In Japan, the Road Vehicles Law enacted in 1951 stipulates that fire engines must be painted red. This regulation has its origin in the fact that fire engines were mostly imported from overseas at that time with their bodies painted in red colors. Then comes the next question: Why were fire engines painted red in overseas countries? There seems to be various reasons for that, but they can be categorized into functional and psychological ones.

The functional reason is that in the 18^th century, firefighting was the kind of work carried out by volunteers, which apparently resulted in the use of red paints as they were available at low prices and served as preservative substances.

The other reason, which is a psychological one, is that red color served as a status symbol. Old traditional custom had it that noble persons wore red clothes that were supposed to represent dignity. The use of this color spread to horse-drawn carriages and automobiles, and even to fire engines. As time went on, it came to be recognized as the color of fire trucks. Possibly, there is another psychological factor: Humans instinctively recognize the red as the color of burning fire.

Why fire engines are painted red can be explained from various viewpoints. In the same way, we as designers are always trying to figure out reasoned explanations when it comes to proposing specific colors for designing. As we move deeper in thought about colors, we can naturally narrow down our selection of colors used for designing products. As professional color designers, we spend a lot of time in the process of selecting and finalizing the colors to be applied to a new product.

Atsushi Egashira

CMFG Design Dept.

Senior Director