The dress of cardinals It is extremely recognizable due to the typical color bright red. This does not represent only an aesthetic and symbolic choice that represents the availability of martyrdom, but also hierarchical: who wears it immediately identifies as a cardinal, unlike for example of the bishopswhich typically dress for viola – or rather, of “paonazzo“. Unlike what often reported the red used is not to be confused with the purple, which instead has a darker shade. Precisely for this reason, in fact, this is the insiders of the ecclesiastical tailors indicate this color as “cardinal red“or”pans” – which derives from the French word puceau Which is for poppy red, a very alive shade. The galero is the characteristic cardinal hat: a round red felt headdress, conferred by the pope at the time of the appointment in Cardinal.
There Choice of red color It has its roots in history: since the time of the Phoenicians the realization of this color was a lot expensive And precisely for this reason it was associated only with the highest positions of the state. According to the Bible, during the passion of Christ he was thrown on his shoulders a scarlet cloak just as a contempt sign towards his divine descent. The red of the Cardinals – probably adopted in a period between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance – would resume this symbolism, indicating the dedication and sacrifice of the accelesiastical for the Church.
This is also confirmed by the words of Pope Benedict XVI On the occasion of the creation of new cardinals the November 24, 2007:
Dear brothers, becoming part of the College of Cardinals, the Lord asks you and entrusts you with the service of love: love for God, love for his church, love for brothers with a maximum and unconditional dedication, Usque to Sanguinis Effusionem, (up to the bloodshed), that is, up to martyrdom, as stated in the formula for the imposition of the cap and as the red color of the clothes he wore.
There are different variants of this dress and the more recognizable one is undoubtedly the choral one, made up of:
- red (i.e. the cassock);
- red band;
- Rocchetto Bianco with lace (i.e. the above);
- red mozzette (i.e. the cape brought to the shoulders);
- Pettoral cross;
- skullcap And Rossi cap.
There are also variants, such as the one with black or white tale but with red hem.
