Orange and black are the colors of Halloween. Mix some orange pumpkins with black bats or cats and put up some orange-and-black crepe paper and there you have it! Halloween decorations!
I’ve been called “nosy,” but actually I’m just inquisitive. I started wondering WHY orange and black are the colors of all Halloween decorations. Did Congress pass a law declaring orange and black the designated official colors of Halloween? No. This is one thing that I can tell you that Congress had nothing to do with. Here are the theories about why orange and black are the colors of Halloween:
Halloween is a holiday that has Celtic roots. The Celtic celebration occurred on the day and night between the end of the harvest season (October 30) and the beginning of winter according to the Celtic calendar (November 1). It was actually the Celtic New Year.
One theory is that the color, orange, is symbolic of the harvest. Orange is also symbolic of autumn. That’s the most vibrant of the colors that the leaves change to before they drop off trees. The most obvious crop that matures at this time of the year is the pumpkin, which is also orange in color.
The prevailing theory about why black is used is: The color, black, is and always has been the symbolic color of death. Winter is also symbolic of death. Black is a color that symbolizes darkness, cold, and death. Since the Celtics were acknowledging the onset of winter (which is brutal in that part of the world), black was used to designate the dark aspect of the celebration.
So after much research, I’ve decided that mostly nobody knows why orange and black are the colors of Halloween. There are theories. I won’t find Halloween decorations in any colors other than orange and black, so I’ll just go with the flow.
