Liturgical colours

by J.W. Richter

Fig. 1: A Roman chasuble

Design: Pietro Siffi.

published in Wikipedia's Wikimedia Commons
( public domain. )
Summary
Although the Book Exodus defines blue as a divine
prescription for the Hebrew High Priests' garments and curtains
at the Covenant Tent the symbol blue (and equally yellow)
have been avoided as standard liturgical colours, probably
resulting from the idea of avoiding any evil influence from the
altar.
In contrast to the ancient biblical adoration for blue symbolism
medieval traditions generally symbolize evil by blue (Eve's
colour) and yellow (for traitors and evil women). Therefore the
evil colour blue as a religious symbol originally had to be
abandoned from the Church's holy locations such as the altar.
With a growing adoration for the Virgin Mary the Church
however had to develop a minor acceptance for the colour blue
as a female symbol, which originally has been restricted for
paintings and sculptures. The cardinals' garments and coat of
arms are still restricted to the divine colour red.
As the popes and the cardinals the kings and the emperors used
to consider themselves as a representative of the divine powers.
Early emperors and kings had been elected by their soldiers as
the most powerful leaders of the clans. In order to avoid
negative biblical symbolism and as male persons they may
have preferred red as well as their symbolic colour.
In contrast in later eras the kings en emperors decided to inherit
their divine ancestry instead of being elected by the people or
the Popes. This may have caused some problems in accepting
the female colour blue as a negative symbol in the royal
families. The female members may simply have protested
against the idea of being the cause for all evil.

2
As a result of these protests the colour blue stopped horrifying
the non-clerical classes in the Middle Age. Notably the late-
medieval royals and emperors accepted blue in their early coats
of arms, graves, flags and garments. This allowed the royals to
dress themselves in red & blue as representatives of a male and
female created people as a symmetrically created divine image
of God.
In contrast the Church still avoids blue as a standard liturgical
colour in Masses and in the garments for the highest ranks of
the clerical staff.

3
Contents
Summary....................................................................................2
Liturgical colours.......................................................................5
Garments for the Hebrew High Priests.................................5
The Freemasons....................................................................6
The Catholic Church.............................................................7
Evil Symbols.........................................................................7
The chasuble's colour ..............................................................11
Medieval colouring schemes...............................................12
Blue.....................................................................................12
Blue in Slavic-use churches................................................13
Blue in Lutheranism............................................................13
Blue in Anglican churches...................................................14
The Royals' Colours Red & Blue.............................................15
The Investiture Contest ......................................................15
Male representative of the divine powers...........................16
Inherited divine ancestry.....................................................16
The Virgin Mary .................................................................17
The Cardinals' Garments..........................................................18
Clerical Coats of Arms .......................................................18
Papal Coat of Arms.............................................................19
The Holy See.......................................................................20
Appendix..................................................................................21
Colour Codes in the Book Exodus......................................21
The Second Book of Chronicles..........................................25

4
Liturgical colours
Liturgical colours are those specific colours which are used for
vestments and hangings within the context of Christian and
some other liturgies. The Wikipedia's text Liturgical colours
states:
”The symbolism of violet, white, green, red, gold, black,
rose, and other colours may serve to underline moods
appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may
highlight a special occasion. “
Notably the elementary colours “blue” and “yellow” are absent
in this list and to be precise the Dutch description for the
Chasuble simply even states1 :
“blue fails to be used as a liturgical colour. “

Garments for the Hebrew High Priests

Of course the absence of blue as a liturgical colour contrasts to
the Divine commands as documented in the biblical Books
Exodus and Chronicles in which God prescribes the garments
for the high priests (namely Aaron)2.
The Books Exodus and Chronicles reveal a total of 25
commands for the symbolic coloured woven materials (scarlet
red, blue and purple twining) in the divine instructions for the
Covenant tent and for Solomon's temple e.g.3:

1:
kazuifel
2:
Secret Colour Codes in the Bible and The Hermetic Codex
3:
an overview of these quotations has been listed in the appendix to this
manuscript.

5
 Exodus 39
“Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely
worked garments, for ministering in the holy place, and
made the holy garments for Aaron; as Yahweh
commanded Moses. 2He made the ephod of gold, blue,
purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen. 3They beat the
gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires, to work it in
the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the fine
linen, the work of the skilful workman. 4They made
shoulder-pieces for it, joined together. At the two ends it
was joined together. 5The skilfully woven band that was
on it, with which to fasten it on, was of the same piece,
like its work; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine
twined linen; as Yahweh commanded Moses.”
In these descriptions the German Luther-Bible also mentions
the colour white as an additional, maybe important attribute for
the twined linen4.

The Freemasons
With respect to the garments' colours the Freemasons have
been following the Bible more strictly than the Church itself by
prescribing the colour blue for their garments, which have been
derived from the biblical aprons, ephods, etcetera..5

4:
The Hermetic Codex
5:
Blue and Red Symbolism in Freemasonary

6
The Catholic Church
Instead of following the biblical prescriptions in the Book
Exodus the Church defined a set of colours for the Mass, which
normally excludes the use of the symbolic colour blue at the
altar. The reason for this restriction probably resulted from the
idea to generally avoid all female elements at the altar. The
only exception for this restriction have been defined for Our
Lady's celebrations in a few countries, where blue traditionally
had been accepted as a liturgical colour.

Evil Symbols
Yellow as a colour has not been found in any liturgical
prescription. Instead of yellow however gold has been defined
for Russian and Slavic-use churches. The absence of yellow as
a liturgical colour may have been caused by the evil symbolism
in medieval traditions, which prescribed yellow as the
garments for evil women and traitors (Judas and sometimes St.
Peter as well)6. In medieval traditions Eve (and consequently
all female descendants of Man except of course the Virgin
Mary) may have been considered evil.
Genesis 37 introduces the Serpent, "slier than every
beast of the field." The serpent tempts the woman to eat
from the tree of knowledge, telling her that it will make
her more like God and it will not lead to death. She
succumbs, and gives the fruit to the man, who eats also,
"and the eyes of the two of them were opened." Aware
now of their nakedness, they make coverings of fig
leaves, and hide from the sight of God.
6:
see: Yellow for Judas and Yellow for Saint Peter
7:
From: Adam end Eve in Wikipedia

7
 God asks them about what they have done. Adam
blames Eve, and Eve blames the serpent. God curses
the Serpent and then curses Adam and Eve with hard
labour and with pain in childbirth, and banishes them
from his garden, setting a cherub at the gate to bar
their way to the Tree of Life, "lest he put out his hand ...
and eat, and live forever."

Fig. 2: Adam and Eve

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553): Adam and Eve, 1533.

Bode-Museum, Berlin. Photograph: Till Niermann
included in public domain (copyright has expired.)

8
Ultimately the words “evil” and “devil” (“d'evil” ? or “d'Eve”)
may even have been derived from “Eve”.
To avoid the absence of any evil influence medieval traditions
probably prohibited any use of evil symbols such as “Eve's”
symbol “blue” and the devilish colour “yellow”.
The attribute blue for female persons has been applied at least
up to 1954.

Fig. 3: Adam (red) and Eve

(blue)

At elementary school in Eindhoven in 1954 a Catholic teacher

ordered the children to draw male persons (Jesus, Adam &
God) in red colours and female persons (Eve and the virgin
Mary) in blue.
Reference in German at: Religionsunterricht 1954-1955
and in Dutch language at: Godsdienstles 1954-1955.

9
After the Fall of Man the couple had to be drawn in purple.

Fig. 4: After the Fall of Man the

couple is purple

The colour purple however refers to a couple, joined in a

matrimonial relation as must be considered as a divine symbol,
which also had been adopted by the Roman emperors at the
time of Nero and earlier.
References in German at: Religionsunterricht 1954-1955
and in Dutch language at: Godsdienstles 1954-1955.

10
The chasuble's colour
"The vestment proper to the priest celebrant at Catholic
Mass and other sacred actions directly connected with
Mass is, unless otherwise indicated, the chasuble, worn
over the alb and stole"8.
The chasuble originated as a sort of conical poncho, called in
Latin a "casula" or "little house," that was the common outer
travelling garment in the late Roman Empire. It was simply a
roughly oval piece of cloth, with a round hole in the middle
through which to pass the head, that fell below the knees on all
sides. It had to be gathered up on the arms to allow the arms to
be used freely. Like the stole, it is normally of the liturgical
colour of the Mass being celebrated.
Liturgical colours for the Mass and garments have been defined
in a rather complex scheme 9 varying in historical periods as
defined in Liturgical colours. The basic principle is:
• green has been used as a default for Ordinary Time
• violet has been used for Advent, Lent, Reconciliation
and Holy Saturday.
• White has been used for Christmastide, Easter and a
great number of other feasts.
• Red has been used for e..g Pentecost, Palm Sunday,
Passion of the Lord.

8:
General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 337
9:
see: Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani, no. 346; cf. text for Australia,
England and Wales, United States

11
 • Rose for transitions such as Third Sunday of Advent and
Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare).
• Black for All Souls' Day and offices for the Dead
On more solemn days, festive, that is, more precious, sacred
vestments may be used, even if not of the colour of the day.
Such vestments may, for instance, be made from cloth of silver
(permitted in the past only for white) or cloth of gold
(historically allowed in place of white, red, or green).
Moreover, the Conference of Bishops may determine and
propose to the Apostolic See adaptations suited to the needs
and culture of peoples.

Medieval colouring schemes

The rules on liturgical colours before the time of Pope Pius X
were essentially those indicated in the edition of the Roman
Missal that Pope Pius V promulgated in 1570, except for the
addition of feasts not included in his Missal. The scheme of
colours in his Missal reflected usage that had become fixed in
Rome by the twelfth century.

Blue
In fact the Church never accepted blue as a standard liturgical
colour. Blue, as a colour associated with the Virgin Mary,
however has been allowed for the feast of the Immaculate
Conception in some dioceses in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and
South America. In the Philippines it is authorized for all feasts
of the Virgin Mary, a practice followed in some other places
without official authorization.

12
There have also been unauthorized uses of blue in place of
violet for the season of Advent, as a symbol of expectation and
hope - “the blue of a new day10”.

Blue in Slavic-use churches11

Slavic-use churches apply a similar scheme as the Catholic
Church, which reserved light blue for the Feasts of the
Theotokos

Blue in Lutheranism
The Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) suggests that blue,
the traditional colour for Advent (with purple being the
alternate), be used for the Advent season, reflecting the
traditional use of blue in the Scandinavian Lutheran churches.
Both the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) and the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), along with
the United Methodist Church use a similar system, but with
purple being the primary colour for both Advent and Lent (with
blue being the alternate colour for Advent only), and the use of
gold in place of white for both Christmas and Easter (in similar
practice to the Roman Catholic Church).

10:
A new day would normally start as a red and certainly not as a blue
coloured sky... (?)
11:
documented in Liturgical colours

13
Blue in Anglican churches12
Because colours are not established by liturgical law in
Anglican churches, variations are common. Notable variations
include the use of blue in Advent and "Lenten array" in Lent,
consisting of unbleached muslin, linen, or burlap (varying in
colour but usually ranging from off-white to beige), with
crimson or black accents.

12:
documented in Liturgical colours

14
The Royals' Colours Red & Blue
Compared to the clerical classes the colour blue has not been
horrifying the non-clerical classes at all. Notably the late-
medieval royals and emperors used to dress themselves in red
& blue combinations. The Hermetic Codex illustrates a great
number of medieval red & blue royal garments. Why did the
royals refuse to consider the colour blue as an evil symbol?

The Investiture Contest

In the Middle Age the royals have always been struggling for
power over the clerical classes. They strove for a maximal
share in financial income, which had to be supplied by the
working classes. In their struggle with the clerical forces the
royals applied all powers they could develop, including the
biblical symbolic colours, which had been defined in the Book
Exodus.
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the
most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval
Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of popes
challenged the authority of European monarchies over control
of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such as
bishops and abbots. Although the principal conflict began in
1075 between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman
Emperor, a brief but significant struggle over investiture also
occurred between Henry I of England and the papacy of
Paschal II in the years 1103 to 1107, and the issue played a
minor role in the struggles between church and state in France
as well. The entire controversy was finally resolved by the
Concordat of Worms in 1122.

15
By undercutting the Imperial power established by the Salian
emperors, the controversy led to nearly 50 years of civil war in
Germany, and the triumph of the great dukes and abbots, until
Imperial power was reestablished under the Hohenstaufen
dynasty.

Male representative of the divine powers

As the popes and the cardinals the kings and the emperors
considered themselves as a representative of the divine powers.
Early emperors and kings had been elected by their soldiers as
the most powerful leaders of the clans. As soldiers they were
male men and therefore their symbolic colour may have been
chosen as the standard colour red for the males.
The Church's leaders of course merely consisted of male
representatives of God, which all have been dressed in red,
which is Adam's colour as a male person13, created as an image
of male God (and therefore coloured red). In the Middle Age
clerical leaders would not (officially) have been married.
Therefore their symbolic colour may have been chosen as the
standard colour red for the males.
In the early Middle Age both the clerical and the non-clerical
leaders may generally have been considering female persons as
inferior as a result for the Eve's sinful decision to eat the Apple.

Inherited divine ancestry

In later eras the kings en emperors decided to inherit their
divine ancestry instead of being elected by the people or the
Pope.

13:
halve of original man, see

16
This however caused some problems in accepting the female
colour blue as a negative symbol.
Although the royals may have shared some of the biblical
symbolism they avoided to horrify their families by merely
accepting male symbols for their status. In fact most medieval
royal families have been forced to accept female rulers in the
course of history. The royals also had to accept the idea of
being born from a female mother and to be married to female
spouses... 14.
The acceptance of blue as a royal symbol for mothers, female
spouses (sometimes probably including the concubines) and
daughters may have been derived directly from the Book
Exodus or by the very need to satisfy the female members in
the royal families.

The Virgin Mary

With a growing adoration for the Virgin Mary the Church also
had to develop a minor acceptance for the colour blue as a
female symbol, which originally had to be restricted for
paintings and sculptures. Blue is still absent in the cardinals'
garments and the clerical coats of arms, which may be analysed
in the following chapter.

14:
These facts largely have been ignored by clerical rulers

17
The Cardinals' Garments
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually a bishop, of
the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the
College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The
duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the
College and making themselves available individually or
collectively to the pope if he requests their counsel. Most
cardinals have additional duties, such as leading a diocese or
archdiocese or running a department of the Roman Curia.

Fig. 5: Cardinal
Wolsey
Cardinal Wolsey (Thomas Wolsey)
(public domain because its copyright has expired)

Clerical Coats of Arms

The coat of arms of a cardinal are indicated by a red galero
(wide-brimmed hat) with 15 tassels on each side (the motto and
escutcheon are proper to the individual cardinal).

18
 Fig. 6: The coat of arms of a
cardinal

Image designed by P. Jaworski ( PioM ),POLAND/Poznań; 14V2005 FDL;

Template of cardinals' coat of arms. Wikimedia Commons, under the terms
of the GNU Free Documentation License,

Papal Coat of Arms

For at least 800 years, each Pope has had his own personal coat
of arms that serves as a symbol of his papacy. In the overview
Papal Coat of Arms most of these papal coats of arms apply
golden and red & blue-combinations.
Though unique for each pope, the arms are always surmounted
by the two keys in saltire (i.e., crossed over one another so as
to form an X) behind the escutcheon (shield) (one silver key
and one gold key, tied with a red cord), and above them a silver
triregnum with three gold crowns and red infulae (lappets—
two strips of fabric hanging from the back of the triregnum
which fall over the neck and shoulders when worn).

19
The Holy See
In contrast to the individual papal coats of arms the coat of
arms of the Holy See excludes the use of blue colours. That of
the State of Vatican City is the same except that the positions of
the gold and silver keys are interchanged.

Fig. 7: The coat of arms of the

Holy See

Image published by Cronholm144

Wikimedia Commons GNU Free Documentation License,

20
Appendix

Colour Codes in the Book Exodus

25: 3This is the offering which you shall take from them: gold,
silver, brass, 4blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
5rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 6oil for the
light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
7onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the
breastplate.
26: “Moreover you shall make the tent with ten curtains; of
fine twined linen, and blue, and purple, and scarlet, with
cherubim. The work of the skillful workman you shall make
them.
4You shall make loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain
from the edge in the coupling; and likewise shall you make in
the edge of the curtain that is outmost in the second coupling.
14You shall make a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed
red, and a covering of sea cow hides above.
31“You shall make a veil of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and
fine twined linen, with cherubim. The work of the skillful
workman shall it be made.
36“You shall make a screen for the door of the Tent, of blue,
and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of
the embroiderer. 37You shall make for the screen five pillars of
acacia, and overlay them with gold: their hooks shall be of
gold: and you shall cast five sockets of brass for them.

21
27: 9“You shall make the court of the tent: for the south side
southward there shall be hangings for the court of fine twined
linen one hundred cubits long for one side: 10and the pillars of
it shall be twenty, and their sockets twenty, of brass; the hooks
of the pillars and their fillets shall be of silver.
16For the gate of the court shall be a screen of twenty cubits, of
blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work
of the embroiderer; their pillars four, and their sockets four.
18The length of the court shall be one hundred cubits, and the
breadth fifty every where, and the height five cubits, of fine
twined linen, and their sockets of brass.
28: 5They shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple,
and the scarlet, and the fine linen. 6“They shall make the
ephod of gold, of blue, and purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen, the work of the skilful workman. 7It shall have two
shoulder-pieces joined to the two ends of it, that it may be
joined together. 8The skilfully woven band, which is on it, that
is on him, shall be like its work and of the same piece; of gold,
of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen.
15“You shall make a breastplate of judgment, the work of the
skilful workman; like the work of the ephod you shall make it;
of gold, of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined
linen, shall you make it.
28They shall bind the breastplate by the rings of it to the rings
of the ephod with a lace of blue, that it may be on the skillfully
woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate may not
swing out from the ephod.

22
35: 5 Take from among you an offering to Yahweh. Whoever is
of a willing heart, let him bring it, Yahweh’s offering: gold,
silver, brass, 6blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats’ hair,
7rams’ skins dyed red, sea cow hides, acacia wood, 8oil for the
light, spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,
9onyx stones, and stones to be set for the ephod and for the
breastplate.
23Everyone, with whom was found blue, purple, scarlet, fine
linen, goats’ hair, rams’ skins dyed red, and sea cow hides,
brought them.
25All the women who were wise-hearted spun with their hands,
and brought that which they had spun, the blue, the purple,
the scarlet, and the fine linen.
35He has filled them with wisdom of heart, to work all manner
of workmanship, of the engraver, of the skillful workman, and
of the embroiderer, in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine
linen, and of the weaver, even of those who do any
workmanship, and of those who make skillful works.

36:8All the wise-hearted men among those who did the work
made the tent with ten curtains; of fine twined linen, blue,
purple, and scarlet, with cherubim, the work of the skillful
workman, they made them.
11He made loops of blue on the edge of the one curtain from
the edge in the coupling.
35He made the veil of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen: with cherubim. He made it the work of a skillful
workman.

23
37He made a screen for the door of the tent, of blue, purple,
scarlet, and fine twined linen, the work of an embroiderer;

38
18The screen for the gate of the court was the work of the
embroiderer, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen.
23With him was Oholiab, the son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of
Dan, an engraver, and a skillful workman, and an embroiderer
in blue, in purple, in scarlet, and in fine linen.

39
Of the blue, purple, and scarlet, they made finely worked
garments, for ministering in the holy place, and made the holy
garments for Aaron; as Yahweh commanded Moses. 2He made
the ephod of gold, blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined
linen. 3They beat the gold into thin plates, and cut it into wires,
to work it in the blue, in the purple, in the scarlet, and in the
fine linen, the work of the skillful workman. 4They made
shoulder-pieces for it, joined together. At the two ends it was
joined together. 5The skillfully woven band that was on it, with
which to fasten it on, was of the same piece, like its work; of
gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and fine twined linen; as
Yahweh commanded Moses.
8He made the breastplate, the work of a skillful workman, like
the work of the ephod; of gold, of blue, purple, scarlet, and
fine twined linen.

24
21They bound the breastplate by its rings to the rings of the
ephod with a lace of blue, that it might be on the skillfully
woven band of the ephod, and that the breastplate might not
come loose from the ephod, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
22He made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue.
24They made on the skirts of the robe pomegranates of blue,
purple, scarlet, and twined linen.
27They made the coats of fine linen of woven work for Aaron,
and for his sons, 28and the turban of fine linen, and the linen
headbands of fine linen, and the linen breeches of fine twined
linen, 29and the sash of fine twined linen, and blue, and
purple, and scarlet, the work of the embroiderer, as Yahweh
commanded Moses.
30They made the plate of the holy crown of pure gold, and
wrote on it a writing, like the engravings of a signet: “HOLY
TO YAHWEH.” 31They tied to it a lace of blue, to fasten it on
the turban above, as Yahweh commanded Moses.

The Second Book of Chronicles

For the people of Israel the temple had been created by
Yahweh, who revealed his plans to his chosen 15. Thus Yahweh
said to Moses:

"And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among

them" 16

15:
Mircea Eliade, In the Sacred and the Profane-The Nature of Religion.
16:
Exodus 15,8-9.

25
And as David is handing out the plans for the temple-buildings,
the tabernacle and all the utensils to his son Solomon he
assures him that:

"all this ... the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand
upon me" 17.

And Solomon confirms to YHWH:

"Thou hast commanded me to build a temple upon Thy holy

mount, and an altar in the city wherein Thou dwellest, a
resemblance of the holy tabernacle which Thou hast prepared
from the beginning" 18.

Although the Covenant Tent and the Temple reveal a

completely different character it may be noted that God's
prescription for the colouring code remains identical to both
David and Solomon. The Second Book of Chronicles reports:

27Now therefore send me a man skilful to work in gold, and in

silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson,
and blue, and who knows how to engrave all manner of
engravings, to be with the skilful men who are with me in
Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.

17:
II Chronicles, 28, 19
18:
Wisdom of Solomon, 9, 8

26
313Now I have sent a skillful man, endowed with
understanding, of Huram my father’s, 14the son of a woman of
the daughters of Dan; and his father was a man of Tyre, skillful
to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, and in
timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson,
also to engrave any manner of engraving, and to devise any
device; that there may be a place appointed to him with your
skillful men, and with the skillful men of my lord David your
father.

27