On fridays we wear Red Shirt
Red, symbolic of the blood of Christ, has played an important role in Christianity and Christian iconography. Cardinals wear red robes and the color is predominant in public-worship garments and textiles. Adopting the color was also a way for kings in the Middle Ages to show their God-given right to rule. Red became the color of regal majesty and power: Charlemagne wore red shoes at his coronation as a visible symbol of his authority, as did Louis XIV in his official portraitsJan van Eyck, Lucca Madonna, 1437 (Collection: Städel Museum)5. Fortune and ProsperityIn Chinese philosophy, red is one of the colors associated with the five elements of the world: red for fire, yellow for earth, white for metal, black for water, and green for wood. The fire element, and therefore red, is linked to dynamism, leadership, confidence, aggression, and hypersensitivity. When Chinese emperors asked their personal fortune tellers to choose a color that would bring the most prosperity and good fortune to their reign, red was the answer: in the Zhou, Han, Jin, Song and Ming Dynasties it was the royal color par excellence and was featured heavily in royal ceremonies. In this Tang-era painting of Chinese Emperors from the Han to Sui dynasty, eleven of the thirteen Emperors wear red robes, symbolizing their royal power.
On fridays we wear Red Shirt
Yan Liben, The Thirteen Emperors, second half of the 7th century CE (Collection: Boston Museum of Fine Arts)6. Valuable BugsWhen the Spaniards landed in Mexico in the 1500s they discovered textiles dyed vivid red. In Europe, the substances used for to make red dye (madder and kermes) produced a weaker, browner hue. The Aztec’s secret was cochineal, a small bug that was scraped off cactuses, dried, and then crushed. The Spaniards soon set up an extensive trading system to export cochineal to Europe, where it became a (red) hot commodity.Unku with staggered and linear designs, 500 AD – 700 AD (Collection: MALI, Museo de Arte de Lima)7. Raising Red FlagsWorld leaders have used red clothing as a way to showcase their power for hundreds of years. This portrait of Princess Elizabeth I before her accession as Queen shows a young woman preparing to assume her position as a powerful monarch. Her richly decorated red dress and red coif (close-fitting cap) send an unequivocal message of the young woman’s political and moral strength. After the fall of the monarchy, the color red was then taken up by Revolutionaries around the world to symbolize new liberties and freedoms: from French Revolutionaries and their red phrygian caps, to the Bolshevik, Cultural, and Cuban Revolutions.
