The Hindu Business Line : There’s more in it than meets the eye

And picking the corporate colour is not just a matter of choosing something pleasing to the eye. There is a lot of meaning in those colours too — or so you realise after you read the explanations given by various banks for what their corporate colours mean.

Take Canara Bank, which recently went in for an image makeover. See the explanation it gives for sporting a new blue and yellow colour on its logo and signboards.

The bank says: “The colour palette and typography have been carefully chosen. The rich blue represents stability, scale and depth. This contrasts with accents of bright yellow that evoke optimism, warmth and energy.”

ICICI Bank’s three colours on its corporate logo — orange, maroon and white have this meaning — orange represents dynamism and responsiveness; maroon is for stability; and white – represents the commitment to ethics and corporate governance.

HDFC explained the red in its corporate colours as the colour of aggression. Mr Deepak Parekh, its Chairman, explained a couple of years ago, that one needed plenty of aggression in the financial business and that the red colour would also signify danger and a signal to its employees to always be on alert and ensure there is no slippage.

IDBI Bank changed to teal colour in 2001 with the stated intention of appealing to the youth. The teal colour was then the rage among the youth in Western countries and IDBI Bank decided to go in for this colour to change perceptions about itself.

Karnataka Bank went in for new lilac colour in 2003.

This is what Mr Ananthakrishna, Chairman, had to say on that change: “We wanted to have a different colour. Earlier, there were blue, green and red colours. Now it is a combination of deep and light lilac colour. This colour signifies honesty. But we came to know about this significance, after we came out with this colour. It was a coincidence. Lilac colour also represents brightness and a good future.”

South Indian Bank explained its corporate colour, ‘cardinal red’, as representing energy, creativity, warmth and love.

Bank of Baroda, which earlier had blue and yellow, says its new ‘vermilion’ palette has been carefully chosen for its distinctiveness as it stands for hope and energy.

While Jammu & Kashmir Bank, which uses green, blue, red and white in its logo, says, “Green signifies growth and renewal, blue conveys stability and unity and red represents energy and power. All these attributes are integrated and assimilated in the white counter-form”

So dear bank customers, do kindly do a double take when you see your bank sign boards. They are trying to convey something to you!