More Things Japanese

Colour	Meaning	Origin
Black	Champion	A champion is 'one who is prepared to engage the foe'. Black belts were first awarded by Dr. Jiguro Kano, at the Kodokan school, to senior students who qualified for this august description.
Brown	Under-Champion	Next to be awarded were belts for under-champions; that is, students who were being groomed for champion status, but had not yet attained it.
Purple	Imperial Family	Some time after Jiguro Kano began training, some of the Japanese Imperial family became his students. They did not qualify for black or brown belts, but they could not be marked as simple beginners, so the purple belt was created. Purple, as in so many cultures, is the Japanese colour of royalty.
Colour	Beginner and Intermediate	Yellow, Green, Blue were added to keep non-Japanese students 'interested' on the 'long road' to Brown belt. The colours are based on the changes evinced by a chameleon, as it adjusts to its external environment.
Orange	Beginner	The Orange belt was added in the US in the 1950s, to extend the early training phases required there.
White	Beginner	White is the traditional Japanese colour for beginnings. For the karateka, white symbolises the beginning of a transition, the start of the awakening that will lead to satori.