A number of inauguration attendees including Vice President Kamala Harris, former first lady Michelle Obama and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton wore a purple dress for Inauguration Day.  

A colour used traditionally as a symbol of bipartisanship — a mix of Republican red and Democratic blue, it sets the agenda of unity for the Joe Biden administration, in a country deeply divided on party lines.

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The colour also has historically symbolised nobility and was a color favored by the suffragettes, in addition to white, Vanity Fair reported.

Violet also has an extra meaning for Vice President Harris, who reportedly used it as a tribute to Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to run for president in 1972 and the first black woman elected to Congress. She often used the colour purple in her campaign fliers.

Also read: ‘Ready to serve’, tweets Kamala Harris after becoming first female US Vice-President

Harris chose a dress from two black designers, Christopher John Rogers and Sergio Hudson — for her Inauguration Day outfit. The designers have previously dressed former First Lady Michelle Obama as well as Beyonce.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of Biden’s opponents during the democrat primaries, was seen at the ceremony with a lilac scarf tied around her neck.