Why are Republicans red and Democrats blue? | American politics

Color has long played a role in American politics.

In 1867, American suffragists Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton adopted the yellow color of the sunflower – the state flower of Kansas – during their campaign for women’s suffrage in the state. In the 20th century, suffragists added white and purple to their political “uniforms”: white robes, synonymous with purity and moral authority, became the most notable marker of the movement.

In more modern times, the Black Panthers wore black leather and berets as their aesthetic calling card. Queer Americans have embraced the rainbow as a joyful and powerful sign of diversity. Conservative women adopted pink as a sign of femininity in the 1970s as they fought against the Equal Rights Amendment, which would have amended the U.S. Constitution to explicitly prohibit sex discrimination. Contemporary feminists have reclaimed pink through the cat hat marches of 2017.

In our current political climate, it seems like everything is color coded. Forget the nuanced articulations of different positions on the economy, immigration or foreign relations. In the two-party system, it’s either black or white. Or, more precisely, red or blue.

The association of red with Republicans and conservatives, and blue with Democrats and progressives may seem like a permanent feature of our polarized political system. But this is a fairly new phenomenon in the visual symbolism of American politics.

For most of the country’s history, both parties used the patriotic colors of red, white, and blue in their campaigns, without giving any of them any particular importance or ideological association. In the 19th century, it was animals that distinguished the Democratic and Republican parties, not colors. Democrats embraced the donkey, claiming Andrew Jackson’s “moron” reputation as a point of pride. Republicans became associated with the elephant after cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted the party as such in the 1870s and 1880s.

If color identification was made at the time, the Democratic Party was more likely to be linked to the color red. Imitating the British color scheme that identified the Labor Party with red and the Conservative Party with blue, Democrats adopted red to connect with labor movements. In the 1930s, before red became an unfortunate shorthand and slur for communism, the color was an effective nod to the working class, which became an important voting base for the party during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Republicans, on the other hand, leaned more toward blue, evoking the blue uniforms of the Union Army and, by extension, Abraham Lincoln.

Until the 1980s, wearing red did not indicate a specific party affiliation. Geraldine Ferraro – the first woman nominated for vice president in the Democratic Party – wore a red dress when announcing her nomination. Republican first lady Nancy Reagan loved wearing crimson so much that her favorite shade was often called “Reagan Red.”

The 2000 election gave red and blue their political associations as we know them today. Using color-coded maps in their election night coverage, television networks chose that year to mark states won by George W. Bush in red and in blue by Al Gore. And as these maps were circulated for months as the fate of the presidential election tangled in the courts, color affiliation became etched in the minds of voters.

Yet it was Barack Obama, then a young Illinois state senator, who connected this emerging binary to party ideology and identity. In his historic 2004 speech at the Democratic National Convention, which catapulted him to national recognition, Obama blamed “pundits who like to carve up our country into blue states and red states, red states for Republicans and blue states for Democrats.” Identifying religious prayer and small government as “red” values ​​and the protection of gay rights and civil liberties as “blue” values, Obama argued that both can be found in the United States, regardless of state or party color. “We are one people, we all pledge allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. We all defend the United States of America,” he told the roaring crowd.

If Obama hoped for a unity that would erase these divisions, the political association of colors was all the more anchored. In 2010, the Republicans decided to capitalize on their red affiliation to advance their political agenda. That year, they embarked on the Redmap gerrymandering campaign, which took control of state legislatures before post-census redistricting. While Redmap meant “majoritarian redistricting project,” the redrawn districts were painted red, visualizing a Republican takeover.

In the 2012 election, state colors became more of a cultural designation than an electoral reality. Although Obama won Ohio and Iowa that year, Republican victories at the state level made those states reliably “red states.” Or at least that’s how they are commonly classified. Some experts say all states are inherently purple, mixing diverse electorates and viewpoints. But red and blue reign in our political debates, erasing any nuance of position or policy.

This color palette is not just an aesthetic choice or a campaign tactic. This clear color division impacts not only electoral maps, but also how we perceive the other side. Instead of denoting political differences, colors become stereotypical labels, creating an in-group and out-group mentality that excludes collaboration.

The color binary also gives the illusion that Americans are more divided than ever. Even if we paint broad strokes about Americans’ positions on issues like abortion, immigration, and democracy, there is far more nuance—and sometimes more agreement—in their beliefs than two-tone thinking allows.

This flattening is also true when it comes to voting. When we paint states red or blue, it is easier to silence minority voices or ignore the complex political landscape that often defines particular states. We forget that Kamala Harris obtained nearly 5 million votes in “red” Texas, and that 43% of the votes in “blue” New York went to Donald Trump. When we divide states into red and blue, we forget that people vote, not land. And these people contain multitudes, not conformity.

The red/blue color scheme could be an effective shortcut for creating party identification and clear messages. But not everyone who wears a red hat represents Maga and not everyone with blue hair is necessarily liberal. When it comes to politics, it might be better to broaden our color palette or at least treat it as a spectrum.

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