Happy Valentine’s Day! When you walk down the aisles of candies and flowers this week, which items catch your eye? The red boxes of assorted chocolates? The bright pink flowers? The pastel pink bags of candies? While red and pink occupy the shelves alongside each other, in this roundtable, the Life section will get to the bottom of the age-old Valentine’s Day color rivalry: red or pink?
Ben Lassy, Life Editor
What is red but dark pink? What is pink but light red? I must admit, my color theory skills are nonexistent, so that’s most likely incorrect; nevertheless — despite being relatively similar colors — red is the one true Valentine’s Day color.
The color red is simply more vivid, impactful and exciting than pink. For example, over the past two weeks, The Daily Campus has featured an advertisement for the Life section’s Valentine’s Day survey — the background of the advertisement is pink while the text is red. Red text was at the forefront of the graphic After all, that’s what your eyes need to see.
Pink certainly looks pleasant, but is not usually the featured color. I’d dare any designer to use a vivid red as a background and then use a light pink as the font color. I’m sure it’d be difficult to pull off while keeping the text legible.
So, that’s just one instance — among many — which has convinced me that red is the central color of Valentine’s Day. While pink is present, it is far from being the star of the show.
Desirae Sin, Staff Writer
Red and pink together are synonymous with love and Valentine’s Day, yet the roundtable seeks to find if one stands on its own. To me, pink is the only correct answer. It’s the only color that everyone recognizes as being related to concepts of love or romance. Red — on its own — is a strong color, but it doesn’t immediately scream “Valentine’s Day” when you see it. It could be referencing other holidays like Christmas or the Fourth of July. Of course in these cases, red would be paired with other colors as well, but the fact is that red alone cannot represent the spirit of Valentine’s Day as well as pink does. Not to mention how good pink looks on flowers or clothes.
A good test to measure which color best suits the holiday is by pairing it with other colors. If you pair red and white together, you get Christmas. If you pair pink and white together, it’s still Valentine’s Day. While this may not apply for every color of the rainbow, I feel that white is a good standard to use for this test — it is a fairly neutral color. Overall, because of its ability to mix with other colors while still fitting Valentine’s Day, pink wins out.
Patrick Boots, Campus Correspondent
Valentine’s Day is hallmarked by a quantum of all things red and pink — and it’s an interesting story why. In Ancient Greek and Roman legend, deep reds represented Aphrodite, goddess of love and beauty — and among many other things, the Dutch are to thank for pink in reference to their native Dianthus carnation which has fringed petals and a rosy hue.
There are a variety of tints and shades for both red and pink that could change the intention of your message, especially in connection to Valentine’s Day. Pink is not just a light red — it stands on its own; and on the same note, crimson differs from hot pink. Of course, be thoughtful in your selection! Reds and pinks pair well with white and pastel colors, too.
In general, pink is the definitive color of Valentine’s Day. (Plus, it’s my girlfriend’s favorite.)
James Fitzpatrick, Staff Writer
Realistically, both red and pink can accurately represent Valentine’s Day based on the level of passion someone feels for their partner. Hot pink can be intense, but red is synonymous with the human heart and is more often associated with potent emotion than pink. Since pink has represented many gender identities in history — even infant boys at a time — it could be possible to tie these points together and reserve pink for the juvenile love of grade schoolers, while red can be in line for those lifelong relationships blooming during Valentine’s Day. Some people stick to their middle or high school sweethearts, although the notes and candy passed around in earlier grades are mostly nice gestures perpetrated by tradition.
In a similar vein to gaining the legal ability to drink at 21, there could be an age threshold where your Valentine’s gifts upgrade to red, or maybe red can replace pink once lovers reach their one-year anniversary. It would be hard to enforce, but this could be a way to distinguish between “I like you” and “I love you.” There would be less confusion between kids trying to be kind to each other, like Lisa Simpson in The Simpsons episode “I Love Lisa.” If her pity card for Ralph Wiggum had pink hearts instead of red ones, he could have gotten the memo to not simp over her the entire episode… probably not, though.