Red underwear is traditionally associated with good luck at New Year's celebrations in Italy. Wearing red garments, especially underwear, is a popular superstition connected with love, prosperity, and protection during the coming year.
The custom is often said to require the red item to be new and, in some versions, received as a gift. Practices differ by region, family, and individual, so it is better understood as a folk tradition than as a rule followed by every Italian celebration.
Red has long carried festive and symbolic associations in European cultures, but the New Year's custom has its own modern Italian form. It is separate from Italy's midnight food traditions, which can include lentils and cotechino sausage as symbols of wealth and abundance. The underwear is not a national uniform and has no official connection to the calendar.