Dragon Colors

Yellow Dragons

First, this article will explore the symbolism of yellow in world cultures, then specifically relate that symbolism to dragons and serpents.

• The Symbolism of the Color Yellow
• Summary of Symbolism of the Color Yellow
• Yellow Dragons
• Footnotes
• Dragon Colors

Yellow symbolizes the sun, and it is associated with the sun's life-giving, generative powers.¹ Because yellow is the color of the sun, which rises and sets from and to the darkness of the unknown, it symbolizes intuition in Jungian psychology.² Yellow also symbolizes illumination and dissemination,² yet it is also the color of fear.³ Much like the color white, yellow has two symbolic forms: golden-yellow and pale-yellow. Golden-yellow is associated with the sun and wealth, while pale-yellow is linked to illness or disease.³

In many Eastern traditions, the color yellow is used as a proof against evil and for the dead.⁶ Yellow symbolizes courage to the Japanese.⁶ In India, yellow is commonly associated with merchants.⁶

In China, yellow is considered the national color. Historically, there was a time when only the emperor and his sons were allowed to wear the color yellow,⁴ because yellow was a sacred color to the emperor.¹ Yellow symbolizes the center of the universe, and one popular creation myth tells that the goddess Nu Wa created humans from yellow clay.¹

In Feng Shui, yellow is a color associated with the element Earth of the Five Chinese elements.⁶ Yellow is of the Yang principle, its opposite Yin being black, and yellow represents warmth and motion. It is generally considered and auspicious color.⁶

For the West, yellow represents cowardice,¹ weakness, and hazards.⁶ It is also a symbol of hope, found in the coming of light.⁶ In Egypt yellow was a symbol of mourning.⁶ Medieval Europe and Egypt both saw yellow as the color of envy and used it to signify disgrace.¹ This is why in many places in the West, yellow is associated still with cowardice.¹

In Mexican cosmology of the indigenous peoples of middle America, the earth's new skin was golden yellow until rain fell and made it green.¹ Thus, yellow is a symbol of beginning and renewal, even anticipation. In Aztec mythology, Huitzilopochtli (also spelled Uitzilopochtli), the god of war and the god of the sun, is depicted in yellow and blue.¹

For the Apache, an indigenous people of North America, yellow represents the East, where the sun rises.⁶ For the Cherokee, yellow is a symbol of trouble or danger.⁶ For the Aboriginal people of Australia, yellow created from ochre symbolized death.¹

Islam ascribes different symbolism to the different shades of yellow. Golden-yellow is a symbol of wisdom, while pale-yellow represents treachery and malice.¹

In modern psychology, yellow has been found to energize and relieve depression as well as to improve memory. Yellow is also believed to stimulate the appetite, specifically of hunger.⁶

Yellow has an importation relationship in Jungian psychology as the color of intuition and curiosity. Because the sun rises and sets over the horizon into unknown territory, the color yellow associates with the liminal state of being between consciousness and unconsciousness.

In China, the Yellow Dragon is associated with the Fifth Direction, the direction of the center, or the center of the world.⁵ The Yellow Dragon is the symbol of this Fifth and heavenly direction.⁵ This is why yellow dragons are revered in China, though they are rarely seen. Of the five Chinese elements, yellow is one of the colors of Earth, making these dragons connected with the earth's regenerative powers.

All of the dragon graphics on this page were created by Donna Quinn.

1. O'Connell and Airey 114
2. Cirlot 53
3. Lanse 6
4. Roberts [Chinese] 16
5. Roberts [Chinese] 135
6. Visual Color Symbolism Chart by Culture

For more information about footnotes and references, please see the bibliography.