This week I was talking with Amanda and she shared a piece of liturgical information that I had never heard before, but found incredibly fascinating. So, I wanted to share it with you. It addresses the question: Why do we use blue as our liturgical color in Advent?

And, it’s not just because it is my favorite color!

I think many people wonder why we use blue, when purple is an option and is used by our Roman Catholic siblings in Christ. Like most things related to the church, the reasoning is both pragmatic and theological.

The blue, specifically called Sarum Blue, grew in popularity in Scandinavia and the British Isles. One line of thinking is that it resembles the night sky just before dawn—you will hear many references to the sky during Advent and Christmas. Angels appear, stars lead, and Jesus, Mary, and Joseph flee to Egypt, all at night. This portion of the night, right before dawn, is a symbol of hope and new beginnings. Blue is also the traditional color that is associated with Mary, who without a doubt, plays a pivotal role in the Advent story.

Purple on the other hand, which we are familiar seeing during Lent, is a color associated with penitence. And, while for much of church history, Advent has been seen as a penitential season, it has never taken on the rigors of Lent. Instead, Advent is a time of preparation, a time of preparing ourselves and our homes to welcome Christ into the world. Blue, then, signals a taking stock, waiting, and preparation. It is just like how we see blue as the color around us before the first light of the new day.

There is also an extremely pragmatic reason that some churches use blue and some use purple for Advent. Both colors started out from black. Yes, black was the common color in the Medieval period for Advent and Lent. But how the black was created made all the difference. There were two primary ways that fabric was dyed black and they involved using either blue or purple dye. Blue was more readily available and cheaper in the north (the United Kingdom and Scandinavia), while purple dye was more accessible on the continent. Fabric would be dyed in blue or purple over and over until the color became so dark that it looked black.

However, as the fabric (and vestments) aged, they also faded. The black fabric dyed with blue would fade to a blue color, the black fabric dyed with the purple would fade to a purple color.

And so, as time went by the Roman Catholic Church, centered in Rome, gravitated toward purple for Advent, and the Anglican Church, centered in England, gravitated toward blue. And so the two competing liturgical colors for Advent were born.

Today both colors are seen as appropriate for Advent. However many churches, including Good Samaritan, prefer blue because it is less penitential and allows us to place a greater emphasis on waiting and preparation that is central to this season.