I'm in love with red. I think it's such a passionate color.

Bryan Batt once declared with fervor: “I’m in love with red. I think it’s such a passionate color. Every flag of every country pretty much has red in it. It’s power, there’s no fence sitting with red. Either you love it or you don’t. I think it’s blood and strength and life. I do love red. I love all colors. Great shades of blue, you find them in nature. They’re all magic.” In these words, he speaks not only of pigments and hues but of the symbols that color carries in the human soul. For Batt, red is not merely a color—it is a force, a living flame that has moved nations and stirred hearts since the dawn of time.

The origin of this passion for red is woven deeply into human history. From the earliest cave paintings drawn in ochre to the crimson banners of armies, mankind has reached instinctively for this color to embody its most primal emotions: love, rage, sacrifice, and triumph. It is no accident, as Batt notes, that nearly every flag bears red within it. For red is the color of blood—of both suffering and survival—and thus it becomes the universal symbol of unity, sacrifice, and unyielding strength.

Red is the hue of revolutions. When the French rose in 1789, they carried tricolors streaked with red, declaring liberty at the price of blood. When the American Revolution unfurled its banners, red stripes stood for courage and sacrifice. In every age, red has flown above battlefields, its brightness announcing both defiance and hope. It is no neutral color. As Batt observes, there is “no fence sitting with red.” One either embraces its fire or recoils from its intensity.

But Batt also expands beyond red, reminding us that other colors hold their own mysteries. He praises the shades of blue found in nature—the oceans that cradle the earth, the sky that stretches infinite above, the mountains cloaked in mist. Blue is the calm to red’s passion, the serenity to its fire. Where red speaks of action and urgency, blue whispers of eternity and peace. Both are necessary. Together they reflect the paradox of life: the burning need to strive and the quiet need to rest.

Consider how ancient civilizations balanced these symbols. The Egyptians painted their gods with brilliant hues: red for vitality and chaos, blue for protection and eternity. They understood, as Batt suggests, that all colors are magic, each one a reflection of a different aspect of existence. To honor only one is to miss the fullness of creation. Yet to love red is to acknowledge that life itself is driven by passion, energy, and sacrifice—the pulse of blood in the body of humanity.

Batt’s reflection also carries a personal truth. To say “I am in love with red” is to confess a love for vitality, for living fully, without hesitation. Red demands decision—it does not allow the lukewarm spirit. Just as he says, one either loves it or does not, for red, like life itself, is uncompromising. To embrace red is to embrace the courage to live boldly, to acknowledge that beauty, danger, and triumph are woven together in one fabric of experience.

The lesson for us is clear: embrace the colors of life, but above all, honor the red within you—the strength, the passion, the blood that gives you vitality. Do not live half-heartedly, sitting on the fence of indecision. Let your spirit burn bright, and yet balance that fire with the calm of blue, the wisdom of nature, and the wonder of all creation’s hues. For indeed, as Batt reminds us, they are all magic—signs that life is not dull but painted in glory, if only we dare to see.