Many people throughout history have attached various meanings, symbols and connotations to wearing red clothing and shoes. The Workers are no exception, and for a time, some Workers were against wearing red, yet the reason remained a mystery.
Criticized for his dark red tie, Brother Worker Harry Brownlee replied that he would stop wearing red ties when the Lord stopped making red roses.
Early Brother Worker Willie Jamieson’s favorite color was red, and he wore a red tie.
Frank Tyson, Overseer of Iowa in the 1970s said he knew that a woman had not professed very long because she wore red shoes. One Sunday Meeting he railed about the scarlet (red) woman (Rev. 17:1-6) where two ladies were wearing red dresses.
Some believed “red is a street girl color.”
The moralistic fairy tale of Danish author Hans Christian Andersen (1808-1875) “The Red Shoes,” which contained Biblical overtones, was first published in 1845. Could this well known book have contributed to the Worker’s decision to ban red shoes? Was their objection due to the connection between red shoes and dancing?
Was it because red shoes were a status symbol that conveyed authority, wealth and power? Red shoes were the height of fashion in Etruscan Rome, some 500 years before Jesus was born. They designated the wearer as an aristocrat, someone who could afford leather colored with the most expensive dye in the Mediterranean. Kings Edward IV and Henry VIII were buried in red shoes, and in 1701, King Louis XIV of France posed for a royal portrait in red heeled shoes.
Could it be because most Popes have worn red shoes? Reportedly, the tradition of red papal shoes goes back to 1566 in ancient Rome, when red shoes could only be worn by the Emperor, the Empress and the Pope. According to a Vatican spokesperson, the Pope wears red because it symbolizes the blood of Christian martyrs. Pope Eugenius II (died in 827 A.D.) made it law for those granted an audience with the Pope to kneel and kiss his red shoes. This law continued until the 1960s when kissing the Pope’s foot got the boot. All Popes after 1566 have worn red shoes except for two, and the current Pope Francis, since March 13, 2013.
Is it because red is the color of love, Valentines Day, roses and carnations?
Or perhaps because red is flashy and attracts the most attention and excitement of all colors?
Is it because red is the color most commonly associated with passion, sexuality, prostitutes, red-light districts and scarlet women?
Or maybe it is because red is associated with the blood of Christ and the sacrifice of martyrs?
Maybe it is because the Antichrist appears in Rev. 17 as a red monster, ridden by a woman dressed in scarlet, known as the Whore of Babylon.
Could it be because Satan is often depicted as red and/or wearing a red costume?
Or perhaps it is the negative political connection in the 20th century, when red was the color first of the Russian Bolsheviks and also of Communist Parties around the world.
Maybe it is because the Pope and Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church wear vivid cardinal red vestments.
While the original reason for the taboo on the color red remains shrouded in mystery—the negative stigma regarding red items (clothing, autos, home decor) has disappeared and the color red is no longer restricted in the 2×2 Church. Even some Sister Workers are wearing red outfits in some worker photographs and many friends own red vehicles.
Compiled by Cherie Kropp