The Carnival celebration that commences on or after the Three Kings Day and culminating the day before Ash Wednesday, Mardi Gras reflects the practice of feasting before the Lenten season’s fasting begin. People say that masks and Mardi Gras go hand-in-hand like jelly and peanut butter as you cannot distinguish one without the other. Adding an element of mystery, the Mardi Gras masks build a significant amount of enamour when worn, either covering the wearer’s whole face or even just the eyes. For centuries the Mardi Gras masks are worn by people of diverse societies and are used for rituals, celebrations, or even performing arts purposes. The original purpose of any Mardi Gras mask is to protect the wearer from revealing his or her identity to others. Men who used to visit door-to-door singing, dancing, and begging for offerings in pursuance of making a communal gumbo, wear these type of masks.
If you observe carefully, you would notice that any traditional Mardi Gras mask contains three colors: green, purple, and gold and they have its own significance. The color green symbolizes faith, purple signifies justice, and gold represents power. These masks were worn in the beginning to escape from the societal class restraints by not revealing the identity in front of others. The carnival goers wearing the Mardi Gras mask used to be free and could mingle with any class of people they wished to mix with, thus, eliminating the fear of the lower class mingling with the upper and even vice versa.
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