How do I output coloured text to a Linux terminal

Question

How do I print coloured characters to a Linux terminal that supports it?

How do I tell whether the terminal supports colour codes?

Answer 1

Making a coloured printout
Escape sequences can be used in a script to produce colourful text on the terminal.

Color codes are used to denote text colours, with reset = 0, black = 30, red = 31, green = 32, yellow = 33, blue = 34, magenta = 35, cyan = 36, and white = 37 being the most common.

Enter the following command to print colourful text:

echo -e "\e[1;31m This is red text \e[0m"