is the successor party of the Parti Patriotes, a francophone party led by members of liberal professions like merchants, labourers, craftsmen and farmers in the 1820s. The popular movement contributed to the 1837-1838 Rebellion. The Parti Rouge was a radical liberal party from Canada East (Quebec). From the 1840s to Confederation, the Opposition of the Parti Bleu fought for democratic reforms like universal suffrage, but due to their own radicalism and anticlerical attitudes, they were not a popular party at the time. The colour red means revolutionary and radical to the party. The signed coalition government with the Clear Grits, Upper Canadian Reformers who became discontented with the conservatism of the Baldwin-LaFontaine ministry after 1849, joined to create the Liberal Party of Canada. The red colour stayed around because it became more associated with British Liberalism, as noted in a 1877 speech by Wilfred Laurier about modernizing the party away from European Liberalism.
The Conservatives
The conservative parties, the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Progressive Conservatives, in Canada, have always been blue. There have been different forms of a conservative party over the years, but two things remain the same: their blue and sometimes called the Tories. This reflects the 1867 merger of the Tories, the Ontario British parliament right-wing name that was in parliament pre-1867, and the Parti Bleu, which is where the blue colour comes from. The Parti Bleu supported the Roman Catholic church in Canadian society, conservatism, confederation and the Opposition of Parti Rouge. Throughout the political battles in the 1850s and 1860s, the clergy would often come out to support the Parti Bleu and detest the support of the Parti Rouge, saying “Le ciel est bleu et l’enfer est rouge.” (Heaven is blue and Hell is red.) Some pulpits in the 19th century said blue was the colour of heaven, and since the colour blue was connected with the church, it was connected with the party.
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party is orange, not really a colour connected to the history of Canada like Britain and France. The party was established when the Canadian Labour Congress merged with the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in 1962. The NDP is a left-wing democratic socialist party with roots in labour rights and social reforms. The NDP orange was used in the 1968 elections with Tommy Douglas as the leader of the party. Most social democratic parties use orange as a party colour; furthermore, it pops out on political maps.
The Bloc Québécois
The Bloc Québécois is usually abbreviated to the Bloc. The party’s first test was the 1992 Charlottetown Accords, when the party contributed to the “NO” side at 57%, a victory in Quebec. It’s a party that came into formation after the 1993 elections, with the Bloc Québécois and the Reform Party being formed. The Bloc is a major party that won’t be able to form government because it only runs in Quebec. But they are a federal party that stands for Quebec nationalism and sovereignty, for example, the French language rights, anti-monarchy, Quebec Secularism law, and anti-Canadian Senate. Quebec came close to separate from Canada with the 1995 Quebec referendum asking the Quebecois public as follows: “Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign, after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership, within the scope of the Bill respecting the future of Québec and of the agreement signed on 12 June 12 1995?” This was from the failure of the Charlottetown Accords and Meech Lake Accords attempting to change the constitution but ended up having Québec recognized as a “distinct society” and guaranteeing Québec a de facto veto over constitutional changes. Their political colour has always been light blue, almost aquamarine, since formation. The light blue was most likely chosen because there is already a blue party in Canadian politics, the Conservatives, and iconography connected with the reminiscence of the Parti Bleu and Quebec’s connection with France.
The Green Party
The Green Party is a green politics party that was formed in November 1983 at a Carleton University conference. Their political party colour is green. They are a party that stands for environmentalism, ecological sustainability, socialism and civil liberties.
The People’s Party of Canada
The newest party in Canada is a right-wing populist party called the People’s Party of Canada. They formed in the 2020s to be a political spoiler to the CPC. They have more conservative views on politics when it comes to immigration, multicultural policies, environmental reform policies, economics and law enforcement. Their party colour is purple. They chose the colour because it was considered to be a post-partisan purple and didn’t have any political baggage.
In The USA
The predominant political colours are just red, blue and purple. Purple is the combination of red and blue, which in political speak means half Republicans and Democrats.
The story of the American political party came from the first full-colour live political Debate of Democratic challenger Jimmy Carter and Republican incumbent Gerald Ford in October 1976. Anchorman John Chancellor from NBC introduced a map of America with red and blue states representing the states that supported Democratic and Republican representatives. The map was constructed on a wooden frame with light bulbs and plastic in front of each state. The signage had issues with overheating and melting. By election night on November 2, 1976, the lightbulbs would change from red for Democrat, blue for Republican and white for undecided. The assignment of red and blue to political parties happened for the first time.
But the colours were reversed to what we know them to be today. The colours flipped back and forth with each political race until the 2000 race between Governor George W. Bush of Texas and incumbent Vice President Al Gore cemented red states for Republican and blue for Democrat.
Reference
https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/post-partisan-purple-the-rise-of-canadas-newest-and-most-fabulous-political-colour
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-republicans-became-red-democrats-became-blue-104176297/
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/parti-rouge
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/parti-bleu
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/readings/partibleuparty.html
http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/readings/PartiRougeParty.html
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