In Greek mythology, red carpets were reserved for Gods.
Gods used it so they didn’t have to touch the grounds that humans walked on.
And there was a belief that a human walking on the red carpet invited a curse from the Gods.
The same belief continued into the Middle Ages (500 – 1500 AD).
In this era, the Catholic Church was very powerful, and it mandated that all art should be about religion.
And in art forms, red was reserved for saints and important religious figures.
Eventually, the Church stopped its mandate that all art should have religious themes.
So, the context in which the red carpet was used also began to expand.
However, the red dye in those days was very expensive because it was made from cochineal insects.
These insects were native to South America, and only the vastly wealthy could afford to get them across to Europe.
So, paintings in this era showed only the religious leaders and royalty walking the red carpet.
The tradition was passed to the people of the US in the 1800s.
The fifth US president, James Monroe, had a red carpet rolled out for him in 1821.
And then, in 1922, for the first-ever Hollywood film premiere, the owner of Los Angeles’s Egyptian Theatre arranged for the movie stars to walk the red carpet.
Soon, most movie premieres began using the red carpet.
And in 1961, it was adopted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the organisation behind the Oscars).
