‘Be guided by the colours in your choice of dress…we have seven hundred banners in purple, white and green. The effect will be very much lost unless the colours are carried out in the dress of every woman in the ranks. White or cream tussore [a type of ‘wild’ silk fabric with an irregular weave which was fashionable at the time] should if possible be the dominant colour, the purple or green should be introduced where other colour is necessary…You may think that this is a small and trivial matter but there is no service that can be considered as small or trivial in this movement. I wish I could impress upon every mind as deeply as I feel myself the importance of popularizing the colours in every way open to us. If every individual in this union would do her part, the colours would become the reigning fashion. And strange as it may seem, nothing would so help to popularize the WSPU…now everyone has simply got to see to it that everywhere our colours may be in evidence.’ (quoted from Diane Atkinson ed., The Suffragettes in Pictures, p.104).
Women’s History Month colors: The history and meaning behind purple, green and white
Each March in the U.S. and elsewhere, we honor the role women have played in society with Women’s History Month.
“Feminists in the 1970s critiqued the exclusion and lack of recognition of women’s contributions to our society and campaigned for the inclusion of women in our history school curriculum, as well as in other places, like representations of our national history, statuary, public documents (stamps and currency), and portraiture,” Sharon Barnes, Ph.D., associate professor and chair of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at The University of Toledo, tells TODAY.com.
Then a group of women in Santa Rosa, California, took matters into their own hands and celebrated their efforts with a Women’s History Week celebration in 1978. The movement quickly spread around the country and just a few years later, women sought national recognition.
Sure enough, President Jimmy Carter issued the first Presidential Proclamation declaring the Week of March 8th 1980 as National Women’s History Week. The weekly observance continued until 1987 when Congress designated March as Women’s History Month.
Since then, the month of March has gone purple, green and white in honor of the women who’ve paved the way — and continue to do so today. “The use of the colors purple, green, and white to represent women’s history seem have their roots in the suffrage movement in England. They were the colors of the Women’s Suffrage and Political Union (WSPU) from the early 1900s and were brought to the U.S. by American suffragists who worked with them,” Barnes says.
Jennifer York, MS, RN, a doctoral candidate who heads the wellness design division at design firm Stephanie Parisi Studio, tells TODAY.com that the colors were adopted for the first celebration in 1978, then became a nationwide symbol in the years to follow.
Ahead, we dive even deeper into the meaning behind the three (well, four) Women’s History Month colors.
Women’s History Month’s colors and their meaning
White
Historically, white was included as part of Women’s History Month’s palette because it represents purity and equality. The concept of purity was “especially important to contradict the smear tactics of the anti-suffragists, who portrayed suffragists as loose or immoral women,” according to Barnes. However, the symbolic meaning of purity has lost its original value because of its current controversial associations with current depictions of white marking equality, truth and freedom.
“Since the movement’s origins, the color white has been used in association with equality and was used by women’s rights activists,” York says. “As an example, in 1978 to support the Equal Rights amendment, 200,000 women dressed in white marched on Washington D.C. wearing white with sashes in purple and green.”
White is said to calm and comfort us, as well as have an uplifting effect, shares York. “Throughout history, including the women’s movement, white has been worn during important rituals. This color leaves our minds open to possibility and serves to uplift our thoughts and mood.”
Green
Ah, visions of verdant mountains and fertile valleys. “The color green symbolizes hope, new beginnings and growth,” York says.
Generally speaking, the color green represents nature. “There are deep meanings associated with it as it brings one a feeling of being closer to nature thereby soothing stress and boosting our moods.,” York says. “It is thought that it has ancient positive roots due to this association of nature’s cycle of new growth, rebirth and harmony, and the hope of these new beginnings.”
Purple
“In England purple symbolized royalty, loyalty to the cause, and women’s quest for freedom,” Hall writes. In the U.S., however, purple lacks the royal nod.
“Purple is recognized internationally as the color of women and gender equality,” York says, adding that it stands for justice and dignity, and signifies visionary thinking.
Something else to note: York point out that purple is a beautiful mixture of red and blue, which physiologically may have a calming and inspiring effect on body and mind.
What about gold?
This metallic hue deserves mention, too. “Gold was also a popular color for American suffragists. It emerged from their losing battle for suffrage in the state of Kansas in 1867, when they adopted the sunflower, Kansas’ state flower, as their symbol,” Barnes says. “The gold of the sunflower was seen as ‘a beacon of hope’ and was adopted by American suffragists along with the purple and white from the UK movement.”
So, if you like glitz, feel free to accessorize with gold — in addition to purple, white, and green — during the month.
The psychology of color
Colors can influence human behavior and feelings. “Colors come to have symbolic and cultural meanings over time,” York says, elaborating that their meanings can be very individual, culturally determined or have universal application. “They affect us both consciously and unconsciously,” she adds.
In the case of Women’s History Month, “this combination of the uplifting mood of white, calming and inspiring effects of purple, and the feelings of harmony and rebirth elicited by the color green create a dynamic and balanced representation.”
chertsey museum
The Suffragettes made very good use of dress as part of their campaign. They were aware of the power of clothing to make an immediate impression on the viewer. Rather than fall into the trap of resembling the stereotypical, frumpy and un-feminine women’s rights campaigner so bitingly caricatured in the media, the Suffragettes sought to do quite the opposite. For marches they were encouraged to dress in their smartest clothes and to be the epitome of stylish femininity. They also harnessed the concept of dress uniformity to foster comradeship and belonging within the group. The concept of the Suffragette colours was devised by Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence, the co-editor of Votes for Women magazine. Purple stood for loyalty and dignity, white for purity and green for hope. During parades and demonstrations Suffragettes were instructed to wear white with purple and green additions in trimmings and accessories. Ahead of ‘Women’s Sunday’ which took place on the 21st June 1908, the 18th June issue of Votes for Women included a piece on what to wear for the march. It stated:
‘Be guided by the colours in your choice of dress…we have seven hundred banners in purple, white and green. The effect will be very much lost unless the colours are carried out in the dress of every woman in the ranks. White or cream tussore [a type of ‘wild’ silk fabric with an irregular weave which was fashionable at the time] should if possible be the dominant colour, the purple or green should be introduced where other colour is necessary…You may think that this is a small and trivial matter but there is no service that can be considered as small or trivial in this movement. I wish I could impress upon every mind as deeply as I feel myself the importance of popularizing the colours in every way open to us. If every individual in this union would do her part, the colours would become the reigning fashion. And strange as it may seem, nothing would so help to popularize the WSPU…now everyone has simply got to see to it that everywhere our colours may be in evidence.’ (quoted from Diane Atkinson ed., The Suffragettes in Pictures, p.104).
We know that some women showed their allegiance to the cause by wearing small accessories or items of jewellery in Suffragette colours. Ernestine Mills, artist, metalworker and enameller produced beautiful pieces of jewellery for members of the WSPU. Other accessories were also sold to further the cause. The Suffragette sash is the most famous of these, but there was also a silk WSPU motoring scarf. A less obvious choice was the stocking. In the Olive Matthews collection at Chertsey Museum we have a pair of stockings which have been hand embroidered with the Suffragette motto in the colours of the cause. Other pairs of these survive and they may have been sold to raise money for the WSPU. The embroidery is located only towards the ankle, and since women’s skirts were still relatively long, this meant that the wearer could choose whether to reveal her support for the cause or not, depending on the company she was in. The concept of revealing ones ankles was also associated with newer ideas of fashion and dress reform at this time, so these stockings also carry with them connotations of daring and modernity – all qualities that a young suffrage activist might well want to be associated with.
Chertsey Museum
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