Mardi Gras Beads & Parades

Why Purple, Green and Gold? The Story of the Mardi Gras Colors

By Mardi Gras Beads Factory ·

A Mardi Gras parade float rolling down a New Orleans street
Photo: Library of Congress / Unsplash

Purple, green and gold are everywhere at Mardi Gras. You see them on beads, flags, king cakes and front porches. But most people never learn where the colors came from. The short answer is: from a parade club in New Orleans, in 1872. The longer answer has a little mystery in it.

Who picked the Mardi Gras colors?

The colors come from Rex, one of the oldest Carnival clubs in New Orleans. Rex was formed in 1872. The name is Latin for “king,” and the club’s leader each year reigns as Rex, King of Carnival.

That first year, newspapers printed royal-style announcements from the “king.” One of them asked people to drape their balconies in purple, green and gold. The city went along with it, and the colors stuck. They have been the colors of Carnival ever since.

Why did Rex choose those three colors?

This is the part nobody can answer for sure. The papers of 1872 told people to use the colors. They did not explain why those colors were chosen.

Over the years, people have offered a few ideas:

  • A royal visitor. In 1872, a young Russian prince, Grand Duke Alexis, visited New Orleans during Carnival. The Rex organization says his visit was one reason the club was formed that year. A popular story says the colors were picked to honor him or his family. Some well-known history sites repeat this as fact. Others call it a legend, because no record from the time says so.
  • The rules of flags and coats of arms. New Orleans writer and historian Errol Laborde has argued for a simpler reason. A king needs a flag. Old heraldry rules (the rules for coats of arms) mix “colors” with “metals.” Purple is a royal color, and gold is a metal. Even under this idea, no one knows for sure why green was the third pick.

So the honest answer is: we don’t know. Any website that tells you the reason with full certainty is guessing.

What does each color stand for?

The meanings came 20 years after the colors. In 1892, the Rex parade had the theme “Symbolism of Colors.” That parade gave each color a meaning:

  • Purple stands for justice.
  • Green stands for faith.
  • Gold stands for power.

These are the meanings you will hear most often today. Keep in mind that they were added later. Nobody in 1872 said the colors meant justice, faith and power. Some writers think the 1892 meanings were an explanation made up after the fact. That does not make them wrong to use. It just means they are tradition, not the original reason.

Do you have to wear purple, green and gold?

No. There is no rule about what parade-goers wear. Many people love to dress in the three colors, and it is an easy way to look festive. But you will see every color in the crowd, and on the floats too.

Many clubs, called krewes, also have their own colors. A krewe may use its own colors for its costumes, flags and special throws. Purple, green and gold are the shared colors of the whole season. Each krewe can add its own look on top.

How do people use the colors today?

Here are a few common ways the three colors show up during Carnival season:

  • King cake. The sugar on top is usually purple, green and gold.
  • Houses and balconies. People hang flags, bunting and wreaths in the three colors. This goes right back to that first request in 1872.
  • Beads and throws. Throw beads come in every color, but the three Carnival colors are a classic choice. You can see plain throw beads in many colors here: throw beads.
  • Clothes and masks. Shirts, hats, tutus and masks in the three colors are an easy costume.

Is there a simple way to remember the meanings?

Try this: “Just Faith Power.”

  • Justice goes with purple.
  • Faith goes with green.
  • Power goes with gold.

Say it in the same order the colors are usually listed: purple, green, gold. Justice, faith, power.

The short version

  • Rex made purple, green and gold the Carnival colors in 1872.
  • Nobody wrote down why. The Russian prince story and the flag-rules idea are both guesses.
  • The meanings (justice, faith, power) come from the 1892 Rex parade.
  • You can wear any color you like to a parade.

Want to see the colors in action? Find a parade near you on the Mardi Gras parade schedule.

Sources

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