Feeling blue? Scientists find navy is the most relaxing colour – with turquoise and pastel pink also helping to beat stress

Humans often associate specific colours with particular events, emotions and even moods and now, experts found navy blue is the most relaxing colour.

They say surrounding yourself with blue clothes, objects and accessories could help you lead a more relaxed life.

Calmness is most inspired by dark blues, turquoises and pinks while the colours of luxury include purple, orange, and white.

Research from the University of Sussex and fine paper company G.F Smith asked 26,596 people from more than 100 countries to name their favourite colour.

The researchers, led by Professor Anna Franklin from the school of psychology at the University of Sussex, then determined what word they most associate with this hue.

Some of the most common words linked with these colours were happy followed by calm, bright, warm, sky, sea, fresh, vibrant and summer.

The survey revealed that globally people associate the colours of ‘strong’ with shades of blue, red and orange.

Calmness is most inspired by dark blues, turquoises and pinks, while notions of the future are most often associated with shades of green.

The colours of luxury include purple, orange, and white

Professor Franklin writes in the report: ‘Over the last ten years science has been concerned with why people like some colours more than others.

In many ways, colour preference is a strange phenomenon — why should people have strong feelings about simple patches of colour? There are currently four theories, which each have some supporting evidence.

‘Colour preference comes from our interaction with coloured objects, colour  reference is due to how colour is encoded by sensory mechanisms in the eye and brain, some colours are liked more because they are easier to process, and to communicate about and colour preference can be predicted by a colour’s attributes.’

G.F Smith Joint Managing Director John Haslam added: ‘Colour has always had an intrinsic relationship with our culture and is woven into our consciousness.

‘The story of colour maps a particular history through our cultural development — telling a much larger story about the way we perceive, value and cherish colour

‘The study underlined that colour is as much about substance as it is about beauty.

‘The fascinating results and their relevance are shared in the report — inspiring the world to think differently about the role and value of colour in our lives.’