Red and blue. When and where did it start and how did it become "standard"?

In the UK, red is Labor; blue is the Tories.

There was no organized plan to make it one way or another. The other poster is correct. In the past they colors were swapped so Democrats were red and GOP was blue.

When color television came along each network had its own protocol according to taste. The current convention of 'red states' and 'blue states' is actually fairly new. The networks adopted a uniform code just recently around 2000.

The 'red' v 'blue' is actually misleading. The truth is the country is 'purple'.

Most counties are slightly red or blue but rarely sharply one way or another. However because of the delegate/electoral college regime the 'winner takes all' so it makes it appear that, for example, a Red State like Nebraska is 100% red when it might only be 52% or so.

Same holds true for 'blue states". Democrats may carry California but that doesn't mean the GOP doesn't have a serious presence.

I go into all this because I really think the root of our problems is the way districts are drawn and it stifles compromise. We are not as polarized as current discussion claims.

That's about as 'political' as I will get on this subject.


en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

My left hearing aid has a blue dot on it and my right one has a red dot.
I've often wondered the origin of this.

Democrats are Crips and Republicans are Bloods.

They should change it to Maple and Rosewood.

I'm relieved to know that the parties' color designations have, indeed, swapped. All this time I was doubting my memory which kept informing me that Republican=BLUE. I was,obviously, never concerned/ambitious enough to go check it out for myself, though lol).

Whenever I am allocating colors to audio cables I always code it so red is right and left is whatever is left over. The alliteration with the words always makes it easy for me to remember which is which while in the throws of figuring out any kind of wiring issue.

By the same token, if the wiring has nothing to do with right or left the lighter color is always positive and the darker negative. That's just how my mind works. It's how I standardize all my wiring in my audio systems.

I wish they would change the color from red to green or something. I associate red with communist countries and ideas.

Yes, I remember when the repubs were blue. It does confuse my limited mind at times.

That would be the ultimate winner.

I was just looking this up over the weekend for a friend. For the most part, red used to identify Democrat and blue was Republican, but the Wiki has all the confusing details. Check out the "origins" section:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_states_and_blue_states

Umm, what does this have to do with my original question ? I vote for who I want, too.

 I wanted to get some ideas on WHY red and blue seems to be a currently practiced convention, when perhaps even the opposite was true in past decades and in other parts of the world as regards liberal/conseravtive parties. As some have hinted at, I suspect perhaps then some media types bending over backwards to never, ever connect "red" (and it's socialist, soviet, communism implications) with the Democratic Party or liberal leanings. If any "red" negative associations were to somehow be connected to conservative or Republican areas ...... oh well, in their view.

Mike

Red is generally associated with danger, but politics are not allowed here.