The psychology of color is a fascinating subject. When it comes to your team’s gear, the color of your uniforms can have a psychological impact on you and your opponent’s performance.
Now the impact may be small, but could it be the difference? Check out what the color of your team gear gives you an advantage.
RED – Aggression, Power, Dominance
The apparent advantage of wearing red sports apparel has long been talked about. A study in 2005 determined that in matches during the 2004 Olympic Games in boxing, tae-kwon-do, Greco-Roman wrestling, and freestyle wrestling, the color red had an impact on the performance. Where their was a significant talent gap, color didn’t matter. However in matches with equally talented opponents, the effect of the color red tipped the balance.
“55% of bouts were won by the competitor in red and in closely fought bouts the percentage rocketed to 62%. Their research found that both male and female athletes in red scored significantly higher in aggression and dominance than the athletes in blue or grey. “
Another study showed a similar effect with handball players. “Results showed an influence of jersey color on physical parameters. Both heart rate during the fight and strength before the fight were significantly higher when a fighter wore a red jersey”
Red is one of the most popular color choices among high school, collegiate, and professional teams not because of the reasons above, but because of it’s vividness, versatility, and variety of shades.
BLUE – Calmness, Relaxation
On the other end of the spectrum, blue is often a color that is used opposite of red. It’s a natural conclusion that blue evokes feelings the opposite of red as well. These include feeling relaxed and calm. Many famous sports rivalries include teams wearing red and blue. Michigan vs. Ohio State, the Yankees and their navy vs. the Red Sox. In the 2005 study mentioned under red, it showed that those in red were more likely to win. Don’t let that scare you though. Is that on the officiating or the athlete? Red is an eye-popping color. So does it make sense that a blue player and red player both commit a penalty, is the referee subconsciously more likely to call the red player for a foul? Perhaps.
Teams believe in the power of blue though. Boise State believed in it so much, they changed their turf color. Blue and it’s shades are easily one of the most popular main color choices in sports today. This is in part because there are a ton of options when it comes to blue that are visually appealing.
Blue is a strong choice for a cause game uniform as well. As one of the three main colors on our American flag, blue has been used by several teams to honor our great country, as well as for causes like honoring first responders.
ORANGE – Energy, Excitement
If you want to get fired up, orange may be the way to go. Orange is one of the more uncommon primary colors amongst collegiate and professional team. The teams that sport the orange though have some of the most iconic looks in sports. The Houston Astros throwback with their orange is easily one of the most popular custom jersey trends around. The Tennessee Volunteer orange is among the most famous in college sports. The best part is orange goes with anything. Name a color and it can be viewed as a great complement to orange.
As a cause uniform, orange is the representing color for leukemia awareness, hunger awareness, and well as the color of cultural diversity, and the humane treatment of animals.
GREEN – Growth, Renewal
How does green give you an advantage? The color associated with spring is also a color associated with growth, renewal, and freshness. There’s nothing like looking out at a fresh green athletics field right? Just imagine having a sports uniform that is a complement to that.
Green is used to represent mental health awareness and would be a great alternate jersey choice. If you’re ready to grow into a champion, green may be the way to go!
YELLOW/GOLD – Happiness, Success
Not many colors evoke feelings of happiness and success like yellow. The gold medals handed out for first place awards, medals, and trophies reinforce that idea. Yellow can be also be a color of optimism for many people.
Yellow and Gold represent childhood cancer awareness as well for cause uniforms.
PURPLE – Royalty, Cause Events
Want to feel like you’re on top of the world? Purple may be the way to go. For centuries, purple has represented royalty. Many schools that represent the color go with a purple and gold with the nickname of “Monarchs” or “Royals”.
Purple is also one of the traditional cause game uniform colors as it represents a variety of causes including pancreatic cancer, cystic fibrosis, thyroid cancer, and Alzheimer’s. One of our partners Purple Community, uses purple as a symbol of their cause, which is raising money to help in the fight against cancer. We’re proud to work with events like Hockey Fights Cancer, or the American Cancer Society’s Coaches vs. Cancer initiative.
Pink – Cause Game, Openness
Few teams go with pink as a primary color, but pink is no doubt the go to color for cause game uniforms. The pink ribbon is the internationally recognized standard for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and organizations around the country have been involved in launching their own “pink games”.
Pink jerseys during a cause game give you the feeling that you’re playing for something bigger than all of you. The best part is pink cause game jerseys with us here at Addix, like all of our jerseys, can have names on the back for no charge. Many schools opt to put the name of a player’s loved one they play for on the back of their jersey. There’s nothing more powerful than the feeling of playing for someone else.
BLACK – Aggression, Sophistication
There’s a higher likelihood that wearing black uniforms will increase the number of penalties your team will receive. At least according to several studies that showed that both officials were more likely to call penalties on teams that wore black compared to white, and that teams who wore black uniforms are more aggressive.
“The 1979-1980 Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team, which changed its uniform colors from light blue to black in the middle of a season. Using predominantly the same players, the team averaged around eight penalty minutes per game in the non-black uniform, while averaging around 12 penalty minutes per game in the black uniforms.”
Black is a “go to” for uniforms nonetheless. Teams absolutely love the look of the all black uniforms whether is is as a home uniform or an alternate. Black is a mix of every color, so it’s not surprising that black can be paired with any color and contrasts well. In addition, black evokes an idea of sophistication, think “black tie affair” as an example. Want to stand out? Maybe black uniforms are the way to go.
WHITE – Purity, Simplicity
White is the classic color of away teams in nearly every sport. Their are several advantages to wearing white and maybe it’ll give your team that slight edge. White does not absorb sunlight and heat, which definitely matters for outdoor athletes when the weather is warm. White uniforms are your best option when it comes to staying as cool as possible.
Parents especially often dislike white jerseys as they’re the hardest to clean. Fortunately, here at Addix our white material cleans fairly easy, as does every other color. Plus there’s nothing like a clean white jersey.
