Flyby Debates: Which Colors Belong with Which Subject

Remember the good old days when you couldn’t wait to shop for back-to-school notebooks and binders in middle school? I ~lived~ for deciding which colored folders I would pair with each subject, ascending to my final form as the Stationary Kid, envy of my classmates. Those choices that twelve-year-old-me made have become permanently embedded in my psyche. Some of these might be hot takes. Let’s get into it.

Green belongs with Science.

This is non-negotiable. Whether it’s chemistry or physics or bio, it doesn’t matter. Green always belongs to the sciences. Science means earthy (re: green) things like plants and bugs.

History is Red.

I started this history-as-red-streak in my seventh grade Mesopotamia class and haven’t looked back. I’m pretty sure it was because I associated Mesopotamia with heat and the sun, but it soon came to represent the bloodshed we learned about in eighth grade Roman history. And now, no matter what history class I’m in, there’s some sort of bloodshed, so it still checks out to this day.

Spanish = Yellow or Orange.

I think most would agree with me here. This is probably because many Spanish-speaking countries that Spanish classes focus on have warmer climates (Spain, Mexico), and my middle school Spanish classes were always decked out in yellow, orange, and red.

Math is Black or White.

Math doesn’t deserve a fun color because it is simply not fun. White for math is acceptable, but bonus points if your high school math binder was black because it sucked the soul out of you similar to a black hole.

English/Literature is Navy Blue.

I know this is specific and probably unpopular. Yes, blue could work for the sciences but since green takes precedence, blue had to go to English by default. And who can forget the famous “The curtains were f***ing blue”? No? Just me?

Purple is French.

I’m currently five years strong with French being assigned a purple notebook and binder, and I plan to continue this. I won’t be answering questions.

Feel free to argue with me, but I stand my ground with these decisions. Everyone has their own ways of making school fun (or at least mildly tolerable), and as long as you don’t make math hot pink, we got nothing to worry about.