My club uses coloured belts, it is UNCOMMON but practiced by other clubs in NZ. It's up to the individual what you make of it.
I was a green belt when I visited another aikido dojo once, one of the partners I trained with asked if I practiced karate. (this club only had the white-brown-black system). Its all assumptions based on what you know.
*shrug* everyone knows that if you train long enough, belt colour means zip. The comments you get about belt colour usually come from newbies or those of ignorance.
Keep on keeping on
As for the original post, better to just get on with your own training, but yeah, if someone tries to give you help you don't want, at least be polite in your response.
Dean.