The present invention relates to red color emitting compounds for an organic electroluminescent device (OELD), particularly to red color emitting compounds represented by the following formula (1) having high luminescence efficiency and enhanced thermal-stability: R.sub.1--CH.dbd.CH--X--CH.dbd.CH--R.sub.2 wherein, R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and X each are as defined below.