There is a lot of confusion about the meaning of colors. Their abstract meaning, represented in the SCS codons, is universal because it is determined by their perceptual and psychological characteristics. E.g 'red' is coming to the fore, also designated as warm, generally experienced as dominating and heavy with a strong activating characteristic. Red can be described as nearby, heavy, and activating and as such gets its code 101. De first digit 1 (depth) represents the approaching quality the color possesses. The second digit 0 (height) offers an indication of high dominant power or heaviness. The third digit 1 (lateral) is determined by the high degree of action the color possesses. 

We say the innate abstract concepts universal. That does not necessarily mean a certain configuration is used or can be perceived in all cultures. It means, however, that this configuration is understood without the need for the traditions of others. Peirce (1839–1914) described the abstract meaning of a sign as follows: “A sign or representamen addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign, or perhaps a more developed sign. That sign which it creates I call the interpretant of the first sign. The sign stands for something, its object. It stands for that object, not in all respects, but in reference to a sort of idea, which I have sometimes called the ground of the representamen.” 

The abstract meaning or idea cannot, although it is sometimes very clear, be automatically translated into words. There are no strict rules, because language is an open system. The ‘translation’ is more something like putting together a tangram, the Chinese puzzle that suggests a figure. Sentences like “red means love” presuppose a strict, unambiguous relationship. Red does not, however, get meaning through love. On the contrary, it is the words that get meaning through the colors, they become emotionally colored as in “love is red”. The abstract meaning of colors is universal, their outer meaning is culturally determined, which does not imply that it is totally conventional.

To understand a sign is to find out which code it has. ‘Understanding’ or ‘grasping’ is fitting the idea or the concept within a code. The reasons why a sign gets a certain code in the SCS can often be very diverse. The 'earth' is placed under the code 000, which is the codical combination representing the color blue. The earth is for instance referred to as the ‘blue planet’. In many simple illustrations, such as logos, the earth globe is depicted in blue. In Christian images, God, who is in heaven, is depicted in yellow against the blue earth he rules over. According to the color psychologist Heller (1989), blue is the color of the reunification with (mother) earth and creates calmness. The anthropologist Campbell (1962) explained how Buddhist meditation techniques focus the mind on colors. “The earth, then, was to be seen as lapis lazuli, transparent and radiant.” In Egypt as well as in India (Shiva, Vishnu, Krishna) blue has remained the godly color, not of a heavenly god but of an earth god. Earth is in many traditions the matter from which the (earth) god created the first human being in his own image and likeness. This is so among others in  the Egyptian and Islamic tradition, in the Gilgamesh-epic and in Judaism. In the Book of Genesis, Adam, the first man, is created from earth and is therefore called ‘Adamah’ (Aramaic for earth). 

Each keyword which is fed into the SCS, has been validated either by research, a scholarly essay or article. But sometimes these research findings are seemingly contradictory. For example, the keyword “friendly” has as many as five different colors connected to. This shows that a given word can have many connotations, or even convey something completely different for various people. There are a number of causes underlying these seemingly contradictory results. First, there may be cultural shifts in meaning on keywords. For example, there is a different cultural emphasis on marriage or a death. The white wedding dress in the Western wedding ceremony indicates the virginity and purity of the bride, while the red wedding dress in Chinese weddings is a reference to good fortune. Black attire worn at a Western funeral emphasizes mourning and grief. Death is considered an end point. In Hinduism, people wear white at cremation, where the emphasis is on reincarnation, the new beginning. White at Muslim funerals is worn for its simplicity and sobriety, as a sign of respect for the deceased and the bereaved. The abstract meaning of the colors is the same for each person, but the event is experienced differently. Also in the West, white is an austere color, e.g. in the minimalist style it is the most commonly used color, and red is the color that generates happiness, look at Coca-Cola's red happiness ads. 

Second, the context in which a color appears is important for the emotional value it evokes (Caivano & Lòpez, 2006; Oberascher & Gallmetzer, 2003). Red is associated with love when it is the color of a heart, but a face turning red can also indicate an impending outburst of anger. All of these factors mean that simply placing keywords with colors can lead to errors of interpretation.