Where did the political parties get their colours from?

Red vs Blue, Labour vs Conservative - the pair go hand in hand. The bold colours of the main political parties are synonymous with their campaigns.

But why is it cobalt for Conservatives and scarlet for Labour? Not only that but why did the Lib Dems select orange or what was it that made the newest contenders, Reform UK opt for turquoise?

Some parties' logos have more similar hues. with Sinn Féin, Plaid Cymru, and the Green Party all selecting - you guessed it - green.

While some of the older political party's colours date back to their origins, the importance of colour in campaigning grew with new technology and advertising between the 1950s and 1970s, explains Dominic Wring, a professor of political communication at the UK’s Loughborough University.

Blue

Blue has long been a colour associated with right-wing parties thanks to the Conservatives.

Historically the Tories have adopted all the colours of the United Kingdom’s flag - red white and blue - perhaps to promote itself as a defender of British values.

But of the trio of colours which represents the nations, blue emerged as the Conservatives' predominant shade.

Nowadays, Sunak's Tory party's current tree logo is a paler shade than some of its predecessors.

Traditionally, the most expensive colour to produce, blue has long held connotations of wealth and conservatism, CNN reports.

The Tories aren't the only party to use blue, Farage's right-wing populist Reform UK opted for a lighter shade of blue, reportedly because it is seen as a version of the Conservative blue.

Labour

Trade Unions, social democrats and democratic socialists have all been represented by the colour Red - so it would be the clear choice for the Labour Party.

Since the French Revolution, the colour has been widely associated with left-wing politics, symbolising the blood of workers who died in the struggle against their oppressors, CNN says.

Labour has used a red flag as its official logo, since its birth in the beginning of the 20th century.

“The colour is central and symbolic to the labour movement, and has been since that period,” said Wring, noting the party logo has since changed to a red rose.

Yellows

Yellow is often linked to liberalism and its different hues are seen in the Liberal Democrat and SNP's colours.

Both a mustard style yellow and a bright orange feature in the Liberal Democrats party signage.

Their style guide says they use the colour yellow - but often orange is featured in the campaigns too.

It is reported the orange - used in the group's posters - emerged from the combination of the two parties it broke away from in the early 1980s - the Liberal Party which used yellow and the Social Democratic Party which was then associated with the red of Labour.

Yet for the Liberal Democrats the colour orange had another benefit - it was otherwise unclaimed.

With the Scottish National Party growing in prominence in the 1970s, switching from a clashing yellow made it easier for the Lib Dems to differentiate themselves, it is reported.

Green

Green is the colour for environmentalists - making it the colour of choice for the aptly named Green Party.

For Wales' Plaid Cymru, after its reformation in 1933, its logo the party was the green 'triban' - meaning three peaks - which represented the party's three key goals; self-government, cultural prosperity and economic prosperity.

Which they said was 'anchored in the bedrock of Welsh identity and history that is the Welsh upland landscape'.

While the party still uses green as its backdrop, its logo is a yellow daffodil.

The green of Sinn Fein is synonymous with Ireland's flag and adopted four leaf clover symbol.

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