ROȘUL CA LIMBAJ UNIVERSAL: SIMBOLISM, PUTERE ȘI TRANSCENDENȚĂ, DE LA ANTICHITATE LA MEDICINA MODERNĂ

Sergiu BALACCI, Valentina CIOCHINĂ, Universitatea de Stat din Moldova Ion BALAN, Universitatea Tehnică a Moldovei

Abstract

The study analyses the symbolism of the colour red throughout history, highlighting how its meanings have changed from sacredness and sacrifice in ancient civilisations to authority, nobility and redemptive suffering in the Middle Ages, and then to passion, power, individuality and urgency in the modern and contemporary era. In the Greco-Roman world, red was associated with blood, war, glory and deified love, while in the Middle Ages it became a central symbol of ecclesiastical authority and spirituality. Today, the colour is a visual sign of protest, marketing or medical interventions, enshrined in international symbols such as the Red Cross and the Red Crescent, which mark protection and neutrality in armed conflicts. By correlating historical, artistic and scientific sources, the research shows that red is not just a chromatic presence, but a fundamental visual language, capable of reflecting the duality of life and humanity – between life and death, eros and thanatos, protection and danger.

Keywords: red colour, symbolism, antiquity, medicine.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.59295/sum6(186)2025_02