The Liturgical Colour Guide

Liturgical colour is one of the few things in church life that is both highly visible and easily got wrong. This guide sets out the Western sequence as it is kept in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Lutheran traditions, notes where those traditions differ, and points to the vestments for each.

If you are building a set from nothing, the order most parishes follow is green first, then violet, then white, then red. Green is worn for more Sundays of the year than every other colour combined, so it is the one that wears out first and the one worth buying best.

Green — Ordinary Time

Green is worn through Ordinary Time: the weeks after the Baptism of the Lord until Lent, and the long stretch from Pentecost to Advent. In practice that is well over half the liturgical year.

Because green sees the heaviest use, it deserves the most durable cloth you can afford. A woven damask or a good worsted will hold its shape through weekly wear and regular pressing in a way that a lightweight lining silk will not. See our Ordinary Time vestments, where every green vestment we make is gathered.

Violet — Advent and Lent

Violet is the colour of preparation and penitence, worn through Advent and through Lent. In the Roman Rite it may also be used for Masses and Offices for the Dead, and it is the usual colour for the sacrament of Penance.

Rose

Rose vestments may be worn on two Sundays a year: Gaudete, the third Sunday of Advent, and Laetare, the fourth Sunday of Lent. They are optional, and many parishes never own a set — but where they are kept, they are a small and genuine mark of a well-appointed sacristy. Our rose pieces sit among the Advent vestments and the Lent vestments.

Blue in Advent

Blue is not a colour of the Roman Rite, but it is widely used in Advent by Anglican and Lutheran parishes, partly on the authority of the Sarum Use and partly to distinguish Advent visibly from Lent. If your parish keeps blue Advent, say so when you order and we will make to that rather than to violet.

The Lenten array

Some Anglican parishes keep the Sarum custom of an unbleached linen or sackcloth “Lenten array” in place of violet, often with orphreys in oxblood or black. It is a striking and historically grounded option; if your parish keeps it, write to us before ordering.

See our Advent vestments and Lent vestments, or every violet vestment together.

White and gold — Christmas, Easter and the festivals

White is worn through the Christmas and Easter seasons; on feasts of the Lord other than those of his Passion; on feasts of Our Lady, of the angels, and of saints who were not martyrs; on All Saints; and at the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Chair of St Peter and the Conversion of St Paul. It is also the usual colour for baptisms and weddings, and in many places for funerals.

Gold or silver may stand in for white on the greatest solemnities, and in the Roman Rite gold may replace red or green on solemn occasions as well.

See our Christmas vestments, Easter vestments and Marian feast vestments; or browse the cloth itself in white and ivory and in gold.

Red — Pentecost, the Passion and the martyrs

Red carries two quite different meanings, which is why it turns up at opposite ends of the year. It is the colour of fire, worn at Pentecost and at Confirmation; and it is the colour of blood, worn on Palm Sunday, on Good Friday, on feasts of the Lord’s Passion, and on the feasts of the apostles, the evangelists and the martyrs.

A deep cardinal red serves both better than a bright scarlet. See our Pentecost vestments and Holy Week vestments, or every red vestment together.

Black

Black may still be used for Masses and Offices for the Dead, and on All Souls’ Day. Practice varies a great deal: many parishes have moved to white or violet for funerals, while others have deliberately returned to black. Both are permitted in the Roman Rite. See our black vestments and our funeral and memorial vestments.

Where the traditions differ

• Advent — violet in the Roman Rite; violet or blue in Anglican and Lutheran use.
• Lent — violet in the Roman Rite; violet or the unbleached Lenten array in Anglican use.
• Holy Week — red on Palm Sunday and Good Friday in the Roman Rite; some Anglican parishes keep the oxblood “Sarum red” through the whole week.
• Funerals — black, violet or white, depending on the tradition and the parish.
• Eastern traditions — the Byzantine and Oriental Churches follow their own quite separate schemes, which this guide does not cover. Tell us your usage and we will work to it.

Building a set in order

A complete set for one colour usually means a chasuble, a matching stole, a dalmatic if you have a deacon, and the altar hangings — frontal, pulpit and lectern falls, burse and chalice veil — in the same cloth.

Cloths are woven in runs, and a run eventually ends. If you intend to complete a set over several years, tell us at the first order and we will reserve cloth from the same bolt where we can, or record the reference so the later pieces match. If you are unsure what any of these garments are, our glossary of vestments explains each one.

This guide describes common practice and is offered as a general reference. Where your bishop, diocese or denomination directs otherwise, follow that.

Further reading in the Journal

For the longer, fully sourced versions of what is summarised here, see these guides. The Clergy Couture Journal is our reference site, written by the workroom and kept separate from the shop.

• Liturgical Colours by Season and Tradition: A Comparative Chart
• Is Advent Purple or Blue? What Each Tradition Actually Does