This is my guess: first they painted high performance calipers like the Big Reds red, then people wanted the "bling" look so they started painting their non-Big Reds red, then again they got bored with red so some chose yellow while others chose black.
Ceramic is yellow, not yellow is ceramic, but then ceramic can be red, or black, or blue... I believe the caliper color can be specified when ordering a new car, not sure about the PCCB but definitely the "regular" stuff, and the factory colors are red, black and yellow. So, nowadays, different colors mean absolutely nothing, especially with everyone painting their caliper, or the drum brakes on Civics
, in their favorite color.
Were Big Reds always painted red? Were there any road-going Porsche from the factory with gold Brembos on?