Ku Klux Klan regalia and insignia

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The costume of the Ku Klux Klan is perhaps the most distinctive feature of that organization, and is recognised worldwide. It is sometimes known as the 'Glory Suit' by those who wear it, and many pejoratives by the Klan's numerous opponents.

Early KKK costume, 1871. (Three KKK prisoners members captured in Tishomingo County, Mississippi) Note that none actually wears white, nor pointed hoods.

[edit] Origins

The origins of the use of the costume are unclear, but it does seem certain that it was originally intended to be some kind of disguise. Although the organization has no relationship with Spain, the contemporary white gown with a cone hat follows the Spanish Roman Catholic "Nazareno" tradition, where such garments have been commonly used since time immemorial in festivities such as the Holy Week symbolizing the act of penance. In Spain and former colonies the pointed hat is called "Capirote".

It has been stated that the novels of Sir Walter Scott and others influenced the organisation in various ways—for example, in the use of the Fiery cross—so they may have also influenced the KKK's costume.

There are a number of explanations given as to what it represents:

• The ghosts of the Confederate troops in the American Civil War.

• The white represents the white race, reflecting the racist ideals of the organization.

• The pointed hood also resembles that of a medieval executioner (although this was usually black, and that of grand inquisitor.)

• The red cross on the white costume, and the horse resembles that of crusaders.

• The costume was similar in design to those worn by the Spanish Inquisition, with the exception of the hood.

• The white outfit may also be reflective of supposed Druid costume.^[1]

Because of the symbolism and appearance of these costumes, superstitious blacks in the South thought KKK night riders were the actual ghosts of Confederate soldiers, riding their horses out of Hell to find a drink of water.^{[citation needed]}

The KKK's own militaristic origins in the Civil War also played a part in developing, and turned the Klan into a Proto-Fascist organization (true Fascism did not arise for several decades, and then in Europe).

Poster for The Birth of a Nation, which played on the 'Crusader' image

[edit] Development

The film The Birth of a Nation helped to fix many of the elements of KKK dress, and regalia. However, notably the film also shows the Klansmen wearing a variety of costumes, and there is far less 'standardisation'. For example, rather than the well known conical hats, the film shows a number of Klansmen in what are effectively 'flat' hoods, with a pole sticking up.

Earlier costumes were also not necessarily white, but various colours. White eventually became the standard colour, although higher ranks also use costumes which are not.

[edit] Insignia

There is some argument about the KKK's logo, the Mystic Insignia of a Klansman (MIOAK), or blood drop cross. While some sources state that it was originally a saltire (X) reflecting the Confederate flag, and the St Andrew's Cross, others say that it was never slanted (+). If the Crusader influence is authentic, then the latter may be true.

The red background, and the red drop, almost definitely represents spilt blood, but there is some argument as to where this came from too. A few of the explanations include:

• Blood spilt by the South in the American Civil War.

• The blood of the white race.

• Blood of some unnamed female victim of a supposed crime, a view supported by the film A Birth of a Nation.

• The Blood of Christ at the crucifixion

1928 regalia, on show in Washington, DC

[edit] Present day

The current organization has splintered, but a number of successor organizations use what is effectively similar costume. The major factions currently include the Imperial Klans of America, the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, and the Knights of the White Camelia

[edit] Popular culture

The Ku Klux Klan costume has appeared in several modern day cultural references, some comical and others slighty more serious. Examples include:

• The character Eric Cartman in the TV series South Park appears to be dressed as a Klansman for Halloween when his principal makes a ghost costume with a pointed hood (Ironically, she does so to provide a replacement for Cartman's Hitler costume). One of the show's black characters, Chef (voiced by Isaac Hayes), later screams and runs away when seeing Cartman, prompting the response "Wow, Chef's really scared of ghosts, huh?".
• In Kanye West's video for Jesus Walks there is a Klansman building a cross, then lighting it and carrying it burning. When the rain douses the flame he takes off his hood to realize that he is now a black man.
• In a different episode of South Park, the people of South Park wear white robes with pointed hoods to try and scare off the 'rich people' (who are incidentally all black) by 'dressing as ghosts'. They also burn 'lower case letter Ts' in their gardens, which is supposed to stand for 'Time to leave'. This is an obvious reference to the KKK.
• The British science fiction program The Tomorrow People displayed an alien known as "The Spidron" whose white robes and hood strongly resembled those of a Ku Klux Klansman.
• The science fiction series Quantum Leap had the main character Sam Beckett encountering the KKK several times in his time travel journeys, and at least once becoming a Klansman himself and wearing the KKK robes.
• The mini-series Roots contains a scene where a Confederate veteran is shown inventing an early KKK robe by accidentally burning two holes in a cloth sack with a cigar.
• The film The Klansman features a young O.J. Simpson donning KKK uniform to assassinate a KKK member.
• The film Blazing Saddles features Cleavon Little, the sheriff, and Gene Wilder, a gunslinger, posing as Klansmen in order to join the gang of villain Hedley Lamar. The joke is that Little is black, and Wilder is Jewish.
• The Austin Powers films regularly feature a Jerry Springer type show. In one instance, where the topic is "My father wants to take over the world", Dr. Evil sits beside a KKK robed guest.
• An episode of The Simpsons (episode 2F01, "Itchy and Scratchy Land") briefly featured a minor character known as Ku Klux Klam. Incidentally the Ku Klux Klam is also wearing white.
• Scary Movie 3 featured a white rapper who puts up a jacket hood unintentionally in the style of a pointed KKK hood and flashes the Klan salute in a rap club where most of the people were black. They then threw him out of a window.
• The film O Brother, Where Art Thou? contains a scene at a KKK rally. The characters played by George Clooney, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Turturro stumble across the rally, where their black companion earlier in the film is about to be lynched. Disguised as Klansmen, the men try to rescue the black man, but John Goodman, playing a Klansman with one blind eye (with a hood with one eyehole) smells them and rats them out. All four men escape after snapping the cables propping up the fiery cross, making it fall down on top of Goodman. The rally is depicted as a Busby Berkely-style choreography, while the scene is set similar to that of The Wizard of Oz, with the Klansmen in the role of the Wicked Witch of the West's guards.
• The April 15, 2006 episode of FOX's MADtv featured Jordan Peele playing Morgan Freeman pitching a show about himself growing up in Mississippi in the 1940s (styled after UPN's Everybody Hates Chris). We see young Morgan confronting Klansmen at his family's shack. After Morgan gives a stirring speech that moves the Klansmen, they conclude that "the colored boy has a presence," but proceed to burn down his house.
• Playwright Larry Shue's 1983 comedy The Foreigner revolves around Charlie, a shy Englishman, and his accidental discovery of a plot by local Klansmen to appropriate a young woman's inheritance money to fund their endeavours. As the Klansmen believe Charlie is a 'foreigner' from a non-English-speaking country, he becomes a secondary target of their criminal acts. The play climaxes in a showdown between Charlie and the Klansmen, who at this point are dressed in Klan regalia.
• The film Forrest Gump featured a man (played by Tom Hanks) named after Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. The film shows Nathan Bedford Forrest riding a horse in Klan regalia.
• A scene from the Rock Opera Pink Floyd: The Wall contains Neo-Nazis dressed in regalia similar to both Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan.
• British sci-fi comedy Red Dwarf's main character, Lister, wears kneepads with the KKK emblem (The White Camellia) on them. The irony is Lister is black.
• The Joy Division video for Atmosphere appears to show several figures of similar apperarnce to the KKK.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Because of this association, modern American Druid groups explicitly outlaw the wearing of white hoods that cover the face by their members, though white robes are still allowed, as they are associated with priesthoods in general in Western society.[2] Some druids still wear cloaks with hoods, but the face is visible, and the hood is not pointed. British druids are also known to wear hoods, but again they do not cover the face. Druid organizations also have laws forbidding racial discrimination in determining membership.