The Great Rainbow Debate: What Color are the Subjects?

Walking around campus, chaos ensued as I asked groups of friends the same question: What color is each subject? Nearly everyone has heard the question and holds their own passionate opinions, yet some opinions are shared more than others. The M-A Chronicle distributed a survey to over 100 students to find out the most prominent opinions among our student body.  

Social Studies came back the most inconclusive. With almost equal distribution between five different colors, ranging from 14–20% of surveyors, many of the people I asked to explain why they chose their color offered a variety of reasons. Sophomore Gerardo Ortiz said, “History is definitely yellow because vintage stuff always has a yellow or orange tint to it.” However, junior Yaritza Elizondo brought up a different point, saying, “History is red because there is a lot of death in it.” 

While it seems to be a common trend for people to base their association of colors with what is in the subject, senior Mezzy Epidendio had a different approach to classifying history. While she agreed on the overall color with Ortiz, she explained, “History is yellow because it just matches the vibe. Yellow is the default; it’s not used for anything. Red is math, green is science, blue is English, and then yellow is the only one left.”

However, while color associations for history widely vary, opinions for other subjects are more concise. Both math and English are mainly split between two colors: math between red and blue, and English between blue and yellow. 

Elizondo and Ortiz both classified math by how it makes them feel, though for entirely different reasons. Whereas Elizondo likes math, Ortiz said, “Math is red for no other reason except that I hate it.” With math being such a polarizing subject, the real division obviously lies within whether math fills you with rage or not. 

However, no such debate is found over the color of science, where over 85% of responses agreed on it being green. “Science is green because of biology, and biology is life, which is green,” Ortiz explained. On the same page, Epidendio classified nature as “scientific.”

Yet even science has people who disagree. Sophomore Joanna Ramirez spoke to the dissenting opinion, saying, “Science is blue because Biology starts with a B for blue.” Drawing knowledge from within science classes, she added, “Have you ever mixed chemicals together? What do they make? Blue.”

These debates are seemingly endless, with people ready to defend their chosen colors with their lives whenever the topic is brought up. Elizondo said, “I have these discussions really often with my friends, every time the school year is about to start. Everyone has different opinions on what color the subjects are.” 

Yet even as different opinions are around this subject constantly, no one seems to be open to changing their interpretation. “I have not changed my opinion on the colors once,” said Epidendio. 

Being a topic everyone can passionately argue about, this is not a conversation that is soon to end. It’s reminiscent of the other great unsolvable debates, such as whether pineapple belongs on pizza or if you sleep with socks on. So, no matter what color your school folders are, I hope you have fun debating the rainbow.