Mardi Gras 2011: History and Popular Traditions Explained

We know what the Mardi Gras traditions are, but do we really know why we celebrate many of these traditions? Why do we wear the traditional colors? Why do we eat "king cake?" And, seriously, why the beads?

In this piece, we help to explain why we do the things we do on Fat Tuesday and what these traditions mean.

KREWES
Pronounced "crew," a krewe is an organization which puts on a parade or a ball during the Mardi Gras season. The term is said to be coined by the Mistick Krewe of Comus, who were formed in the late 1800s. Each krewe has a captain who leads the planning of parades and building of floats. They wear masks in order to meet in secret.

KING CAKE
A "king cake" is a cinnamon roll style of cake with icing on the top. During the Mardi Gras season the icing is colored and sprinkled with the traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, purple and gold. The cake is named after the three biblical kings. During the Carnival season, many groups will throw weekly king cake parties. The cakes are traditionally fried and filled with anything from cream cheese to praline. As a tradition, many cakes came with a small plastic baby inside. Whoever got the piece of cake with the baby inside had to buy the next cake.

MARDI GRAS MASKS
This tradition is mainly for krewe members. The masks are worn in order for members of each krewe to keep their anonymity. Each krewe has its own traditional mask, and is to be worn on and off the floats. Fun fact: many banks and convenience stores close on Fat Tuesday or require patrons to remove their masks upon entering.

PURPLE, GREEN AND GOLD
The traditional Mardi Gras colors, purple, green and gold, are said to have been chosen by Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia during his visit to New Orleans in 1872. The colors each have a specific meaning. The purple indicates "justice," gold for "power," and green for "faith."

More on Mardi Gras

THROWING OF BEADS
The modern-day man, or woman, would like to know where the practice of women flashing their breasts to receive beads during Mardi Gras began. Historically, beads were thrown from floats as a small gift or toy since the late 19th century. Now, some connect Mardi Gras beads with flashing, but this is not a tradition. The origins of flashing for beads is unknown, however, the city of New Orleans insists that this is not something that is required for women to do. They also claim that this act typically only happens on Bourbon Street.

DOUBLOONS
The doubloon itself predates the Mardi Gras tradition. The story behind the doubloon being tossed has to do with krewes using them in the 1960s as a two-sided coin which had the krewe's emblem on them on one side and information about the krewe on the other. This allowed parade-goers to try and collect the doubloons while learning more about the individual krewes.