In ancient Roman wedding tradition, the bride’s flame-colored wedding veil was called a flammeum.
The flammeum was a distinctive orange-yellow or flame-colored veil associated with the Roman bride. It covered the bride’s head and formed part of the ceremonial dress worn during the wedding rites. Ancient Roman writers connected the veil with the bride’s transition into marriage and with traditional religious symbolism.
The flammeum is sometimes confused with other Roman garments. A palla was a large outer wrap worn by Roman women, while a stola was a long dress associated with respectable Roman women. Neither term specifically identifies the flame-colored bridal veil. The toga, meanwhile, was primarily a male Roman garment and was not the bridal veil.
Roman weddings included several formal elements, such as the joining of hands, the wedding procession, and a feast. Practices varied by period, social class, and family tradition, so the flammeum was one part of a broader ceremonial system rather than a universal costume rule for every Roman marriage.