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150 Red Things

John Spacey, updated on May 10, 2024

Red is a relatively rare color in nature that is primarily associated with hot elements such as fire, lava and the sun. Due to its relative rarity and association with intense and dangerous elements of nature, red is often used to capture attention. For example, a fruit or flower that uses an intense red to attract animal attention. The following are common examples of red in nature with a few examples of prominent cultural uses of the color.

Acerola	Amaryllis
Annatto	Anthurium
Apples	Autumn Leaves
Barns	Beets
Bell Peppers	Black Widow Spider
Blood	Blood Orange
Bloodwood	Brass
Bricks	Bronze
Burning Bush	Butterflies
Camellia	Cardinals
Carnations	Carnelian
Cashew Fruit	Cayenne
Cedar Wood	Cherries
Chestnuts (reddish brown)	Chili Peppers
Chokeberries	Christmas
Cinnabar	Circassian Seeds
Coffee Berries	Copper
Corn Snakes	Crabs
Cranberries	Crawfish
Currants	Dragon Fruit
Dust	Figs
Fire	Fire Ants
Fire Engines	Garnets
Geranium	Goji Berries
Goldfish	Guarana
Hair	Hibiscus
Holly	Hot Coals
Humboldt Squid	Irish Setter
Irish Terriers	Jasper
Jupiter's Great Red Spot	Kidney Beans
Koi	Ladybugs
Laser Light	Lava
Lily Beetle	Lingonberries
Lips	Lobsters
Lychee	Macaws
Magma	Maple Leafs
Mars	Morgan Horses
National Flags	Nectarines
Neon Lights	Newts
Octopus	Paprika
Pimiento Peppers (center of green olive)	Poinsettia
Poison Dart Frog	Pomegranate
Poppies	Prickly Pear
Radicchio	Radishes
Raspberries	Red Algae
Red Azalea	Red Bananas
Red Begonia	Red Carrots
Red Chrysanthemums	Red Clay
Red Coral	Red Dachshunds
Red Diamonds	Red Dwarfs
Red Elderberry	Red Fireworks
Red Foxes	Red Grapes
Red Howler	Red Lotus
Red Meat	Red Mushrooms
Red Onion	Red Orchid
Red Panda	Red Pears
Red Plums	Red Quartz
Red Sand	Red Snapper
Red Soil	Red Spider Lily
Red Spinach	Red Spinel
Red Squirrels	Red Tea
Red Tide (red algae blooms)	Red Tourmaline
Red Tulips	Red Zircon
Redwood	Rhubarb
Rooibos Tea	Roosters
Roses	Rosewood
Rubies	Ruby Ball Cactus
Ruby Red Grapefruit	Rust
Saffron	Sandstone
Sangria	Starfish
Stop Signs	Strawberries
Sunrises / Sunsets	Sweet Potatoes
Terracotta	Tomatoes
Traffic Lights	Valentines Day
Watermelon	Wine

Red Foods

Red foods are often red due to the pigments known as anthocyanins, lycopene or carotenoids. Fruits and berries are red as means to attract seed disperses such as birds and mammals.

Red Animals

Red is a relatively rare color for animals that can serve functions such as camouflage or social signaling. In some cases, an animal is red because its diet is rich in a organic red pigments. For example, lobsters are typically brown or green but can become red due to a diet of algae and plankton that contain the pigment astaxanthin.

Natural Red Things

Natural red things beyond the foods and animals listed above. These are mostly flowers, astronomical objects, hot things and earthy substances that contain iron oxide, better known as rust.

Red Materials

Red materials including naturally red woods, metals, bricks and rocks. Many of these are reddish as opposed to a pure red color. For example, the orangish red color of metals that contain copper or the brownish red of woods such as rosewood.

Red Gems & Stones

Red stones commonly used in decorations and gemstones such as garnet. Of all red stones, rubies deserve special mention as one of the cardinal gems. The cardinal gems are the gemstones which were most valued in antiquity namely diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires.