# Colors of nuns' habits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 12, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673 "2011-11-12T06:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/1 "2011-11-12T06:37:38Z")
I recently helped a lost nun find her car in a parking garage, and I while I should have asked her then, I was too shy - what the heck religious order wears lavender-colored habits? Google has failed me on this one - any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/2 "2011-11-12T07:33:05Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I recently helped a lost nun find her car in a parking garage, and I while I should have asked her then, I was too shy - what the heck religious order wears lavender-colored habits? Was it something like the [Sister-Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration](http://www.generalatesspsap.com/albums/thrones/4utrecht.htm)wear? (they are known as the Pink Sisters) ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/3 "2011-11-12T13:50:09Z")
No… I’ve done a little more research into the right terminology, and she was wearing a lavender or light purple veil [in a similar style to this one](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_aVq96Ypye4A/TKqx4BOfI8I/AAAAAAAAA_4/WsI_9Urz468/s1600/capt_photo.jpg). [These are pretty close](http://www.wikigender.org/images//thumb/4/4d/Nuns.jpg/250px-Nuns.jpg) to the right look too, but they’re light blue (and I don’t know who they are either - any ideas?) She had no wimple or anything covering her neck, just a dress/habit and a veil on her head. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/4 "2011-11-12T19:40:46Z")
Wimples are very rare any more for any order. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/5 "2011-11-12T22:22:23Z")
I’ve seen [nuns wearing lavender](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kv2PoetiQw), but probably not the one you saw. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/6 "2011-11-12T22:27:41Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’ve seen [nuns wearing lavender](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kv2PoetiQw), but probably not the one you saw. No, no, she was definitely a nun in the more traditional sense. She was a tiny older black lady with a strong accent (not sure where she was from), visiting patients in the hospital - not nearly as _fabulous_ as the sisters you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/7 "2011-11-12T22:30:50Z")
If its anything like karate belt colors, watch out for the ones in black 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2011, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/8 "2011-11-12T23:52:43Z")
OK, you said you’re from MD. I looked up “nuns baltimore”, and found the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Many of them are wearing black, but some of them seem to wear purple, like this one: [http://www.oblatesistersvocations.com/SrAvila.html](http://www.oblatesistersvocations.com/SrAvila.html) It was also an order started specifically for women of African descent, and was concerned with the education of girls of color, so it’s a likely fit for your black nun. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/9 "2011-11-13T01:34:38Z")
When I was being taught by the Sisters of Mercy, the nuns had three habits – navy blue, white and gray – all the same style. Normally the blue was worn by the teachers, the white by the nurses and the grays were, well, I don’t really know, maybe just for a change of pace. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/10 "2011-11-13T02:04:35Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > OK, you said you’re from MD. I looked up “nuns baltimore”, and found the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Many of them are wearing black, but some of them seem to wear purple, like this one: > > [SrAvila](http://www.oblatesistersvocations.com/SrAvila.html) > > It was also an order started specifically for women of African descent, and was concerned with the education of girls of color, so it’s a likely fit for your black nun. I’m disappointed in myself that it never occurred to me women of color were excluded from becoming nuns until relatively recently. How infuriating. Their vocation stories are simple but moving. Thank you for that link. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/11 "2011-11-13T06:16:15Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > OK, you said you’re from MD. I looked up “nuns baltimore”, and found the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Many of them are wearing black, but some of them seem to wear purple, like this one: > > [SrAvila](http://www.oblatesistersvocations.com/SrAvila.html) > > It was also an order started specifically for women of African descent, and was concerned with the education of girls of color, so it’s a likely fit for your black nun. I don’t think the purple is an actual habit. Those nuns seem to just be wearing simple, modest modern clothing, along with their veils. I think many orders do that. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/12 "2011-11-13T16:33:09Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > OK, you said you’re from MD. I looked up “nuns baltimore”, and found the Oblate Sisters of Providence. Many of them are wearing black, but some of them seem to wear purple, like this one: I suppose that could be it, but her veil was definitely a lighter purple. We’re talking lavender, not “Ravens fan” purple. **kunilou** - I didn’t realize that they didn’t always wear the same color! I thought each order had its own uniform and stuck to it. So I guess she could have been from pretty much anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2011, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/13 "2011-11-13T21:45:52Z")
We had some Sisters visiting from India while back. They wore lavender habits. They were such pale lavender that I thought they were white at first. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/14 "2011-11-14T04:21:26Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I thought each order had its own uniform and stuck to it. Well, they have their home and away habits. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/15 "2011-11-14T08:36:36Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > I’m disappointed in myself that it never occurred to me women of color were excluded from becoming nuns until relatively recently. Why should that thought occur to you now? As far as I know the Catholic Church has never made race a condition for entry into the monastic orders. Seminaries, like other schools in the US, may have been segregated, but that’s not the same thing as saying black women can’t be nuns. ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/16 "2011-11-14T12:45:37Z")
> [@drachillix](#): > > If its anything like karate belt colors, watch out for the ones in black 😃 I had occasion to meet a nun in black this past weekend. She’s a very formidable woman. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/17 "2011-11-14T14:57:32Z")
reminds me of what is white black white black white black? a nun rolling down hill. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2011, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/18 "2011-11-14T16:57:05Z")
I saw a nun wearing a lavender habit earlier this year, and, if I had not been at a Catholic site, would have guessed that she was Amish or something similar. She was working there, so I think it is reasonably safe to assume that she was a Catholic nun. ---
**Author:** ![Helenred7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Helenred7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helenred7)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/19 "2018-03-04T13:08:33Z")
> [@Antigen](#): > > I recently helped a lost nun find her car in a parking garage, and I while I should have asked her then, I was too shy - what the heck religious order wears lavender-colored habits? > > Google has failed me on this one - any ideas? Hi did you find out about the lavender nun? Helen ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673/20 "2018-03-04T14:23:44Z")
> [@Helenred7](#): > > Hi did you find out about the lavender nun? Helen Since **Antigen** hasn’t been around since 2014, you might not get an answer fast. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/colors-of-nuns-habits/602673.md?page=2)