KAREN - I am an LDS member and am looking for background information on the significance of the colors 'Green and Gold' in the mormon culture. Long ago there was a yearly social event called the Green and Gold Ball - or perhaps it was Gold and Green. Why was this event given this name?

JOEL - The "Gold and Green" balls were formal dances starting in the 1920's, that a ward or stake would put on for the youth of the Church. The gold and green colors were the official colors of the "Mutual Improvement Association" (MIA), and they used these colors for decorations for the dance.
These colors were chosen in 1922 by Martha Jane Horne Tingey who served the young women of the Church as the second president of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association (Young Women).
Green, stands for youth and growth; gold stands for purity and perfection—combined, they symbolized the young men and women of the Church and their MIA program.
Reference:
SOME THINGS UNIQUELY LDS
Sheridan R. Sheffield, R. Scott Lloyd and Mike Cannon
LDS Church News, 1992
Date: 01/25/92

Return to top

Return to Questions
HOME