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Why do people wear black clothes to funerals in South Africa?

Is SA the only country where black is worn at funerals? Where does this habit come from?

Public Comments

1. im pretty sure black is worn at every funeral, you are suppost to wear black when your mourning. its just tradition.
2. everybody wears black to funerals.....signs of mourning
3. I don't think that it a typically South African custom. Wearing black clothes or dark colours at funerals dates back to the Roman Empire. The dark colours represent gloom & darkness & sorrow at the loss of one's life. Here's a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mourning_clothes
4. No, most western countries wear black clothes at funerals, though in medieval Europe the queens wore white as mourning. Africans also used to wear white until the Europeans came, when black became the custom. Its a custom that came from the Roman empire and is still prevalent today in the west. Different cultures have different ideas though. Hinduism wears white for mourning, while the Japanese combine white and black for mourning.