How Color in Fashion Has Been Used Throughout History to Display Political Solidarity

In regard to clothing, color has long been used to signify social and political status, and to convey other critical messages. For example, in ancient Greece, deities were depicted in paintings with golden halos and locks, an association with the sun gods that sparked a movement in which people dyed their hair yellow as a way to feel closer to celestial beings. During the Byzantine era, royal families dressed themselves in purple robes, which were highly expensive to produce at the time, as a way to express their societal standing. In the Middle ages, red was thought to be symbolic of the blood of Christ and was worn by kings to pronounce their majestic power and declare their God-given right to rule. Each hue has been used in distinct ways over time, and color continues to be a symbolic tool that can spread deeper, sometimes covert, meanings. This is especially true with the advent of social media, in which information and trends spread rapidly.

This has also proven especially true for marginalized groups. According to Jonathan Square, a writer and historian who specializes in fashion and visual culture of the African diaspora, color is a way to communicate a mood or political view without saying a word, and it has served as a mechanism marginalized people have often had at their disposal. “One may not have access to the press or governmental structures, but you have control over how you dress,” he tells Teen Vogue. Hannah Craggs, senior color editor at trend-forecasting consultancy WGSN, agrees, saying, “Throughout history, color has been used as a tool of self-expression and peaceful protest.”

Square cites “black” and “pink” as two colors that have been frequently employed to convey specific messages. In the 1960s, Bobby Seale and Huey Newton founded the Black Panther party, originally as a way to protect Black people from police brutality in Oakland, California. During that time, the group donned their own “urban militant” uniform, including black leather jackets, black pants, and black berets. The hue is now being used by the Black Lives Matter movement, in which black banners, posters, and T-shirts help spread awareness about issues pertaining to systemic racism and violence toward Black people. Darnell-Jamal Lisby, a fashion historian, scholar and independent curator, asserts further, “The Black Panther party formalized the uniform of all black because it showed a strength and solidarity.”

For the 75th Golden Globe Awards in 2018, black was strategically worn by female actors to support the #TimesUp movement, a response to the Harvey Weinstein case and the exposure of sexual misconduct and gender inequality that is pervasive in all realms of Hollywood. The conscious and serious color choice was a departure from the more traditionally feminine hues and styles typically seen on the red carpet, and served as a way to protest harmful gender inequities.

Regarding this moment, Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology and author of The Black Dress, told the New York Post, “Black has always had really complicated and multifaceted meanings.” Craggs argues the decision also shows how color can be used as “an easy signifier to align with a cause,” and in this case, that cause is steeped in equality and democracy.

In January, women politicians wore white to the State of the Union as a way to honor suffragists, while also making a pointed statement about the landmark number of women elected to Congress. In January 2017, Hillary Clinton wore a white pantsuit to Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. The color speaks to the work of women’s rights activists, such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who donned white while campaigning in the early 1900s, in an effort to portray “purity and virtue,” according to a CR Fashion Book article, “The History of Women Wearing Suffrage White.” The article noted that “as the movement spread, wearing white became an accessible way for anyone to join the cause.”

Baby pink has been associated with the gendering of young girls for the past century, but it was around 2016 that women started to reclaim it, with a viral trend called "millennial pink," which coincided with the continued rise of fourth wave feminism and Hillary Clinton’s presidential candidacy. From the Wing’s light pink interiors to Glossier’s pink products, the color has quickly spread across Instagram and been co-opted by brands aimed at young women, and has come to represent a new kind of modern womanhood: authentic, empowered, and outspoken.

When millions of women and their allies banded together globally for the first Women’s March in January 2017, many wore a pink pussy hat as a message of protest. But Square and other critics believe that the donning of these items inadvertently alienated women and femmes who do not have pink vaginas, or vaginas at all.

Still, Square says, the millennial pink hue has often been worn “by queer and/or male-identified individuals to express a degree of gender nonconformity.”

In the past 10 years or so, green neckerchiefs have become the color of the abortion-rights movement in Argentina. According to Gaba Najmanovich, a journalist and trend researcher based in Buenos Aires, "Though the green scarves were first worn by feminist activists who demanded their right to sexual health, now people of all ages wear the symbol to denote their support of the cause." Additionally, they've become increasingly mainstream, with business owners hanging them from store windows and actors wearing them on television. The neckerchiefs, which are printed with the official logo and claim of the abortion-rights campaign, can be purchased through MercadoLibre or on the city streets.

Throughout history, colored handkerchiefs and bandanas have also been strategically used by the LGBTQ+ community. In the 1970s, the Hanky Code, or “flagging,” became a way to nonverbally explain one’s sexual orientation at a time when gay relationships were still deemed ineligible for marriage and in some states sodomy was considered a crime. In these instances, mostly gay and bisexual men placed the colored hankies in their back pockets as “a subtle way of expressing who they were to the people in their community,” says Lisby. The LGBTQ+ rainbow flag was created in 1978 and has become an iconic representation of acceptance that is still heavily used today.

Color can carry weighty connotations, but the meaning attached to different hues is usually culturally constructed, says Square, which is ultimately a visual language we all take part in shaping. Still, when it comes to spreading significant political or social agendas, color can be an effective and democratic way to transcend access barriers.

However, when certain colors become overused (and commodified through commercial marketing ploys) they tend to lose some of their luster, giving way to the next big color trend — a never-ending cycle. After the viral trend of millennial pink died down, circa 2018, talk of Gen Z yellow rose as the “antidote” to the proliferation of its predecessor, as reported by *Elle* U.K.

Now Craggs believes we’re seeing a reawakening of the serious power and influence color can deliver if harnessed in the right way. “Never has there been such a high level of cultural literacy and an awareness of viral trends, with color playing a central role in this,” she says. With social media feeding the influence of imagery, color will continue to play a key part in fashion activism as a way to bring communities together and spread critical messages across the globe.

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue