Rose of Millennials, Yellow of the Gen Z, Pastel of Boomers … Why has every era “its” colours? | EUROtoday

CHaque era appears to applicable sure shades, however it will be simplistic to see a organic or common information. If coloration is the visible impact ensuing from the spectral composition of the sunshine which is distributed, transmitted or mirrored by objects, the way in which by which it’s envisaged is above all a social and cultural development which displays customs, ideological developments and the media influences of an period.

Indeed, as Michel Pastoureau commented, it isn’t nature that makes the colours, nor even the attention or the mind, however the society which attributes variable meanings to them in response to the eras. They thus develop into privileged witnesses of the adjustments of every decade. In a just lately printed chapter, “Color, generational creative marker? », We were interested in the way in which successive generations are characterized by a set of values, beliefs and behaviors that are visually manifested, especially through their own colors.

At each generation, its color code

Thus, segmentation by generations – boomers, generations x, y, z, alpha – makes it possible to observe chromatic affinities which are not only of individual taste, but from a collective relationship to time, aspirations and dominant aesthetic codes. Boomers (born between the end of the Second World War and the mid -1960s) and generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) are characterized by a preference for so -called traditional pallets, dominated by neutral tones and pastels to which are added, from the 1970s, colors inspired by nature such as Greens, Bruns and Terry Reds.

Read too In politics, red calls bloodGeneration Y, or Millennials (born between 1980 and the mid -1990s), was marked by the emergence of an emblematic pink, the “Millennial Pink”. More than just a shade, this pale pink has imposed itself in the 2010s as a symbol of lightness, optimism and above all of questioning of gender codes.

For generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010), it was first a bright yellow, the “Gen-Z Yellow”, which won, at the turn of 2018, in contrast to the singular pink of its elders. Quickly, purple completed this palette, a color historically linked to power, creativity and feminist struggles and, now, associated with self -expression and inclusiveness. More recently, green has gained importance: on the one hand, as a color associated with ecological issues, frequently mobilized and recovered in the political field; on the other, as a digital and provocative trend, the “BRAT GREEN”, popularized, in 2024, by the British singer Charli XCX.

The Alpha generation, still in formation, oscillates for its part between an attraction for natural and comforting tones and an early exposure to the free and artificial colors of the digital universe.

In 2025, the green of Charli XCX and the Pantone brown

If these generational landmarks are attractive, it is essential not to freeze them. The colors do not allow themselves to be reduced to fixed labels: they live, they circulate, they reinvent themselves. They sometimes come back cyclically, like fashion, and recharge new meanings. This is what makes the color so powerful in communication. It anchors a brand in its time while leaving room for reinterpretation.

The chromatic news of 2024-2025 testifies to this. Next to the insolent neon green of the successful album Brafrom Charli XCX, the company Pantone chose “Mocha Mousse” as the color of the year 2025, a cozy, gourmet and enveloping brown which translates the collective need for reinsurance and anchoring. The contrast between these two signals, one pop and ironic, the other discreet and reassuring, perfectly illustrates the contemporary tension between exuberance and quest for stability.

Marketing research shows, moreover, that the impact of colors does not only reside in the shade itself, but also in the way it is named. The “color naming” has a direct impact on desire and the intention to buy: an evocative, poetic or humorous product title generates extra dedication than a generic time period. This phenomenon, nonetheless little documented, reminds marks that phrases form as a lot as colours the notion of merchandise. Excess humor can nevertheless blur the memorization of the model, therefore the necessity for a delicate dosage.

For corporations, the problem is subsequently double. On the one hand, it’s a query of understanding the punctual chromatic codes which flow into in a given era, as a way to converse a language instantly perceptible, and, however, to create a system of colours which stays coherent and sturdy over time.

To uncover



The kangaroo of the day

Answer

Talking about “generation colors” stays a helpful decryption instrument, however provided that you settle for its plasticity. For every era, the colour is a passing passenger, a assist of tacit or expressed indicators of every kind, a key witness whose nuances arouse feelings, convey meanings and supply varied experiences.

* Sabine Ruaud, Marketing professor, Edhec Business School, and Rose Ok. Bideaux, researcher in arts and style research, Paris 8-Vincennes Saint-Denis University.