Spannko, while I understand and sympathize with what you are saying, I don't agree that colors in themselves are neutral. Colors, being caused by different wavelengths of light, do have different vibrations. There is a reason that red, especially a bright red, is an almost universal symbol of warning: red traffic lights for stop, red flashing lights on emergency vehicles, red painting on stop signs and no parking signs, etc. Not to mention expressions such as "seeing red" and "red in the face". It is also well known that the "cooler" colors such as blue and green are more calming. Indeed it is said in some Indian literature that blue, white and gold have the highest vibrations and are condusive to meditation.
Here is an interesting article on the effect of red on people:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... -behavior/
Now, of course, there are some parts of this that are cultural, but there are some parts that are likely not. Most likely some of the reaction to red comes from the danger of fire, molten lava, etc. The automatic association with it being hot and dangerous.
All that being said, you are right that we aren't in danger on the forum. However, I believe there is still an automatic reaction, as some science indicates (and I could link several more articles with studies indication the same thing - indeed, going back and looking at Azazello's reply in this thread, that is mostly bright red, I notice an immediate change in feeling when I scroll to it.)
Even more importantly to me is that Fredrik said that this has come up several times before: "Funny how this can be seen as so aggressive that a change of colour has been suggested not once but several times. Perhaps it really is offensive?". Perhaps, as indicated in the linked article, it is. One thing I have found is that, rather than continuing to beat my head against the wall trying to figure out why it hurts, it is more practical to just stop beating my head against the wall! If this question has come up several times before possibly it is time for some practicality. To me it makes more sense to use a color that is less "alarming" and also more readable. So I feel either the same
dark red as the names of the moderator and administrator appear in (which seems to me to make a lot of sense - you can tell where the color comes from) or the
blue as a couple have suggested (and I think would be good was well) would be just as effective at stating "this is me in my role as moderator" without causing undue distress. (Note, I'm sure I got the dark red wrong but after trying various different dark reds and not being sure which one matched I just gave up and decided to err on the dark side - ooh! another negative connotation.)