Why Is International Women’s Day Emblem Purple In Colour?

New Delhi: As opposed to the stereotype of ‘pink’ is for women, when it comes to symbolising International Women’s Day (IWD), three colours, purple, green, and white actually stand in for the worldwide celebration of women’s contributions to society, the economy, culture, and politics.

The colours of International Women’s Day are purple, green, and white, according to the webpage for IWD. The colours got their start at the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), which was founded in the UK in 1908. Green symbolises hope, purple stands for justice and dignity, and white denotes purity. Emmeline Pankhurst established the WSPU, a radical branch of the British suffrage movement, in Manchester in 1903. In a country that had outright rejected it in 1832, the WSPU battled for women’s right to vote alongside the more conventional National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS).

The National Woman’s Party in the US adopted the purple, white, and gold colour scheme. In a newsletter that was released on December  6, 1913, the organisation explained the significance of these hues: “Purple is the colour of loyalty, constancy to purpose, and unswerving steadfastness to a cause. 

The character of our purpose is symbolised by white, the colour of purity, and by gold, the colour of light and life, which represents our purpose as a pure and unwavering torch. The suffragist movement’s banners frequently featured the colour white. Anti-feminists frequently depicted suffragists as ugly and masculine.  Suffragists frequently donned all-white dresses with suffrage sashes in parades to combat the negative media portrayal of women’s rights. These white dresses served as a sign of the suffrage movement’s femininity and purity.