Bulls Are Colorblind to Red—It's the Movement That Matters

If you've ever watched a bullfight (or a cartoon about one), you probably thought the bull was seeing red—literally. That crimson cape seems to send the animal into a fury. But here's the twist: bulls are completely colorblind to red. To them, that iconic scarlet cape looks about as exciting as a grayish-yellow dishrag.

Bulls are dichromats, meaning they only have two types of color-detecting cone cells in their eyes. Humans have three, which lets us see the full rainbow. Bulls? They're stuck with blues and yellows. Their vision is remarkably similar to a human with red-cone colorblindness (protanopia). Red doesn't register as red—it just blends into muted, neutral tones.

So Why Do Bulls Charge?

It's not the color. It's the movement. Bulls are hardwired to react to motion—specifically, rapid, erratic, sweeping gestures. That fluttering cape? It's a giant "come at me" signal in bull language. The matador could wave a neon yellow cape, a bright blue one, or even a white bedsheet, and the bull would likely charge just the same.

In fact, researchers have tested this. Bulls react to moving objects regardless of color. The aggressive response is triggered by the provocation of movement, not wavelengths of light hitting their retinas. If anything, bulls are more sensitive to contrast and motion than to hue.

Why Red Then?

The tradition of the red cape—called a muleta—has nothing to do with enraging the bull. It's for the audience. The vibrant red color serves a practical, if grim, purpose: it hides the blood. During the final act of a bullfight, when the matador delivers the fatal sword strike, there's often significant bleeding. The red fabric masks the gore, keeping the spectacle palatable (or at least less visually disturbing) for spectators.

In earlier stages of the fight, matadors actually use a different cape—a large, magenta-and-yellow one called a capote. Notice the yellow? That's a color bulls can see. But again, it's the sweeping motion of the fabric that does the work.

The Bigger Picture

This myth persists because it feels true. We associate red with anger, danger, and aggression across cultures. "Seeing red" is literally an idiom for rage. So when a bull charges at a red cape, our brains make the connection automatically—even though the bull's brain is doing no such thing.

Understanding how bulls actually see the world reminds us that animal behavior often works on completely different rules than human perception. What looks obvious to us might be invisible to them, and vice versa. The next time someone says something "like a red flag to a bull," you'll know the truth: bulls don't care about red flags at all. They care about waving ones.