A History of Mourning

by Richard Davey

HE following are the accepted reasons for the selection of various colours for mourning in different parts of the world:—

Black expresses the privation of light and joy, the midnight gloom of sorrow for the loss sustained. It is the prevailing colour of mourning in Europe, and it was also the colour selected in ancient Greece and in the Roman Empire.

Black and white striped expresses sorrow and hope, and is the mourning of the South Sea Islanders.

Greyish brown—the colour of the earth, to which the dead return. It is the colour of mourning in Ethiopia and Abyssinia.

Pale brown—the colour of withered leaves—is the mourning of Persia.

Sky-blue expresses the assured hope that the deceased is gone to heaven, and is the colour of mourning in Syria, Cappadocia, and Armenia.

Deep-blue in Bokhara is the colour of mourning; whilst the Romans in the days of the Republic also wore very dark blue for mourning.

Purple and violet—to express royalty, "Kings and priests of God." It is the colour of mourning of Cardinals and of the Kings of France. The colour of mourning in Turkey is violet.

White—emblem of "white-handed hope." The colour of mourning in China. The ladies of ancient Rome and Sparta sometimes wore white mourning, which was also the colour for mourning in Spain until 1498. In England it is still customary, in several of the provinces, to wear white silk hat-bands for the unmarried.