Mardi Gras Meaning Behind the Colors

The meaning behind the Mardi Gras colors is an important part of the celebration. Mardi Gras is a festival celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana. It gets underway each year on Fat Tuesday, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday which can fall anywhere between February 3 and March 9. While the precise date when Mardi Gras began is unknown there is at least one historical mention to it that goes back as far as 1743. Mardi Gras is celebrated by masquerade balls, debutante balls, parades and a general party atmosphere.

On going discussions have taken place about the meaning behind the Mardi Gras colors. The colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. As early as the 19th century revelers on Mardi Gras parade floats would throw candy, small favors, and beads in the official Mardi Gras colors to the crowd. The discussion centers around why these colors were picked. One reason is that they just happened to look good together as party colors. Another more detailed explanation centers around the Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia. The Grand Duke is said to have been in New Orleans in 1872 to pursue Lydia Thompson who was a well known actress and dancer of the time.

One story concerning the meaning behind the Mardi Gras colors says that the krewe or group that was putting on the Mardi Gras parade that year felt that the celebration had grown so large and important that it needed a "King of the Carnival". Who better than a Russian Grand Duke to be the first king or Rex as he is called? The Grand Duke accepted and was given the task of choosing the official colors for the event. He picked purple, green and gold. No one really knows why he picked those three colors. The Grand Duke apparently either felt they had a royal look or he simply liked them, because he went on the choose those same colors as his own family crest for the House of Romanoff. It can be speculated that purple was already associated with royalty. Green is frequently seen in both Protestant and Catholic festivities which may account for their relationship with faith and gold symbolizing power is self-explanatory. The people of New Orleans instantly liked the colors and integrated them into every aspect of the celebration.

The story behind the Mardi Gras colors was set once and for all twenty years later. In 1892 the theme for that year's Rex parade was "The Symbolism of Color", it was at that era that the colors formally received their meanings; purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power. For Mardi Gras revelers today these colors are synonymous with the event itself. As are the purple, green and gold Mardi Gras beads that are thrown from parade floats and balconies to the revelers below. It is interesting to note that Louisiana State University and Tulane University are said to have chosen their school colors since of the Mardi Gras. Louisiana State chose purple and gold while Tulane picked green. The official Mardi Gras colors purple, green and gold have become synonymous with the event itself.


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