#147 Bulls and the colour red (English)

Bulls and the colour red

Bullfighting conjures a common image: An angry bull charging at a matador’s small red cape, the muleta. The muleta has been red ever since the early 18th century, so people associate the colour red with bulls charging.

However, this is not true! Like most mammals, bulls are red-green colour blind, a form of colour blindness in which red and green are perceived as identical. Therefore, BULLS CAN’T DISTINGUISH THE COLOUR RED.

Then, why do the bulls charge at the matador’s red cape? In reality, bulls are irritated, not by the muleta’s colour but by the cape’s movement as the matador waves it around.

In 2007, MythBusters in the Discovery Channel tested a live bull on colour versus movement in three separate experiments.

First, they put three stationary flags, one red, one blue and one white, in the bull’s enclosure. The bull charged at all three flags regardless of the color. Next, they put three dummies dressed in red, blue and white in the ring, and again the bull charged all three without discrimination. Finally, they put a live person dressed in red in the ring with the bull. That person stood still while two cowboys — not in red — moved around the ring. The bull went after the moving cowboys and left the motionless red-clad person alone.

These results showed that bulls had the same reaction to the colours white and blue as they did to the colour red. Moreover, they revealed that bulls only became interested and began charging the capes when they were moved around.

We can conclude that in bullfighting, it is the movement of the matador’s cape, and not the color, which provokes a reaction in the bull.

This brings up the inquiry: why is the cape red? Red is an energising colour and, therefore, excites and motivates the audience. Okay, that’s a very lame explanation. Here’s a more practical reason for using red: In most cases, and I’m sorry if you didn’t know, bulls are killed by the matador in the end. The muleta’s colour red thus helps to cover one of the more gruesome aspects of a bull fight: splatters of the animal's blood.

PSB