Autism Colors: What Do They Mean?

“Light it up, blue!” “Red instead!” “Go gold for autism!” These slogans, focused on autism colors, have raised awareness for the disorder. Each color helps represent autism, which is a spectrum, much like a rainbow. However, their connections to different organizations have led to different levels of recognition, support, and backlash among the autism community.

Closely related to World Autism Awareness Day and Autism Acceptance Month, these colors provide important advocacy opportunities for parents and caregivers. But what are all the autism colors? How do you know which one is best to help in raising awareness?

What are autism colors?

Blue, yellow, red, and gold are the most common colors recognized for autism. Although they have different meanings, they are all connected to the rainbow spectrum.

Each color is designed to represent important qualities connected to autism, raising awareness and leading to acceptance.

These colors are often linked to autism symbols, such as the infinity symbol and the puzzle piece. Blue has become a widely recognized color for autism awareness. However, the use of certain symbols and campaigns has sparked controversy, leading to pushback from many in the autism community.

In 2011, the Autistic Union started the “Go Gold for autism campaign,” shifting the autism colors from blue to gold. This was a key part of the Autism Acceptance movement to broaden advocacy, as many found a lot of the awareness campaigns to be insensitive.

In 2015, Alanna Rose Whitney, an autism advocate, started the Walk in Red campaign, which would evolve into Red Instead.

Originally conceived as a campaign to be more inclusive of wheelchair users on the spectrum, it morphed into a movement to continue advocating for acceptance over awareness.

The autism rainbow campaign started to focus on the diverse range of the spectrum. Using the infinity symbol, the rainbow campaign aims to highlight the infinite potential within the community and the unique strengths of each individual diagnosed with autism.

Autism colors meaning

Each autism color has a unique meaning, which symbolizes awareness and acceptance across the spectrum. The colors serve to highlight the differences that make up each autistic person.

Blue

As mentioned previously, blue has become the most recognized color to represent autism thanks to the “Light it up Blue” campaign. The campaign encourages people to wear blue for World Autism Awareness Day and uses blue as part of its autism puzzle piece logo.

It was selected to represent calmness, trust, and acceptance.

Red

Many in the autism community have started wearing “red instead” to oppose the controversy and continue advocating for acceptance. Red is meant to represent love and support within the autism community.

Gold

Gold represents unique strengths and talents among autistic individuals. It’s used to symbolize awareness, acceptance, and the brilliance of individuals with autism.

Yellow

While yellow is a lesser-known color than blue, red, or gold, it is often used to represent hope, optimism, and a commitment to acceptance. Yellow also symbolizes a society that embraces neurodiversity.

Rainbow

The rainbow represents autism by illustrating how it is a spectrum, much like the colors within a rainbow. It symbolizes the diversity of symptoms, abilities, and challenges among autistic individuals.

The rainbow is often paired with the puzzle piece symbol, the infinity symbol, or the autism awareness ribbon.

Autism awareness colors and their role in advocacy

Advocacy groups use colors to promote autism awareness campaigns. These campaigns often culminate in April, which is recognized as Autism Acceptance Month.

As mentioned, the most well-known campaign is the Light It Up Blue campaign. It was launched in 2010 to help promote awareness for individuals with autism. The campaign encourages allies and caregivers to wear blue in support of the autism community.

In contrast, the Go Gold for Autism, also called the Light It Gold autism campaign, shifts the focus away from autism awareness into autism acceptance. The Autistic Union started the campaign believing awareness was too passive, and acceptance was more active advocacy. 

The campaign chose gold because the chemical symbol for gold on the periodic table is AU, just like the initials of the Autistic Union. It’s intended to highlight the infinite possibilities, strengths, and experiences of autistic individuals.

Some lesser-known autism awareness and acceptance campaigns incorporate other colors into their advocacy. One such campaign is Tone It Down Taupe, which is designed to present a more toned-down approach to autism awareness.

Tone It Down Taupe was created as the antithesis of Light It Up Blue. It challenges traditional autism representation and aims to portray autistic individuals authentically while acknowledging their sensitivities.

Other campaigns have also used purple as an alternative to blue, red, or any other color. Advocates argue that purple embraces diversity while supporting each person’s individuality on the autism spectrum.

Choosing the right autism awareness colors

How do you choose which autism colors to wear to show how you like to promote understanding, awareness, and acceptance of autism? That’s up to each individual and family.

Each group spreading awareness about autism is viewed differently by each individual on the spectrum. The best idea is to investigate and choose the one that best aligns with your beliefs and those of your loved ones on the spectrum.

I have friends with kids on the spectrum who support the blue campaigns and what the puzzle piece represents. Others say it’s not a good visual representation because it doesn’t do enough to promote acceptance; instead, it focuses solely on awareness.

I know people who seek out the rainbow spectrum symbol because they believe it truly represents the diverse perspectives within the autism community.

When it comes to advocacy groups that help promote understanding of autism spectrum disorder, there are many you can look into to figure out which best represents you and your loved ones.

More than just colors

Colors can serve as important autism symbols that help promote acceptance and awareness. However, advocacy can often get lost in the colors. Individuals on the autism spectrum, along with their parents and caregivers, should research each color’s meaning and the campaigns that use it to determine which best represents them.

Raising awareness and acceptance can help those with a limited knowledge of the autism spectrum learn and grow as people. They may become your best allies and help advocate for you or your loved one even when you aren’t around. Awareness leads to acceptance, which leads to a more inclusive society for our loved ones on the spectrum.

FAQs

Q: What color represents autism?

A: Many colors are used to promote autism awareness. The most common are blue, gold, red, and rainbow. Other campaigns have also used purple and taupe.

Q: What is a symbol of autism?

A: Various symbols are used for awareness campaigns. These include the rainbow infinity symbol, the puzzle piece symbol, and the autism awareness ribbon.

Q: What color represents ADHD?

A: In contrast to campaigns raising autism awareness, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder campaigns often use orange as a representative color.

The post Autism Colors: What Do They Mean? appeared first on Autism Parenting Magazine.

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