What color comes to mind when you think of death? What color should you wear to a funeral? Well, it depends on where you live. Americans have traditionally used black to symbolize death and grief, a tradition brought to these shores from Europe. In the Victorian era, people routinely hung a black wreath on the door at the time of a loved one’s death to symbolize the loss. Widows in mourning would wear black for months on end. If a widow dared to defy this custom, her reputation would surely be ruined. However, in recent years, Americans have tossed the color of those widow weeds aside and now, just about any color is acceptable to wear to a funeral. The most important issue when it comes to dressing for a funeral is that the clothes worn are tasteful. Likewise, nowadays, hearses come in a variety of colors. No longer are they the staid, dire black of yesterday, and many funeral homes use white exclusively for their funerary vehicles.
Surprisingly, black has never represented death or grief in China. The Chinese, and other Asian countries, have traditionally depicted death with white and still wear white to funerals. Why white? Because white depicts the pallor of someone who’s ill, and, of course, the color of the corpse. It also symbolizes the color of bones, an important factor since the Chinese generally cremate their deceased. Black, on the other hand, was used in Europe because it symbolizes the absence of light–the stillness of the nighttime–the unknown.
However, Americans and Europeans have also used white for tombstones which are often decorated with ornamental white doves representing eternal peace.
