Community Corner

What Do Black & Orange Say About Stoughton?

Patch consulted a color theorist to find out what the town's colors say about Stoughton.

Ever wonder what your favorite color says about you? How about Stoughton's colors?

Stoughton has been proudly black and orange for years. But what do those colors say about the town?

According to Kate Smith, a color expert with Sensational Color Pro, colors can say a lot about a person, product, or company. Using Smith's pyschology of colors theory, Stoughton Patch applies it to the town's choice of colors for the high school, youth sports and, well, just about everything!

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STOUGHTON: Black and Orange

BLACK - Black is "authoritative and powerful," says Smith. It always evokes strong emotions, partly because the lack of color represents a void or emptiness.

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The color black can make us feel "inconspicuous" and also represent both "potential and possibility." In other cultures, black has several meanings: Chinese believe black is associated with water, north and winter; it is also the universal symbol for mourning. But it's not all doom and gloom with black. It also represents "sophistication and power."

ORANGE - On the other hand, known as a warm color, orange is "controversial," according to Smith. You love it or hate it, but no matter what, it "radiates warmth and energy." Orange lovers are "fun-loving, talkative, fickle, and trendy."

The color orange has a wide berth of meanings around the world. In Ireland, it's associated with the Protestants. In China and Japan, it symbolizes "happiness and love." And the Native Americans believe orange was akin to "kinship."

The conclusion: Stoughton (a.k.a. "Toughtown) is clearly in charge, according to its colors. We are powerful, authoritative and controversial, but we also have a strong community kinship. We're fun, trendy and sophisticated.

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With Thanksgiving being Thursday, the Stoughton/Canton football rivalry takes center stage - what does Canton's colors (green and white) say about them?

CANTON - Green and White

GREEN - The color "occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye than most colors and is second only to blue as a favorite color," according to Smith.

"Green is the pervasive color in the natural world, making it an ideal backdrop in interior design because we are so used to seeing it everywhere. The natural greens, from forest to lime, are seen as tranquil and refreshing, with a natural balance of cool and warm (blue and yellow) undertones. Green is considered the color of peace and ecology."

However, there is an "institutional" side to green, smith says, associated with illness and government-issued green cards, that conjures up negative emotions, as do the "slimy" or "bilious" greens.

WHITE - This color projects purity, cleanliness, and neutrality, according to Smith.

"Doctors don white coats, brides traditionally wear white gowns, and a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home," Smith says.

The conclusion: Canton thinks it's pure, peaceful, tranquil and refreshing.

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What do you think, Stoughton? Do our town's colors, black and orange, really show our true colors?

To learn more about color symbolism and the psychology of color, click here!


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