What is Orange, Black, and Seen All Over?

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What do jack-o-lanterns and the San Francisco Giants have in common?  They both employ the use of the colors orange and black.  In the spirit of this past weekend's Halloween festivities, I would like to examine the symbolism of certain color combinations and the  role that colors have in defining things like holidays and sport teams.

It is widely accepted that Halloween colors are orange and black, just as everybody knows that red and green symbolize Christmas, and red, blue, and white represent the United States of America.  Each color combination designates a different holiday.  The intentional design of these particular color "labels" distinguishes each major holiday from one another so that they can each be assigned their own decorations and paraphernalia.  Using these colors as a basic foundation, people adorn their houses with holiday-themed decorations.  Some people create such elaborate decorations that their homes become spectacles for the general public, whether it be carved pumpkins on the porch or nativity scenes on the front lawn.  In some cases, people transform their homes into haunted houses or Christmas displays and let strangers walk through to observe their hard work firsthand.  When this happens, the color themed decorations establish a sense of community in the neighborhood, bringing total strangers together to admire someone's impressive talent.

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Color combinations also function as indicators of sports teams.  They are present in the team logo, each player's uniform, and also the fan gear associated with that team.  Currently, the San Francisco Giants are all over the news because they are playing in the 2010 World Series.  On Facebook, my homepage is constantly filled with status updates about the Giants.  I've seen people on campus wearing Giants baseball caps and sweatshirts; the familiar orange and black logo popping up everywhere.  By incorporating specific colors into things like sports accessories that are available to the public, sports fans can share their enthusiasm about the team they support.  Sport team mascots dressed in full costume also evoke team spirit from everyone at the game, thus people bond with fellow fans to cheer for their favorite players. 

So to answer my earlier question, both Halloween and the San Francisco Giants exemplify the use of color schemes as unifying elements of a common interest group.  Though jack-o-lanterns and sports fan gear aren't related on a surface level, their underlying similarity lies in their ability to connect people through things such as holiday and/or team spirit that each individual is passionate about.