What's the liturgical color today?
Pick a date. The tool tells you the liturgical color and the season of the Western Christian calendar — useful for vestment planning, Sunday school, family devotions, or just knowing where you are in the church year. Calculation uses the Computus algorithm to compute Easter, then derives every season from there.
The five liturgical colors
Violet (purple)
Advent and Lent. Penitential preparation, royalty awaiting the King.
White / gold
Christmas season, Easter season, feasts of the Lord and Mary, weddings, funerals.
Red
Pentecost, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, feasts of martyrs, ordinations.
Green
Ordinary Time — the long stretches between the major seasons.
Rose (pink)
Two days only: Gaudete Sunday (3rd of Advent) and Laetare Sunday (4th of Lent).
How the calendar is structured
The liturgical year begins on the First Sunday of Advent (the fourth Sunday before Christmas) and ends on the Feast of Christ the King (the last Sunday before Advent). Between those bookends are six seasons: Advent → Christmas season → Ordinary Time (after Epiphany) → Lent → Easter season → Ordinary Time (after Pentecost). Each season has a colour that signals its mood — penitential, festive, or in-between.
The dates of most seasons hinge on Easter, which moves each year by the Computus algorithm (first Sunday after the first full moon on or after March 21). Christmas and Epiphany are fixed solar dates. Everything else falls into place around those two anchors.
FAQ
How many liturgical colors are there?
Five core colors are in regular use across the Western traditions: violet (Advent, Lent), white (Christmas season, Easter season, feasts), red (Pentecost, Palm Sunday, martyrs), green (Ordinary Time), and rose (two days only — Gaudete and Laetare Sundays). Black is sometimes used for Good Friday and funerals, but most modern liturgies have shifted to red on Good Friday and white at funerals.
Why is rose used only twice a year?
Rose marks the midpoints of the two penitential seasons. Gaudete Sunday is the third Sunday of Advent — its name comes from the introit, Gaudete in Domino semper ("Rejoice in the Lord always," Philippians 4:4). Laetare Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent, named from its introit, Laetare Jerusalem ("Rejoice, O Jerusalem," Isaiah 66:10). Both are momentary relaxations of the penitential mood, signaling that the feast at the end of the season is near.
Do all Christian traditions use the same colors?
Mostly, yes. The five-color Western scheme is shared by Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and many Methodist traditions. Orthodox traditions use a similar palette but with some variations (blue is sometimes used for Marian feasts; gold often replaces white). Many Reformed and Baptist congregations don't observe liturgical colors at all. This tool uses the standard Western Catholic / Anglican scheme.
What color is Christmas?
White or gold — the same color used throughout the Christmas season (Christmas Day through the Baptism of the Lord, the Sunday after Epiphany). White symbolises light, purity, and joy.
What color is the day of a funeral?
White in most contemporary Catholic and Anglican practice, symbolising resurrection hope. Older practice used black for funerals; some traditions still do. Violet is sometimes used as a middle option. This tool returns the color for the liturgical day itself; individual parishes choose what's appropriate for occasional services like funerals.
Related tools
Read the year by its color.
Kerygma's Seasonal pages pair each major season with Bible trivia from the relevant passages — Christmas with the Nativity narratives, Lent with the wilderness fast, Easter with the Resurrection, Pentecost with Acts 2. Free for seven days.
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