As Queen Elizabeth II's funeral approaches, we know that mourners will be most likely be wearing black, but have you ever stopped to think why it is we think black is a mark of respect to the dead? For centuries, mourners in the Western world have opted for black as their colour of choice to pay respect to the person who has died, and it just seems to be an accepted tradition now.
In fact, wearing black to funerals dates as far back as the Ancient Romans who would wear a dark-coloured toga known as a toga pulla because it was different from their everyday clothing and would show outwardly that they were in mourning.
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As the Roman Empire spread out across Europe, the tradition stayed with them, and other cultures adopted this way of mourning.
Then, during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, black mourning attire was worn by only aristocrats and royals, and they would wear dark clothing for both personal losses as well as general loss.
All mourning dress was heavily regulated to fit a strict dress code to ensure it was appropriate, and in some countries in Europe, widows were expected to wear mourning attire for the remainder of their lives.
Perhaps the most notable show of mourning dress though was Queen Victoria. After the death of her beloved husband Prince Albert in 1861 she only wore black clothing for the rest of her life, creating a trend among all social classes to wear black due to the intense mourning period. Prior to that event, it was only aristocrats and royals who would wear black when they were mourning.
Around this time, if people could not afford new black clothing, they would dye the clothes they already had a darker colour.
After Victoria mourned her husband for the rest of her life, widows were expected to enter a period of mourning for two and a half years, after which they could begin wearing subtle shades of other colours.
Then, after World War One, the standards of mourning were phased out due to the number of lives which were lost. The length of mourning, and strict dress codes, wore off.
These days, it is still commonplace to opt for a black outfit when mourning someone, but the rules are far less strict. Notable figures who have been queuing to pay their respects to the Queen such as Prime Minister Liz Truss and former PM Theresa May have been wearing black to outwardly show their sadness at the monarch's death.
As we prepare for the Queen's funeral on Monday, September 19, we can expect people to be wearing dark clothing, much like they were during the funeral of Prince Philip in 2021.
You can now buy the historic Daily Mirror commemorating the death of the Queen here: mirror.co.uk/commemorative
