Trending 21st January 2021 by Denise Curtin

The Meaning Behind The Colour Purple Dominating The Biden-Harris Inauguration

There's a reason why you've been seeing this shade all week.

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The most notable female politicians in Washington DC donned the colour purple at the 46th presidential inauguration this week – seeing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take up their positions as President and Vice President of the United States.

From Hilary Clinton to Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and Jill Biden – who wore purple on Trump’s last day, purple dominated the inauguration, with the ladies choosing to wear the colour head-to-toe.

And as you can imagine, it’s not a vast coincidence. The colour purple is one which has been noted as the “bipartisan colour” – merging blue, the colour of the Democratic party and red, the colour of the Republican party, giving you purple.

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A symbol of unity, Joe Biden put it so well in his speech on Wednesday, January 20, as he became president by saying:

“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge. And unity is the path forward. And we must meet this moment as the United States of America.”

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Purple is a colour that has been worn previously for this exact same reason, notably, in 2010, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and House Nancy Pelosi all wore co-odinating purple outfits when President Obama gave his State of Union address.

For Wednesday’s inauguration, incoming First Lady Jill Biden wore a blue wool tweed coat and dress by Alexandra O’Neill, who founded her label Markarian in 2017.

The new Vice President, Kamala Harris, wore a purple coat and dress by Christopher John Rogers.

Former First Lady Michele Obama wore a purple Sergio Hudson sweater and pants with a cashmere coat and a signature Sergio Hudson belt to finish the look.

While finally, former First Lady and former secretary of state, Hilary Clinton wore a bright purple pantsuit with a matching scarf by Ralph Lauren.