But as results poured in, the undeclared states changed color, one by one, until Republican presidential nominee Ronald Reagan’s landslide victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter turned the orange ...

For years we have heard about "red states" and "blue states ... but before that the colors were usually switched (blue for Republicans and red for Democrats) or just a random color.

NBC News' 1988 electoral map marked states won by Republican George H.W. Bush in blue and states won by Democrat Michael Dukakis in red. NBC News via YouTube Television’s first dynamic, color ...