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Originally published: 2016 | Last updated: 10-07-26 — This Meaning of Black guide draws on years of researching color, with enhanced explanations and updated examples.
How do we know the meaning of black? Is it the mysterious dark of night that conceals terrifying nightmares? Is it the sharp delineation of black typeface on stark white paper that conveys meaning? Is the significance of black found in the dark attire of mourners at a funeral? Black is everywhere, and its significances infuse our cultures.
Like its opposite, black is a definite color. It’s the color of borders, and of authority. Though we have many negative associations with black, we also find it intriguing.
What do we know about black? Here it is in three parts: what it does to your body, what it means across cultures, and what it means to you personally.
Black absorbs all light, so it’s a low-energy color. Though black used in contrast—particularly with white or yellow—does create energy, black on its own can be depressing and can dampen the mood. Black lines on white paper are stark, definite marks—bearing huge communicative potential for transmitting information.
Black represents evil, darkness, night, and despair. It’s the color used to convey certainty and authority, and when used in opposition with white, it’s a symbol of the eternal struggle between day and night, good and evil, and right and wrong.
Your own experience of black is just as real as these universal and cultural layers. Maybe black calls up a favorite leather jacket, the comfort of your go-to little black dress, or the solemnity of a funeral you attended. Those personal associations are part of why black can feel sophisticated to one person and heavy or sad to another—the color asks you to bring your own history to it.
We think of black as sophisticated and serious. It’s the preferred color for much formal attire, and the little black dress is a classic piece of attire that’s timeless and always appropriate. Black is unambiguous, definite. It’s not easily misunderstood, and in design it’s dramatic and helps create a feeling of certainty.
Black’s sober hue is associated with mourning in much of the world. A black mark on your record reveals wrongdoing, and we characterize bad people as being black-hearted. Black is frightening, as it conceals, rather than illuminates, and the cover of night is a perfect scenario for bad behavior. Too much black in design can be overwhelming and dull.
A venomous neighbor. The black widow spider is widely considered the most venomous spider in North America, though only females deliver a dangerous bite. The bright red hourglass on her abdomen is a built-in warning label for predators.
Silk built for the job. Black widow spiders spin unusually strong, tough silk—researchers have compared its strength favorably to Kevlar—though the record for toughest spider silk overall actually belongs to Madagascar’s Darwin’s bark spider, not the black widow.
A sea with no tides. The Black Sea, bordered by six countries including Ukraine, Turkey, and Russia, is unusually calm and has no real tidal variation, though decades of pollution and overfishing have taken a toll on its once-plentiful fish stocks.
Gravity’s dead end. Black holes form when massive stars collapse in on themselves, packing so much mass into so little space that not even light can escape. Astronomers believe a supermassive black hole sits at the center of the Milky Way.
A continental original. The American black bear is the smallest of North America’s three bear species (alongside the brown bear and polar bear) and lives in at least 40 U.S. states, with an average wild lifespan of around ten years.
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Some people build their whole identity around black. Johnny Cash wore it so consistently he became known as “the man in black,” while Roy Orbison’s black suits and trademark dark sunglasses made him instantly recognizable. The rock band Kiss built a signature look around black wigs, clothes, and face paint, and country singer Clint Black leaned into his own name with a black cowboy hat and black jeans. Coco Chanel turned the color inside out in 1926, transforming what had been a dreary symbol of mourning into the “little black dress” (as described in the biography Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life) — a chic wardrobe staple ever since. More recently, Steve Jobs’s black mock turtleneck, Karl Lagerfeld’s black suits, and designer Michael Kors’s uniform of black jackets and T-shirts have each become as recognizable as the people wearing them, with Kors once telling the Seattle Times, “I wear the same thing every day. I always pack two black jackets, loads of black T-shirts, loads of white jeans.”
Black works as a grounding neutral in home design, anchoring a room through flooring, trim, or furniture while letting brighter accent colors stand out. Used sparingly, it adds drama and sophistication; used everywhere, it can make a small space feel heavier and more closed-in than intended.
Black is the easiest color to build a wardrobe around, since it pairs with nearly everything and reads as polished in almost any setting, from the office to a night out. Its only wardrobe risk is monotony—an all-black outfit can look sharp or severe depending on texture, fit, and what it’s paired with.
Black anchors a long list of brand identities across industries: luxury names like Chanel, Prada, Mont Blanc, and Dolce & Gabbana; automaker Mercedes-Benz; and household names including Uber, Sony, Nike, Gillette, Zara, Ralph Lauren, Puma, the New York Times, and the World Wildlife Fund. Few colors cross as many categories—from high fashion to sports gear to nonprofits—as comfortably as black does.
Scent and color are closely connected for most people—smell plays a major role in our ability to taste. Crayola’s black “Licorice” crayon was originally scented to match, before switching to a “leather jacket” scent after reports of children trying to eat food-scented crayons. Licorice itself is a notoriously polarizing scent in perfumery—described as “mysterious, spicy-sharp, almost louche” by Lucky magazine—while anise, often mistaken for licorice, is considered cheering and mildly euphoric in aromatherapy.
Black shapes taste as much as smell. When Burger King introduced all-black KURO burgers in Japan in 2014—black buns, black cheese, black sauce—the idea was popular enough that the chain brought a version to the U.S. for Halloween, though it landed differently in Western markets, where black food can read as unappetizing rather than novel. Black pepper, by contrast, is a near-universal favorite: native to the Malabar Coast of India, it was once valuable enough to be used as currency before trade spread it into cuisines worldwide, from garam masala to Cajun spice blends—more on pepper’s history.
Why grow black flowers? Not just for the sake of having a conversation piece in your garden, although they are good for that. The best reason is because they have so many design uses. For example, black flowers are great for cooling down hot colors, like fire-engine-red ‘Lucifer’ crocosmia or hot-orange Mexican sunflower. – Garden Gate Magazine
The magic of black flowers has attracted our attention for centuries. Black tulips and black roses appear to originate from a fairytale world.
A pure black flower is the Holy Grail of plant breeders worldwide. Their improbable and “unnatural” color inspires a powerful feeling of mystical expectation. – Flowers and Plants Association
Creating a black garden needs to be given some thought. Is your aim formal or modern? Do you wish to use black as accents and highlights or as the main color? Forget people who say that black cannot be used on its own and don’t argue over what is or is not black, just simply plant it. Use the differing tones and hues to enhance the overall feeling. Be certain of one thing: this color is not gloomy. It is modern, vibrant, and sexy. It mixes so easily with other colors of the spectrum, above all with green, chartreuse, gold, and silver. – Karen Platt, garden book author, quilter, and photographer
What does the color black symbolize? Black symbolizes authority, sophistication, and mourning. It’s the absence of visible light, which is part of why it reads as both powerful and, in excess, heavy or somber.
Why do we wear black to funerals? The custom dates back centuries in Western culture as an outward sign of mourning and respect; black’s association with night, endings, and the absence of color made it a natural choice for grief.
Is black actually a color? Scientifically, black is the absence of visible light rather than a color in the spectrum, but in design and everyday use it’s treated as a color like any other.
Why is black so popular in fashion? Black is flattering, easy to pair with other colors, and reads as polished in almost any setting—which is why the “little black dress” and black suit remain wardrobe staples decades after they were popularized.
Where do you land on black? Some people wear it as their uniform because it feels effortless and polished; others reach for it mainly at funerals and find it hard to feel casual in. Both reactions make sense—black carries real weight, culturally and emotionally, and how it lands on you says something about which associations you carry most strongly.
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