Evidence status: DOCUMENTED modern custom — ancient origin disputed
Midnight in Italy.
Champagne is ready.
Lentils are on the table.
Fireworks are waiting.
And underneath perfectly respectable evening clothes, there may be one more piece of New Year's preparation:
red underwear.
Apparently luck cares about your pants.
The Short Answer
Wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve is a genuine and widely recognised Italian good-luck custom.
Red is associated with luck, vitality, fertility, love, prosperity and protection, making it an obvious colour for a ritual designed to begin the year favourably.
Italian cultural sources frequently trace the symbolism back to ancient Rome, where red carried important protective and prosperous meanings.
But the specific claim that Romans celebrated 1 January by wearing red underwear, which then survived continuously into the modern Italian custom, is much harder to document.
The current tradition is real.
Its supposed unbroken ancient origin should be treated cautiously.
What We Know
New Year's Eve in Italy — La Notte di San Silvestro — contains numerous customs designed to influence the year ahead.
Lentils resemble coins and are eaten for prosperity.
Fireworks noisily welcome the New Year and have long been interpreted as a way of driving away harmful influences.
Old possessions have traditionally been discarded in some southern regions to leave the past behind.
And red clothing — particularly underwear — is worn to attract good fortune.
Italy's official tourism site lists wearing red as one of the country's best-known New Year traditions.
The exact rules vary.
Some say the underwear must be new.
Others say it must be received as a gift.
Some insist it should be discarded afterwards.
Another version says it should initially be worn backwards and turned the right way round after midnight.
If that sounds inconsistent, welcome to folklore.
How It Became a Habit
New Year rituals thrive on symbolism.
They ask a simple question:
what do I want more of next year?
Money?
Eat lentils.
Love?
Wear red.
Good fortune?
Surround yourself with lucky objects.
Red has an enormous symbolic advantage.
It is impossible to ignore.
Across different cultures it has been associated with:
blood,
life,
fire,
sexuality,
danger,
power,
celebration,
and fertility.
Italian New Year folklore emphasises the positive side:
energy, health, love, prosperity and luck.
Putting the colour on the body makes the ritual personal.
Putting it underneath ordinary clothing makes it slightly mischievous too.
The Story Everyone Tells
The standard historical explanation says the custom began in ancient Rome.
Some versions date it specifically to the age of Augustus.
Romans supposedly wore red clothing during New Year celebrations because the colour represented fertility, strength and prosperity.
Later, the colour supposedly moved from visible garments to hidden underwear.
Italy's official tourism site repeats a version of this explanation and dates red New Year dress to the Roman period.
The broader symbolism is believable.
The continuous underwear tradition is harder to prove.
What the Evidence Actually Says
Ancient Romans certainly used red symbolically.
Red could signify status, religious meaning, military power and vitality.
That makes Roman influence plausible within the much longer cultural history of the colour.
But there is a major difference between saying:
red was symbolically important in Roman culture
and:
modern Italians wear red underwear because Romans did exactly the same thing on New Year's Eve.
The second claim requires a continuous historical chain that is difficult to demonstrate.
Modern Italian sources themselves vary in the details they give for the supposed ancient origin.
So:
DOCUMENTED: Wearing red underwear at New Year is an established modern Italian custom.
WELL SUPPORTED: Red is worn because it symbolises luck, vitality, prosperity, fertility and positive beginnings.
PLAUSIBLE: Much older Mediterranean and Roman associations with red contributed to its symbolic power.
DISPUTED: A direct continuous tradition of New Year's red underwear from ancient Rome to modern Italy has not been demonstrated.
The safest conclusion is also the simplest:
the underwear is modern.
The belief in the power of red is much older.
Different Elsewhere
Italy is not alone in giving underwear a New Year's job.
Red underwear is also used for luck or love in parts of Spain and Latin America.
Other countries choose different colours for different goals.
Yellow may attract money.
White can represent peace.
Red can attract love.
The exact system varies enormously and modern social media has added still more rules.
New Year folklore has always been adaptable.
Apparently the underwear drawer is no exception.
Why It Stuck
Because it may be the easiest superstition in this entire section.
Nobody has to climb a hill.
Ring a bell.
Throw anything out of a window.
Or eat twelve grapes before a clock finishes striking.
You simply get dressed.
And if the year turns out brilliantly?
The underwear gets some of the credit.
If the year goes badly?
Perhaps you bought the wrong shade.
Related Curiosities
Why Do Spaniards Eat Twelve Grapes at Midnight on New Year’s Eve?
Why Do We Make New Year’s Resolutions?
Why Are Red Envelopes Given at Lunar New Year?
Why Do We Kiss Under Mistletoe?
Sources & Further Reading
Italia.it — “New Year traditions in Italy” — official Italian tourism overview of wearing red, lentils and other New Year customs.
La Cucina Italiana — Italian holiday customs and superstitions — discussion of red clothing, fertility and New Year's symbolism.
Glamour — international New Year traditions — confirms red underwear as a living contemporary Italian custom while noting uncertainty about its exact origin.
Last checked: 19 September 2026