red and green

[goodall]

where does red and green should never be seen come from and why

[brian j john]

don't you mean BLUEand GREEN should never be seen unless there's another in between , don't knoe the answer though , never heard of red and green

[gen2]

The version I know is "Red and green should never be seen except upon an Irish queen " which suggests it has something to do with Irish politics.  There is also another version which goes "Red and green should never be seen without a colour in between" which suggests it was a rule of thumb for budding fashion gurus.  Maybe someone else can shed more light on it.

[Robinia]

Yes we always said blue & green too but I don't know why!

[sddsddean]

I know it as "Red and red or green and green, but red and green should never be seen". This supposedly refers to shipping at night. If you can see your red (or green) light and the other ships red (or green) light, you are passing in opposite directions. If one is red and one green, you are travelling in the same direction, possibly at an angle to each other, and may collide.

[kempie]

There are two versions of the phrase.

Red & Green is a safety issue in maritime circles.

Blue & Green is more frivolous, to do with aesthetics, i.e. fashion stylists or artists choosing adjacent colours which are complementary as they are 'more harmonious'. Since blue and green are analagous colours they should be separated by a reddish colour (or so the theory goes).

Some colour theory here.

[Brugel]

The Fred Astaire film Funny Face has a female fashion editor say at one point "Red and Green should never be seen" - so presumably it was a fashion rule in 1950's USA.

[tony1941]

At night, an oncomng vessel will show both red and green only if it is heading straight for you.  Sorry, I can't remember the precise angles of overlap of the two lights (and anyway a lot of boats won't have them fitted exactly right), but the red (to port) and green (to starboard) both show all the way round to the front.  Hence the saying - crunch . . .gurgle .. gurgle....

[Clanad]

While not a standard proverb, aircraft lights are the same as ships... at night extra caution is advised if one sees the red and green lights of another aircraft since this means the opposing aircraft is at least angling towards you... The lights can be seen from the front, but not the aft.  A white light is on the tail of the aircraft, as well as flashing strobe lights.  For several years the vertical tail surface (stabilizer) has been lighted for more visibility...

[ll_billym]

It all came about because "green" rhymes with "seen".