STUFF STONERS LIKE

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Rasta Colors Are Stuff Stoners Like

Red, gold and green—you’ll see plenty of stoners, not to mention Rastas, wearing these bright-ass colors. Not sure about you, but when we look at these colors we even smell weed. But where did the the Rasta colors originate, what do they actually mean and why do stoners dig ‘em so much?

What do the Rasta colors represent?
You should probably know that Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that started in Jamaica during the 1930s, following the coronation of Haile Selassie I as Emperor of Ethiopia in 1930. The Rasta colors red, gold and green stem from the Ethiopian flag. It’s said that the green stands for the fertile land and lush greenery of the African continent. But, we like to think that it stands for really good weed. The yellow represents the sunshine of the African land and the red symbolizes the blood shed by it’s people in defending the country.

However a lot of Rastas say the order of the colors on the flag is wrong. The correct order of the Rasta Colors is actually red, then yellow and then green. Here’s an explanation from a book on flags: “Emperor Menilik II adopted Ethiopia’s, tricolor flag of horizontal stripes in 1897, in reverse order to today’s flag. It changed to the present sequence in 1914.”

But Rastas don’t even smoke marijuana?
Rastas also assert their original African languages were ripped from them when they were taken into captivity as part of the slave trade. That’s why Rastas don’t like the term marijuana either. Bob Marley preferred the term Herb. He sang, “herb is the healing of a nation” and “when you smoke the herb, it reveals you to yourself,” but like the guy who taught him how to play the guitar, his ex-band mate Peter Tosh famously said, “marijuana is a girl from Cuba. Ganja is a bird from Australia. I smoke herb.”

In fact the Rastafari practice is sometimes referred to as “Rastafarianism”, but this term is considered offensive by most Rastafari. They’re not down with any isms—they see them as a typical part of Babylon culture and dislike being labelled as an “ism.” Who doesn’t?

Rasta Colors are Stuff Stoners Like
One reason why stoners like the Rastafari way of life encompasses is because it involves the spiritual use of cannabis of course. What’s not to like about that? Plus stoners dig rockin’ the red, gold and green because like many of the Rastas who wear ‘em, it broadcasts their religious devotion and appreciation for weed or uhm, we mean cannabis.