Blue was on purpose quite a rare colour here, both before and after the major forum engine upgrade a year ago. Now it's only present in the little arrows on the forum views and nowhere inside the threads themselves - or that was the case before this reputation meter change. I believe that's one reason why they might catch the eye so easily, at least in the beginning.

With the icons only a handful of pixels in size, I went for near maximum contrast. If it turns out a real concern on the long run that they are too attention catching (breaking the harmony), I'll adjust them.