See also: Red letter day (disambiguation)
A red letter day (sometimes hyphenated as red-letter day or called scarlet day in academia) is any day of special significance.
The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics. The First Council of Nicaea in 325 decreed the saint's days, feasts and other holy days, which came to be printed on church calendars in red. The term came into wider usage with the appearance in 1549 of the first Book of Common Prayer in which the calendar showed special holy days in red ink.
Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red colour instead of black.
On red letter days, judges of the English High Court (Queen's Bench Division) wear, at sittings of the Court of Law, their scarlet robes (See court dress). Also in the United Kingdom, other civil dates have been added to the original religious dates. These include anniversaries of the Monarch's birthday, official birthday, accession and coronation.
In the universities of the UK, red letter days are called scarlet days. On such days, doctors of the university may wear their scarlet 'festal' or full dress gowns instead of their undress ('black') gown. This is more significant for the ancient universities such as Oxford and Cambridge where academic dress is worn almost daily; the black undress gown being worn on normal occasions as opposed to the bright red gowns. Since most universities now only use academic dress on graduation day (where doctors always wear scarlet), the significance of scarlet days has all but disappeared.
In Sweden and South Korea and some Latin American countries, a public holiday is typically referred to as "red day" (röd dag, 빨간 날), as it is printed in red in calendars.
In the movie Aladdin, Princess Jasmine sings the lyric "...every moment red letter..."
eHarlequin.com - For Women Who Love to Read
RED DRESS INK. Red Dress Ink Books; Red Dress Ink eBooks; LUNA. LUNA Books; LUNA eBooks ... It's no surprise that I absolutely love this time of year! I love the decorations.
Amazon.com: red dress ink
A community about red dress ink. Tag and discover new products. Share your images and discuss your questions with red dress ink experts.
eHarlequin.com - Red Dress Ink
Fun, flirty and hip! If that sounds like you, then you'll love our Red Dress Ink books. Read these sexy, funny stories that follow the struggles of dating, careers and romance in ...
Fishbowl (Red Dress Ink (Numbered Paperback)): Amazon.co.uk: Sarah ...
Usually dispatched within 3 to 4 weeks. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Milkrun (Red Dress Ink (Numbered Paperback)): Amazon.co.uk: Sarah ...
Usually dispatched within 3 to 4 weeks. Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk. Gift-wrap available.
Powell's Books - Love Like That (Red Dress Ink Novels) by Amanda Hill
Now that quick-witted and impulsive 25-year-old Dalton is engaged to charming and intellectual Roman, she figures she should temper her penchant for dive bars, abuse of her mother ...
Powell's Books - The Jinx (Red Dress Ink Novels) by Jennifer Sturman
In this sequel to "The Pact," investment banker/detective Rachel Benjamin heads to Boston, where she plans to squeeze in quality time with her promising new boyfriend. Things ...
Red Dress Ink
Romance Writing Bookstore - Red Dress Ink
Red Dress Ink
Red Dress Ink | eHarlequin.com Community
Montana Territory, 1882. High-school sweethearts defy time and class with An Enduring Love.