Biden-Harris Inauguration: From Kamala Harris To Michelle Obama, Why Were These Ladies Wearing Different Shades Of Purple?

Shades of Purple seemed to be the choice of colour for Michelle Obama, Kamala Harris and Hillary Clinton among others, but it wasn't just an aesthetic coincidence.

New Delhi: What may have seemed like a coincidence, was a carefully made choice. During the Biden-Harris Inauguration on January 20^th 2021, most women were seen wearing different shades of purple - a color used traditionally as a symbol of bipartisanship — a mix of Republican red and Democratic blue — for Inauguration Day.

In addition to that, the colour has symbolized nobility. It was a colour favored by the suffragettes along with white. The color was chosen by suffragettes in 1908, according to the National Park Service, to represent “the royal blood that flows in the veins of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity,” reported the New York Post.

For Vice President Kamala Harris, the colour has an extra meaning, according to a Cosmopolitan report, it was an ode to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president in 1972. Chisholm often used the color purple in her campaign fliers she was also the first black woman elected for Congress under the Democratic Party. VP Harris picked the colours yellow and purple as a predominant theme while she was campaigning.

According to USA Today, Clinton said at the inauguration ceremony, "I did wear purple with a purpose because I knew the theme that President Biden was striking was unity. I thought as you combine red and blue, the way that we are divided politically in our country, you get purple." She added that she wanted her dress to symbolise unity.

Meanwhile, former first lady Michelle Obama wore deep wine purple/red pant suit. Even Senator Elizabeth Warren was seen at the ceremony with a lilac scarf tied around her neck.