Liturgical colours

Liturgical colours are specific colours used for vestments and hangings within the context of Christian liturgy. The symbolism of violet, blue, white, green, red, gold, black, rose, and other colours may serve to underline moods appropriate to a season of the liturgical year or may highlight a special occasion.
There is a distinction between the colour of the vestments worn by the clergy and their choir dress, which with a few exceptions does not change with the seasons of the liturgical year.

Roman Catholic Church

Historical information

The rules on liturgical colours before the time of Pope Pius X were essentially those indicated in the edition of the Roman Missal that Pope Pius V had promulgated in 1570, except for the addition of feasts not included in his Missal. The scheme of colours in his Missal reflected usage that had become fixed in Rome by the twelfth century.
Pius X raised the rank of the Sundays after Epiphany and Pentecost, so that on those that fell within common octaves, green was used instead of the colour of the octave, as had previously been the rule; on Sundays after Pentecost that fell within privileged octaves, the liturgical color of the feast was retained.
In its Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, the Second Vatican Council referred only once to liturgical colours, stating that for funeral services, "the circumstances and traditions found in various regions" should be honoured.

Roman Rite

In the Roman Rite, the following colours are used, in accordance with the rubrics of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Section 346:

Color	Obligatory usage	Optional usage
	Sundays and Ferias in Ordinary Time
	Sundays and Ferias of Advent Sundays and Ferias in Lent Liturgies on Holy Saturday Sacrament of Penance All Souls' Day Requiem Masses and Office for the Dead
Rose		Gaudete Sunday Laetare Sunday
White	Christmastide Holy Thursday Easter season Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity Feasts of Our Lord other than those of His Passion Marian feast days Feasts of the Angels Feasts of non-martyred saints or confessors Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter Feast of the Conversion of Paul the Apostle The Nativity of St. John the Baptist Solemnity of Saint Joseph Other feasts of Saint Joseph Feast of All Saints Sacrament of Baptism Sacrament of Matrimony Sacrament of Holy Orders	Votive Masses and other Masses where Green is normally used.
	Palm Sunday Good Friday Pentecost Feasts of the Passion of the Lord Feasts of Martyrs, Apostles, and Evangelists Passion of Saint John the Baptist Sacrament of Confirmation Funerals of Popes
		All Souls' Day Requiem Masses

On solemnities, more precious vestments may be used, even if not exactly of the colour of the day. Such vestments may, for instance, be made from cloth of gold, silver, yellow, or golden brown. Moreover, the Conference of Bishops may determine and propose to the Holy See adaptations suited to the needs and culture of peoples.
Ritual Masses are celebrated in their proper colour or in white or in another festive colour. Masses for various needs, on the other hand, are celebrated in the colour proper to the day or the season or in violet or purple if they bear a penitential character. Votive Masses are celebrated in the colour suited to the Mass itself or even in the colour proper to the day or the season. The colour black may be used, where it is the practice, in Masses for the Dead.

Regional and situational exceptions

Some particular variations:
File:Solemnidad de la Inmaculada Concepción, Valencia, 2014.png|thumb|The Feast of the Immaculate Conception in Valencia Cathedral, 2014

Blue, a colour associated with the Virgin Mary. While blue vestments are common in some Eastern churches, in the Latin rite, blue as a vestment colour may only be used pursuant to a special privilege granted. The permission, sometimes called "cerulean privilege", is of two kinds: one pertains to particular Marian shrines and specifies when blue vestments may be worn. The other type of permission is that accorded to various countries. In Spain, an apostolic indult was granted for the feast of the Immaculate Conception and its octave as well as for votive Masses and Saturdays, when the Office for the Immaculate Conception is prayed and on Marian feasts where there is a related custom. The privilege has been granted to Spain, to certain of its colonies, and former colonies in Latin America by a decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 12 February 1864. It also extends to the Philippines, Guam, and the Mariana Islands, which were still under Spanish rule at that time. The use of blue is also observed in Portugal during certain Marian feasts, although no special indult has been granted. There have also been uses of blue in place of violet for the season of Advent despite the fact that this practice is not authorized under liturgical rubrics.
Gold or silver may be worn on more solemn occasions in the dioceses of the United States.
Permitted use of the 1960 Code of Rubrics

Observance of the rules on liturgical colours contained in the 1960 Code of Rubrics is still permitted in the circumstances indicated in the 2007 document Summorum Pontificum on use of the 1962 Roman Missal, which incorporates them. These rules differ from the current rubrics in the following respects:

Colour	1920–1955 usage	1956–1960 usage	1961–1969 usage
	Ember days Rogation days Vigil of St. Andrew Vigil of St. Thomas Vigil of Christmas Holy Innocents Purification Vigil of St. Matthias Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Palm Sunday Holy Saturday Vigil of Pentecost Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Vigil of St. James Vigil of the Assumption Vigil of Sts. Simon and Jude Vigil of All Saints All Souls Sacrament of Baptism	Ember days Rogation days Vigil of Christmas Holy Innocents Purification Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Palm Sunday Good Friday Easter Vigil Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Vigil of the Assumption All Souls Sacrament of Baptism	Ember days Rogation days Vigil of Christmas Septuagesima, Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Palm Sunday Good Friday Easter Vigil Vigil of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul Vigil of St. Lawrence Vigil of the Assumption All Souls Sacrament of Baptism
Rose	Gaudete Sunday Laetare Sunday	Gaudete Sunday Laetare Sunday	Gaudete Sunday Laetare Sunday
White	Octave of the Immaculate Conception Octave of St. John Vigil of the Epiphany Octave of the Epiphany Octave of the Solemnity of St. Joseph Vigil of the Ascension Octave of the Ascension Octave of Corpus Christi Octave of the Sacred Heart Octave of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist Octave of the Assumption Octave of All Saints Sacrament of Confirmation	Vigil of the Ascension Sacrament of Confirmation	Vigil of the Ascension Sacrament of Confirmation
	Octave of St. Stephen Octave of the Holy Innocents Octave of Pentecost Octave of Sts. Peter and Paul	Palm Sunday Octave of Pentecost	Palm Sunday Octave of Pentecost
	Good Friday All Souls Requiem Masses	Good Friday All Souls Requiem Masses	Good Friday All Souls Requiem Masses

Byzantine Rite

The Byzantine Rite, which is used by all the member churches of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Byzantine Lutheran Churches and the Eastern Catholic Churches of Byzantine Rite, does not have a universal system of colours, with the service-books of the Byzantine tradition only specifying "light" or "dark" vestments. In the Greek tradition, maroon or burgundy are common for solemn feast days, and a wide variety of colours are used at other times, the most common of which are gold and white.
Slavic-use churches and others influenced by Western traditions have adopted a cycle of liturgical colours. The particulars may change from place to place, but generally:

Colour	Common usage	Other usage
Gold	When no other colour is specified
Light blue	Feasts of the Theotokos Feasts of the Holy Archangels	Churches dedicated to the Theotokos may use light blue for the default, instead of gold. In some places, blue is also used for Holy Theophany. In many places, blue is used for the Dormition Fast.
Purple or wine-red	Saturdays and Sundays during Great Lent	In many places, purple or dark red are only worn on the weekdays of the Great Fast, while bright colors are used on Saturdays and Sundays.
Red	Holy Thursday Feast of the Cross Beheading of St. John the Baptist Feasts of Martyrs Nativity Fast Apostles' Fast	Pascha Nativity Feasts of the Holy Theotokos In some places, red is used for the Dormition Fast.
Green	Palm Sunday Pentecost Feasts of Venerable Saints	Feast of the Cross in some places
Black	Weekdays during Great Lent Weekdays during Holy Week	Black is far more prevalent in the Slavic traditions than the Greek tradition, especially in the United States.
White	Pascha Nativity Theophany Other Great Feasts of the Lord	Funerals

The colours would be changed before Vespers on the eve of the day being commemorated. During Great Feasts, the colour is changed before the vespers service that begins the first day of a forefeast, and remains until the apodosis.
Under Western influence, black is often used in the Slavic churches for funerals, weekdays of Great Lent, and Holy Week as a sign of penance and mourning, but in the second half of the 20th century, the ancient white became more common, as a sign of the hope of the Resurrection.