These days belts are primarily a means of generating income, there tends to be a test fee, as well as buying the belt from the school. The colors, at this point, can probably be best viewed as light to dark. Some people are changing colors within the ranking system to be "original", others adding colors to increase income. Traditionally, 40 years ago, in Karate, I think it went, white, yellow, green, blue, brown, red and black. Orange and purple are additions from around the 80's. They don't mean much, other than the person wearing them spent x number of days training. 50 years ago a black belt meant the holder was probably not a lot of fun in a dark alley. These days it means he will tell you he is a black belt and if you weren't robbing him he'd show you some. One of the karate experts will come along and tell you the current, most used sequence.
White and Black.
I've heard it said that anything other than a black belt is just a pretty white belt. That's why you'll find there is no standards for colored belts. For instance, even in a style such as Uechi Ryu color belts will be different from dojo to dojo.
Now with that said someones rank can be figured out by the color as rank is usually a number and a level. For colored belts they're called Kyu in Karate and I believe Gup in TKD. And they count down from 10 with 10 usually being a white belt. Then black belt ranks count back up from one and are called Dan.
Also you'll find that while there are no standards for belt colors they usually start light (at white) and work to dark.
So while most people ask what belt someone is, it's more meaningful to find out what rank they are as that will give you a general idea of how long they've trained and their abilities (if they're not in a McDojo)
In our system... commenting on the main ranks that stand out to me where i see the biggest change in development.
1 White = Beginner / Probation (6months)
2
3
4 Green = Starting to put it together(2year mark)
5
6 Blue = Should have a handle and grasp on your capabilities, around the (3 year mark now.)
7 Brown = same as above , but better, (4 year mark)
8 Brown 1st black tab = next transitional stage in development with deeper understanding
9 Brown 2nd
10 Brown 3rd
11 Black 1st Degree,( 5.5 to 6yr mark), Should be ready and prepared enough too start developing the real fullness the art has to offer.
It's different for every style and can even be different for sub styles within a set.
White, yellow, orange, green, red, and black? I'm not completely sure. Maybe this is just tae kwon do. It's been so long since I was in it, so I can't fully recall.
Just curious... I wanna know the order of the karate belts hehehehhe :-D
