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#colour of the month: ..bud green.🌱

Writer's picture: Laura AntoniLaura Antoni



New month, new colour. Pantone has designated each month of the year a certain colour..the star of the May - BUD GREEN.


Green is everywhere. It’s the most common colour in the natural world, and it’s second only to blue as the most common favourite colour. It can be found in a wide range of objects - from the food: pea soups, green smoothies, that trendy matcha to a fashion icon and the most used colour 'splash' in interior design.

Even more, green is no longer just a colour. It's now the symbol of ecology and a verb.



Since the beginning of time, green has signified balance, nature, growth, rebirth, and fertility. In pagan times, there was the "Green Man" - a symbol of fertility.  In Muslim countries, it is a holy colour and in Ireland, a lucky colour. It was the colour of the heavens in the Ming Dynasty. The Green Party in the US is inextricably tied to ecological and progressive causes, and a "greenback" is another term for our paper currency.In Japanese culture, green is associated with eternal life, and it is the sacred colour of Islam, representing respect and the prophet Muhammad.



As every colour, it has a meaning and an energy that we make it perceive it in certain ways that also has an impact on our health and wellbeing.


Green, the colour of life, renewal, nature, and energy, is associated with meanings of growth, harmony, freshness, safety, fertility, and environment. Green is also traditionally associated with money, finances, banking, ambition, greed, jealousy, and wall street.


The colour green relates to balance and harmony. From a colour psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart.

From a meaning of colours perspective, green is also the colour of growth, the colour of spring, of renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy. It is the sanctuary away from the stresses of modern living, restoring us back to a sense of well being.

Green is an emotionally positive colour, giving us the ability to love and nurture ourselves and others unconditionally.



The colour green affects us physically and mentally in several different ways. Green is soothing, relaxing, and youthful. Green is a colour that helps alleviate anxiety, depression, and nervousness. Green also brings with it a sense of hope, health, adventure, and renewal, as well as self-control, compassion, and harmony.


What happens to your body in the presence of green? Your pituitary gland is stimulated. Your muscles are more relaxed, and your blood histamine levels increase, which leads to a decrease in allergy symptoms and dilated blood vessels, aiding in smoother muscle contractions.

Green is calming, stress-relieving, and–a bit paradoxically–invigorating. It’s been shown to improve reading ability and creativity.


'Green' has been highly associated with health when it comes with nutrition:


• Green foods are powerful antioxidants (especially broccoli and spinach) that protect the body from toxins both in the environment and other foods we eat. The antioxidants in greens help neutralise the body and clear out toxins.

• Green foods are rich in chlorophyll, a green pigment that also acts as a detox agent in the body.  I The darker the shade of green the more chlorophyll is in something, and the best way to get it is from raw vegetables.

• Greens are very rich in minerals and some of the most essential nutrients: calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamins B, C, E, and K are found in green foods and are all vital to your body’s health.

• Greens contain many nutrients that help protect the immune system and fight off viruses and bacteria, help alkalize the body, keeping your PH at a healthy, stable level.




From a holistic point of view, green represents the colour of the Heart chakra, also known as Anahata. This chakra is located at the center of the chest area and is linked to this entire area, the heart, lungs, circulatory system, and cardiac plexus. The Heart Chakra bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual worlds. Opening the Heart chakra allows a person to love more, empathise, and feel compassion. Gemstones that will aid the Heart chakra include emerald, tourmaline, aventurine, malachite, rose quartz, and rhodonite.


In crystal therapy, gems with a green colour, like jade or malachite, are used to even out the energies around the emotional center of a being. In Indian believes green represents the Chakra of the chest, where we find the heart, lungs, and circulatory system. These are the part most affected when we are angry, upset or anxious. So the energies coming from this colour are used to restore the normal state of the organism and mind.



At the spring/summer 2020 collections , green played an important role as several major brands have taken leaves and plants as their inspiration.


At Christopher Kane, jackets and skirts were printed with a magnified photograph of wildflowers and blades of grass. At Dolce & Gabbana, dresses were printed with palm tree fronds and models wore tropical flower-inspired shoes and headgear. At Versace, Jennifer Lopez’s catwalk appearance in a copy of the jungle print dress she first wore in 2000 sent the internet into meltdown. And in menswear, Dries Van Noten showed suits covered in green flowers and creepers, while at Valentino there were palm leaf prints and camouflage.

Green was a dominant colour, whether used head-to-toe (as in the first seven looks from the emerging design star Christopher John Rogers) or as collection showstoppers. Victoria Beckham showed floor-length, frilled apple green frocks; Gucci had fuzzy chartreuse jumpers that recalled artificial grass, and teal and pistachio suits. The LGD – little green dress – stood out, like the stroke of a highlighter pen, at Regina Pyo, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga and Valentino.

In a recent presentation looking even further ahead to spring/summer 2021, the Dutch trend forecaster Li Edelkoort predicted that green would be a key colour for the rest of the decade. She linked its popularity to a hunger for nature, seen also in the renewed trend for houseplants and the rise of the Japanese practice of meditation in woods or “forest bathing”.



In chromatic therapy, green is used to sooth the soul and mind. It helps loosen the body, from a mental and physical point of view. It is an excellent remedy for states of anxiety and nervousness, helping a person to regain his emotional balance and inner calm.We feel recharged and calm at the same time, filled with positive energy. It is the power of green, which manages to resonate without inner energy, rebalancing us.



The colour green has healing power and is understood to be the most restful and relaxing colour for the human eye to view. Green can help enhance vision, stability and endurance. Green takes up more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye and it is the dominant colour in the natural. It is a natural choice in interior design as an ideal background or backdrop because we as humans are so used to seeing it everywhere. The green colour is often used to indicate safety in the advertising of drugs and medical products. Green is directly related to nature and energy, so it is also commonly used to represent and promote ‘green’ products.