Do You Dream in Colour?

Colour plays a powerful role in our everyday lives, influencing how we feel, what we do, and the choices we make, often without us even realising. Sometimes it’s down to learned associations, other times it’s an instinctive psychological response.

But what about when we sleep? I found myself wondering… does colour hold meaning in our dreams too?

So who better to ask than Davina MacKail, the UK’s Dream Whisperer.

Colour memory

I started by asking Davina if it was common place to dream in colour as I remember most of my dreams in black and white.

I was surprised to learn that 70 – 83% of our dreams are in colour.  Davina explained the reason why we may not remember is because colour memory fades fast upon awakening so we only think we dreamt in black and white.

Dreaming in colour

She went on to say we’ll dream in colour if it has significant relevance or meaning. Otherwise, we’ll dream in black and white. The colour relates to emotions associated with that dream image. Davina encourages her clients to look at the significance between the colour and the image they are getting.

For example, you were in a green car and had an accident. If you then dream of a green car, the association may be related to danger or a warning. This will naturally differ from person to person, as it will relate to a personal association, event or experience.

The association attached to that colour is stored in the limbic brain. It’s the place, when we are in the dream state, that associates the image and colour to an emotion.

Dream colours & their meaning

Here are some of the most common colours seen when dreaming and their general significance:
Black – represents the unconscious mind, the deep emotion psyche
White – represents spiritual aspirations
Red – represents personal significance i.e. passion, drive (unless you have a specific association with red)
Blue Sky (Sunshine) – represents the conscious world, the waking active world

Davina shared that it’s rare to have a technicolour dream and those born blind don’t dream in colour or images, instead they dream in feelings and sound.

Sleeping in colour

I was quite intrigued to know Davina’s thoughts on whether the colour of the room you slept in had any impact on the colour your dreamt about.   Given that dreams are affected with immediate external stimuli, Davina said it’s possible however there’s no known research into this.  This could be quite an interesting study…

I know from now on I’ll be paying particular attention to recalling the colour associated to the image instead of just falling back to sleep!

What colours have you seen in your dreams and what have they meant to you?

If you’d like to know more about Davina, you can find her on Instagram or her book, The Dream Whisperer from your favourite book store, library or online.

Image via unsplash

Originally published 25 August 2011, updated 1st October 2025