color revolution
Nonviolent regime change
A color revolution is a popular uprising aimed at ousting a government, typically through mass protests rather than armed conflict.
The term comes from movements named after colors or flowers: Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Georgia's Rose Revolution.
In neutral usage, it describes citizen-led democratic movements.
Critics—especially in Russia and China—use it to imply Western-orchestrated regime change: The Kremlin dismissed the protests as another color revolution.
The framing often signals the speaker's politics.
Public expression of disapproval
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- rallyGathering for a cause
- marchRhythmic group walk
regime change · nonviolent resistance · civil disobedience · mass mobilization · street protest · political movement
After 1991 dissolution
- Eastern EuropeContinental region, former Soviet sphere
- Western influenceOccident's effect on others
- NATOWestern defense organization
- foreign interventionExternal power's domestic involvement
soft power · sovereignty · sphere of influence · regime change · destabilization · Georgia · Ukraine · Kyrgyzstan
Formal choosing of officials
- democratizationTransition toward popular rule
- suffrageRight to cast ballots
- votingFormally registering a choice
- ballotVoting document
freedom · civil rights · political reform · free press · opposition · multiparty · electoral fraud · transparency
protest
Public expression of disapproval
- uprisingOrganized resistance to power
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- rallyGathering for a cause
march · regime change · nonviolent resistance · civil disobedience · mass mobilization · street protest · political movement
post-Soviet
After 1991 dissolution
- Eastern EuropeContinental region, former Soviet sphere
- Western influenceOccident's effect on others
- NATOWestern defense organization
foreign intervention · soft power · sovereignty · sphere of influence · regime change · destabilization · Georgia · Ukraine · Kyrgyzstan · Serbia
elections
Formal choosing of officials
- democratizationTransition toward popular rule
- suffrageRight to cast ballots
- votingFormally registering a choice
ballot · freedom · civil rights · political reform · free press · opposition · multiparty · electoral fraud · transparency · accountability
orange
Citrus with segments
velvet · flower · banner · flag · ribbon · slogan · branding · national symbol · iconic imagery · visual identity
- resistanceresistance, defiance, resistance fighters, civil resistance, resist
- power shiftsregime change, coup d'etat, overthrow, abdication, inauguration
- Peaceful Protestnonviolence, civil disobedience, peaceful protest, passive resistance, peaceful resistance
- BelarusMinsk, Lukashenko, oblasts, oblast, Mir
color revolutionmilitary coup
Armed seizure of government
civil war · guerrilla warfare · armed rebellion · putsch · palace coup
color, colour, colors, colours, colored, coloured, colorful, colourful, coloring