Brooke Martin
Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. The celebration is marked by altars, gravesites, and crowns adorned with flowers, candles, and other symbolic items. The colours of these items carry specific meanings, with purple representing grief, pink symbolising happiness and joy, and white symbolising purity, hope, and innocence. While white is a common colour for candles, families often choose candle colours with special meanings, such as purple to signify sorrow and mourning or orange, the only colour said to be visible to visiting souls from the afterlife.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Color of the candles | White, purple, yellow, orange, red, pink |
| White candles | Symbolize purity, hope, and innocence |
| Purple candles | Represent sorrow, mourning, and royalty |
| Yellow candles | Symbol of death, light, and the flames that emanate from lit candles |
| Orange candles | The only color visiting souls from the afterlife can see |
| Red candles | Symbol of blood or the blood of Christ |
| Pink candles | Demonstrate the joy and happiness felt when remembering loved ones |
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What You'll Learn
White candles represent purity, hope and innocence
Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. The holiday features many colours, each with its own meaning and significance.
White is one of the most common colours seen on the altars for the Day of the Dead. White candles are often used to light the way for spirits to visit their families. White is the colour of purity, hope, and innocence, especially when someone has died young. It is also used as the main colour for altars, where people offer prayers for their deceased loved ones. White flowers and flower petals are scattered on the ground to create a pathway for the spirits of the dead to find their way to the altar and share the sacred day with their families.
White is a colour that represents hope and innocence, and it is often used to symbolise the purity of the soul. The colour white is also associated with the idea of new beginnings and a fresh start. White candles are used to evoke these emotions and symbolise the innocence and purity of the souls being honoured. White candles are also used to represent the purity of intention and the hope for a positive outcome.
White candles are often used in combination with other traditional Day of the Dead colours, such as purple, yellow, orange, red, and pink. Each colour has its own significance and is chosen to represent specific emotions and connections with the deceased. For example, purple is the colour of grief and mourning, while pink represents the happiness and joy that people feel when remembering their loved ones.
The use of white candles during the Day of the Dead celebrations is a powerful way to evoke emotions and create a sense of purity, hope, and innocence. The colour white, combined with the warm glow of candlelight, helps to create a sacred and solemn atmosphere during this special time of remembrance and celebration.
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Purple candles signify sorrow and mourning
The Day of the Dead is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. While the holiday is characterised by bright colours, face paints, and dress-ups, the colours used are not chosen arbitrarily. Instead, each colour carries a specific meaning.
Candles play a crucial role in the festivities, burning throughout the celebration and illuminating the way for spirits to visit their families. The flames of the candles are believed to guide the souls of the departed back to the ofrenda, where they can enjoy the food, drinks, and mementos left in their honour.
Families often choose candles in colours that hold special significance. Purple, a colour that signifies sorrow and mourning, is commonly used during the Day of the Dead. Historically linked to Christian beliefs, purple is the colour of royalty. However, when used in the context of the Day of the Dead, it takes on a more unsettling meaning, symbolising the grief and painful mourning that comes with the loss of a loved one. Purple candles are often lit on altars, in processions, and at graveyards, their sombre hue reflecting the sadness of those mourning their departed loved ones.
In addition to purple, other colours commonly used during the Day of the Dead include pink, which symbolises the joy and happiness felt by those remembering their loved ones, and white, which represents purity, hope, and innocence. Yellow, the colour of death, is also prevalent, especially in the form of marigolds, which are used to create pathways for the dead to find their way to altars. Red, symbolising blood and the blood of Christ, is used to decorate gravesies, altars, and crowns, serving as a reminder of the promise of eternal life.
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Pink candles show happiness and joy
Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. The holiday is filled with colours, flowers, face paints, dress-ups, props, sugar skulls, and more. Each colour used during the Day of the Dead holds a specific meaning.
Pink candles are used during the Day of the Dead to demonstrate the happiness and joy people feel when thinking of their loved ones who have passed. The colour pink symbolises the happiness derived from feeling connected to loved ones during the Day of the Dead. You can use pink on your altar and pink flowers woven into your floral crown.
The colour pink is one of the six customary Day of the Dead colours, along with purple, yellow, orange, white, and red. Each colour carries its own meaning. For example, purple symbolises grief and painful mourning, while yellow symbolises light and the flames that emanate from lit candles, which are interpreted as a representation of a deceased soul.
White is the colour of purity, hope, and innocence, while orange is said to be the only colour that visiting souls from the afterlife can see, and red is a symbol of the blood of Christ. Families often choose candles in colours and designs that hold special meaning. For instance, white candles represent purity, while purple signifies sorrow and mourning.
Candles play a crucial role in Día de los Muertos festivities. They are meant to guide the spirits to their final resting place and help them return to visit the living. They burn for the entirety of the celebration, illuminating the way for spirits to visit and spend time with their families.
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Red candles symbolise blood, specifically the blood of Christ
The Day of the Dead is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. The colours used during the festivities are not chosen randomly but carry specific meanings. One of the most common colours seen on the altars for the Day of the Dead is red. Red candles symbolise blood, specifically the blood of Christ.
Over the centuries, Christian beliefs have become intricately interwoven with the original Aztec Day of the Dead. The celebration honours deceased loved ones and features the symbolism of Christ's blood shed for the sins of the world and his triumph over death. Red flowers are often used to decorate gravesites, crowns, and altars. They are a reminder of the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
The colour red is not the only colour with a special meaning during the Day of the Dead. Purple, for example, represents grief and mourning. It is the colour of royalty and has been used to symbolise the suffering that comes with the loss of a loved one. Black, although not one of the main colours, can also be found in some elements of the Day of the Dead, such as La Catrina.
White is another important colour during the festivities. A simple white candle is usually chosen to burn on altars, gravesites, and pathways. The colour symbolises purity, hope, and innocence. White flowers are scattered on the ground to create a pathway for the spirits of the dead to find their way to the altar.
Other colours such as pink, orange, and yellow also play a role in the Day of the Dead celebrations. Pink symbolises the happiness and joy people feel when remembering their loved ones. Orange is said to be the only colour that spirits from the afterlife can see, allowing Mexicans to communicate with the deceased. Yellow symbolises the light of the candles, which represent the deceased soul.
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Yellow candles represent light and the flames are interpreted as deceased souls
Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a vibrant, colourful holiday for remembering and celebrating deceased loved ones. During this time, candles are lit to burn on altars, gravesites, and pathways to illuminate the way for spirits to visit and spend time with their families.
Yellow is a significant colour for the Day of the Dead, with yellow marigolds being a mainstay flower for altars, gravesites, and crowns. The multiple petals of each marigold bloom are easily scattered to create a pathway for the dead to find their way to the altar. The colour yellow symbolises light, and the flames from yellow candles are interpreted as representations of deceased souls.
The Day of the Dead is a time to honour and celebrate the memory and presence of those who have passed on. The candles, or fire, are meant to guide the spirits to their final resting place and help them return to visit the living. The 7-day candle plays a crucial role in the festivities, burning for the entirety of the celebration. Each candle's flame is believed to help guide the souls of the departed back to the ofrenda, where they can enjoy the food, drinks, and mementos left in their honour.
Families often choose candle colours with specific meanings. While a simple white candle is usually the choice, yellow candles are an important alternative, representing light and the deceased souls themselves.
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Frequently asked questions
The different colours of candles used on the Day of the Dead hold different meanings. White symbolises purity, hope and innocence, purple represents sorrow, mourning and grief, pink symbolises happiness and joy, red symbolises blood, specifically the blood of Christ, and yellow symbolises light and the flames that emanate from lit candles, representing a deceased soul.
There are no colours that should be avoided, but black is not one of the main colours used during the Day of the Dead.
7-day candles are traditionally used for the Day of the Dead. These candles burn for the entirety of the celebration, illuminating the way for spirits to visit their families.
In addition to candles, altars often include marigolds, sugar skulls, photographs, and favourite foods of the deceased.
