Decoding Color

(via Lapidary Journal) Terri Haag writes:

The Zulu love letter (iNcwadi Kuthanda) are messages woven in beads by Zulu girls to send to their beloveds. Some of the messages are rather tart, so perhaps the term love letters is a bit euphemistic. Pointed reminders might be more accurate. One suspiciously tourist-oriented source lists the following meaning for the colors used:

White: This is the color of purity, vision, and love itself.

Black: I have turned pitch black as the rafters of the hut as I hear you have another lover.

Blue: If I were a dove I would fly to your home and pick up food at your door.

Pink: You should work harder to get lobola (bride price money paid by a male suitor to his would-be father in law) and not gamble and waste your money.

Green: I have become thin like the sweet cane in a damp field and green as first shoots of trees because of my love for you.

Red: My heart bleeds and is full of love.

Another source is certainly more comprehensive:

There are seven colors used and every color except white has to meanings, one positive, one negative. White (iThambo/bone) is always positive and always represents purity and spiritual love. When a color is used beside white it carries the positive meaning. For instance, a white hand beside a blue band denotes fidelity and often means the person is engaged.

Black: iStimane/shadow
Positive = marriage, rebirth
Negative = death, sadness

Blue: iJubal/dove
Positive = faithfulness
Negative = hostility, dislike

Yellow: iNcombo/young corn
Positive = wealth, garden
Negative = badness, thirst, withering

Green: uKuhlaza/new grass
Positive = contentment
Negative = discord, illness

Pink:
Positive = promise, high status
Negative = poverty, laziness

Red:
Positive = love, strong emotion
Negative = anger, heartache