Porch Light Colors: The Hidden Message on Your Front Door

As you walk across a typical street in the US, any time of the year, you may come across houses with unique hues and colors lighting their porch. It could be a green light, a red light, or perhaps a blue light, or even a shade of purple light, occasionally. We've even heard of people using pink porch lights or orange porch lights!

Or maybe it's not the neighbors on your mind but decorating your home. With the advent of inexpensive led light bulbs, getting a display of lights that uses different colors has become a tempting option for many homeowners.

Why settle for decorating with Christmas lights over the holidays when you can express yourself year-round using something as simple as a blue light bulb or a green or a red one?

Either way, the question of porch light meaning is certainly an interesting one! You don't want to be sending out the wrong message, or misinterpret a neighbor's porch light color.

Time for us to dive into what - if anything - does the porch light color actually signify?

We've researched the topic to discover the meanings you need to know, and yes, they go far beyond simple color temperature issues!

Here are the various colors of porch lights as well as their meanings:

• Blue Porch Light: Autism awareness or police respect
• Green Porch Light: Veterans' awareness or St Patricks Day
• Red Porch Light: American Heart Month awareness
• Purple Porch Light: Domestic violence awareness
• Orange Porch Light: Halloween or Light Up Delphi
• Pink Porch Light: Breast Cancer Awareness

Ahead, we'll take a deeper dive into the above porch light hues so you know when to turn yours on and what it means if you do. You're not going to want to miss it!

The information below will help you go beyond indoor light decor to explore the fascinating options of showing off your home through these special setups.

Blue Porch Light Meaning

Turning your porch light blue can represent one of two things. According to Enlightened Landscape Lights , blue lights are for autism awareness. This began when the United Nations General Assembly in 2007 officially declared that April 2nd is now World Autism Awareness Day.

It's common to see blue porch lights in April for autism support then, especially on April 2nd. Since the entire month is Autism Awareness Month, don't be surprised if neighbors keep their blue porch lights on all month. You can do the same too, to support the cause.

Another common meaning for that blue light bulb could be the support of law enforcement personnel. That's another reason you might see blue porch lights around your town or neighborhood.

More specifically, Project Blue Light encourages Americans to use blue porch lighting to show their respect for police officers who have fallen in the line of duty.

What Does a Green Porch Light Mean?

Let's look into the meaning of a green porch light now. There are three possible meanings for this specific light color.

Every November 11th, residents in the United States honor our country's veterans on Veterans Day. Besides engaging in celebrations and memorials, you can also turn your green porch light on that November day or all month long. You don't have to be a veteran to show respect to the men and women who fought for your country.

Some people also use the same green porch light decor to indicate Memorial Day for the same reasons.

In March, however, porch lights might become green to celebrate St Patrick's Day.

Enlightened Landscape Lights mentions that green lights might make a reappearance in May for Lyme Disease Awareness Month. The Light Up Green campaign is not just a nationwide occurrence but a worldwide one.

Red Porch Light Meaning

You can also turn your porch light red a few times a year. One of these is in October for Halloween. Another is in February. No, not solely for a Valentine's Day decoration, but for American Heart Month too.

The American Heart Association asks for cities to turn red each February to bring awareness to heart health, so whether that means decorating your home with red or changing the color of your porch light, you have plenty of options. You might just inspire your neighborhood to paint the town red in solidarity!

Finally, red is a classic Christmas color, so many people use that, in combination with white and green, for their holiday light displays.

Red is not just a very popular color. By using a red bulb, you could make sure your eyes adjust to an otherwise dark environment. If you feel like spending time out stargazing, that red porch light could be for this very practical reason, rather than a way to communicate any personal information or inclination.

Purple Porch Light Mean?

Another color option you have for your porch light is to turn it purple. Using a purple light shows your support for victims and increases domestic violence awareness.

This trend began in 2007 through the Domestic Violence Task Force in Covington, Washington, says Enlightened Landscape Lights. The Domestic Violence Task Force sought to raise awareness of domestic violence through its Purple Light Nights campaign.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, so it's most common to change the porch bulb color at this time. Not only are you bringing awareness to the horrors of domestic violence, but you are remembering those who have died from it and honoring domestic abuse survivors.

Rather than shop for purple bulbs or purple led lights (like the strip above), you can buy blacklights instead. These will glow a true purple.

See these black light bulbs in all their purple glow glory on Amazon

The Meaning of an Orange Porch Light

If you happen to live in Indiana, especially around the town of Delphi, you may come across orange light displays, especially during February.

These orange porch lights - or lanterns - serve as a community vigil in memory of a tragedy that happened in this town in 2017.

Elsewhere in the United States, orange porch lights are typical of Halloween light displays across the nation. The most typical way to achieve this effect is, of course, to light up a Jack-O-Lantern carved pumpkin for that orange glow of the holiday.

What does a Pink Porch Light Mean?

As you may have guessed by now, pink porch lights tend to signify the homeowner's support of the struggle against breast cancer.

If you see a pink light display on a porch, then this could be the home of a breast cancer survivor. Or, it could be a home where people donated to this important cause, in an effort to raise awareness of regular checkups for women.

What Does a Blinking Porch Light Mean?

What if you see a blinking porch light in the neighborhood? Is this a sign your neighbor should replace their light because it's going bad?

While that can sometimes be the case, a blinking or flashing porch light is a recognized emergency signal. Someone will flash their porch light when trying to attract an ambulance, firefighter, or police officer to the premises.

This can help emergency services find the house faster. Most emergency vehicles drive quickly to save lives, making reading house addresses difficult. With the flashing or blinking light, the emergency services know just where to go.

Come Halloween, some people like to decorate their porch with flickering porch lights. Or you could try and generate the effect of a flickering flame for decorative purposes by installing a cool flame-like light porch like this one -

Click to see this flame-like bulb on Amazon

More on Porch Light Meaning - Things to keep in mind

Porchlight colors represent all sorts of important matters. From heart health to honoring veterans, domestic violence awareness, and more, if you decide to change the color of your porch light, now you know what it means.

One thing to keep in mind re porch lights meaning is that they are used as means of communication. When people use these unique colorful led lights (or regular lightbulbs), they send out a message.

These messages can change over the years, especially when certain localities set up projects and campaigns to promote a new meaning. With the advent of social media, that green light, blue light, or red light on one's housefront, can certainly change fast.

That's why we will keep you updated with this article. We first published this post in 2019, and are now updating it with fresh information. Hopefully, this will help you figure out the meaning of a Porchlight color all the way through to 2023.

The world has gone through so much during these years, and it's good to keep abreast of these social cues as they develop.

Finally - some more ideas for lighting up your porch

Before we part ways, we'd like to suggest a few more articles on our site that you might find interesting.

In our post about the 17 Types of Porch Light Fixtures, you'll find various ideas on how to decorate your front porch at night. Even if you don't use all of these ideas, just getting to know them is great. And frankly, would you have even guessed there are 17 types of such fixtures?

And let's not forget other elements that showcase your dwelling to the world. Read this post to find out Garage Lights should Match Porch Lights (some interesting images there as well!)

FAQs

What does a green light on your porch mean?

A green light on a porch typically indicates that the house is safe and secure. It can also be used to signal that visitors are welcome.

What does it mean to display a green light?

To green-light is to give permission to proceed with a project. It's derived from the green traffic signal, which tells the driver they can "go ahead".

What does leaving the porch light on mean?

Leaving the porch light on is a sign that a person is home and available for visitors or guests. It can also be used to signal that someone is looking for company or assistance.

What does a blue light mean on a house?

A blue light on a house typically indicates that the homeowner is a law enforcement officer or first responder. It can also be used to show support for these individuals. In some areas, it may even signify that the homeowner is open to providing shelter or protection for people in need.