The Aztecs and colour

The Aztec colour symbolism

Red was connected with blood

Black represented war because black obsidian glass was used as the cutting edge of battle swords, and was also the symbol of religion, with the priests wearing no other colour but black.

Yellow was food because it was the colour of corn, the main food of the Aztec people

Blue meant sacrifice

Green was royal because it was the colour of the quetzal plumes used by the Aztec chieftains

Interesting fact

Cochineal red, discovered by the Aztecs, was made using the female cochineal beetle. A pound of water-soluble extract required about a million insects and it was the Spaniards who introduced the crimson colour to Europe in the 1500s.

For the Aztecs, Indian red dye was considered more valuable than gold!