Colour news
FestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTom’s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into ColourFestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTom’s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into Colour
Rang

Next: 9 Feb 2027

Mardi Gras

Purple, green and gold: the three colours of New Orleans Carnival, on beads, flags and the sugar of the king cake.

New Orleans Mardi Gras 2007: Mondo Kayo revelers parade on St. Charles Avenue.
Photo: Flickr user radiate2357, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, is the last day of Carnival before Lent. In New Orleans it has three colours of its own. Purple, green and gold were chosen by the Rex parade organisation for its first parade in 1872. Twenty years later Rex gave them meanings that are still repeated: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power. They cover the city for weeks. Riders on floats throw strings of plastic beads in the three colours to the crowds, houses hang three-coloured flags, and the king cake, a ring of sweet bread, is iced and sprinkled with sugar in purple, green and gold. The Mardi Gras Indians, Black New Orleanians, parade in hand-sewn suits of beads and huge dyed feathers.

#5B2C83Justice purplePurple was given the meaning of justice in 1892.
#1E8A44Faith greenGreen stands for faith.
#F2B705Power goldGold stands for power.

Values are fair approximations, not official shades.

Read about the colours

PurpleJustice, in the Rex scheme.GreenFaith.GoldPower.
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Mardi Gras in New Orleans" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

The weekly palette

Every Monday: seven colours you may not know, what the world is wearing this week, and one idea about colour.