Have you ever observed the varying colors of porch lights, including blue, white, yellow, and red, and wondered about their meanings?
While the classic pale yellow light remains a popular choice, each porch light color, especially the intriguing blue, holds a distinct message.
In this guide, we’ll explore the diverse blue porch light meanings behind these colors, starting with the significance of a blue porch light.
Dive into the world of porch light symbolism and discover how these hues communicate more than just aesthetic appeal.
Blue Porch Light
The serene blue porch light serves a dual purpose: symbolizing Autism awareness and showing respect for police.
This tradition of using a blue light for Autism awareness began in 2007, following the United Nations General Assembly’s declaration of April 2nd as World Autism Awareness Day.
In a similar vein of respect, communities often light up their porches in blue to honor police officers, a practice that gained momentum with the ‘light it up blue’ campaign.
Each blue light on a porch carries these powerful messages, connecting communities to important causes.
The Autism Speaks, after three years of the declaration, started a campaign called “light it up blue” to spread more awareness about World Autism Awareness Day. Since then, people have been lighting blue lights in their porches on every 2nd of April to show their support for Autism awareness. The month of April is also celebrated as Autism.
Awareness Month. So, it would be normal to see blue lights in the porches for the whole month.
Now, let us know about the beginning of ‘Police Respect’. In an article of ‘ABC 10’ dated 2017, Placer County, the residents of California showed their respect for police officers and their loved ones by turning their porch lights blue. This is the second reason one might see blue lights in the porches.
If any of these two reasons interest you, you can light up your porch blue.
Red Porch Light
A red porch light is not just for decorative purposes. In October, it’s often used to add to the Halloween ambiance, but its significance extends beyond that.
February sees red lights for two reasons: Valentine’s Day and, more importantly, to promote heart health awareness as part of the American Heart Association’s initiative.
This color transformation of porch lights into a red hue serves as a beacon, drawing attention to vital health issues and celebrating love and festivity.
Green Porch Light
The green porch light takes on various meaningful roles throughout the year. On November 11th, it shines as a symbol of honor for United States veterans. In March, the green hue often celebrates St. Patrick’s Day.
Moreover, in May, these lights join the ‘Light Up Green’ campaign to raise awareness about Lyme disease.
Each instance of a green light on a porch represents a thoughtful gesture of respect, celebration, or awareness, reflecting the community’s engagement with important causes and celebrations.
So, you may see green lights on in the porches quite a few times a year. The reason for the lighting would depend on the month in which you see it.
Purple Porch Light
The purple porch light holds a profound significance, primarily in raising awareness about domestic violence.
This movement was initiated in 2007 by the Domestic Violence Task Force in Covington, Washington, symbolizing support and remembrance.
The annual ‘Purple Light Nights’ campaign in October transforms porch lights into a purple beacon, honoring survivors and commemorating the lives lost to domestic violence. By adopting this color, porches become more than just a part of home decor; they turn into a powerful statement of solidarity and a call for societal change.
Blinking Porch Lights
Blinking porch lights serve dual purposes in our neighborhoods. During festive occasions such as New Year’s or Halloween, these flickering lights add a lively atmosphere, signaling joy and celebration.
However, their role extends beyond festivities. In urgent situations, blinking lights can act as a critical signal, alerting emergency services like police, firefighters, or ambulances.
This practical use helps responders quickly locate a house in need. While sometimes a blinking light might just indicate a faulty bulb, more often, it is either a mark of celebration or a beacon for urgent assistance.
However, most people do not blink their lights for emergency services. Almost every time, it is the case of a celebration or a bad bulb.
Are These the Only Reasons?
After going through the above information, you now probably know that blue, green, purple, or red porch lights are used to indicate a particular message. However, these are not the only colors you might see glowing on the porches. It is not common to find lighting in porches all year in these colours.
The most common colours are white and yellow. While there is no major reason for these lights as there is for a red porch light or a blue porch light, there are still some psychological reasons.
Every color indicates something more than just a moment or message. The colors we choose to play an important role in how we think, react, and act. Your mood and well-being can be affected by the color you choose for your porch light.
How Do Different Porch Lights Affect Us?
No matter what the environment is, colors play an important role in changing the ambiance and the mood anywhere. You can convey any message by just choosing the right color for it. Only lightening up an area is not what matters, how you light it up and with what colours tells everything.
Colors not only help in showing our support for moments, represent holidays, or any other purposes, but they also affect us, our thinking, and our daily life.
Color Psychology
If you are even a little bit into psychology, you would know that every color denotes something. For instance, white shows peace, red means danger and so on. Have you ever wondered how these colours denote the traits or feelings?
Well, keep reading to know the answer.
Humans have associated different colors with different feelings and emotions with the help of materialistic connections. An important part in this is also played by the temperature of colors. Each light source possesses a specific color temperature. These color temperatures highly influence the human psychology of colors.
The colors either have a low color temperature or a higher color temperature. These temperatures affect the working of our mind and body accordingly. For instance, the colors yellow and white have low color temperatures and are classified as warm colors. These colours are associated with sunshine and sunset, often relaxing us.
On the other hand, shades of blue are classified as cool colors as they have a relatively higher color temperature. With higher color temperatures, blue increases our concentration and makes us feel energized. Knowing about the color temperatures helps us make a more precise decision on the color of our porch.
Every color affects the human mood in a different way. To understand this concept here, we have listed a few colors with their meanings and purposes below. By reading about them, you will know what color will get you in a better mood.
This will also help you decide much better for your porch light.
1. Yellow Porch Lights
Yellow is legit the most common colour chosen for porches. Yellow lights promote brain functioning and optimism. This colour encourages positivity, unity and resembles sunshine and happiness.
These reasons make it a great and wide choice for porch lights.
2. White Porch Lights
The color white represents purity, cleanliness, and innocence. It is a common choice for porches because it relaxes you. It resembles sunlight and peace.
This is the reason people prefer white lights in their houses. However, some people think of white lights as boring or bland. However, there are shades of white available, such as natural or warm white, to choose from.
3. Orange Porch Lights
Orange color is also one of the colors people often choose for their porches or gates. This color makes a friendly and welcoming aura.
So, when you choose an orange shade for your porch light, you attract people softly without those overwhelming feelings that come when you choose a red porch light.
However, if you are planning on an orange shade, make sure you choose something soft and relaxing rather than a bright shade. A bright shade of orange would look the same as a bright red porch light.
4. Pink Porch Lights
Having pink porch lights look feminine and bring glamour to your house. However, it is quite rare to see pink lights in the porches on normal days.
People mostly prefer pink for celebrations and occasions. But if you are willing to have pink lights on your porches for a long period, it is recommended to select a soft pink light rather than a bright one.
What Did You Choose?
All the colors mentioned above have their meanings, messages, and indications. At last, what matters is your choice.
It is your house, and when it comes to a porch light, you can choose anything that interests you, depending on the size of your house and the surroundings.
No matter what you choose, you should love a yellow, white, blue, or even a red porch light.
Conclusion
After knowing about the indications given by a porch light in colors like blue, green, purple, and red porch light, you are probably now aware of what light to use and when.
These are important matters of concern, from a red porch light indicating heart health awareness to purple indicating domestic violence. Everyone should know about these indications.
Now that you know everything about porch lights, their colors, and their meanings, you will be able to read the message when you see colorful lighting on someone’s porch.
Also, when you change the lights on your porch, you will know the reason and the message you are giving out to people.
Moreover, having the right porch light in general is also important because the colour you choose for your porch light will affect your mood the most.
