Colour Symbolism in Finance

Abstract

Colour symbolism plays an important role in everyday life and science. The subject is interdisciplinary and receives significant attention in the literature. It is increasingly entering the field of economics and finance. The authors are the first to research the connotations and symbolism of colours in finance. The following research aims to: identify and determine the meaning of colours in connection with the word “finance”, determine the popularity of the use of particular colours in relation to the word “finance”, and identify the most popular subject areas in the literature related to the most commonly used colour in finance. Bibliometric and textual analyses were adopted as research methods. The main research conclusions are as follows. Of the 14 colours examined, only green, blue, brown, black and white showed connotations accurately portrayed in the text. Apart from the colour black, the symbolism is universal and unambiguous. For black, the symbolism is twofold, with one of the meanings going back to historical times. The dominant colour is green. The main research areas pursued under “green finance” include investing in and financing environmentally friendly projects (including various types of technology), developing financial instruments to support environmentally friendly activities and supporting clean energy projects.