It was a memorial where black was not required. It was, in fact, unwanted.
Leading up to Sunday’s memorial for Charlie Kirk, the right-wing figure who was assassinated on Sept. 10, Turning Point USA, the sprawling political organization founded by Mr. Kirk, requested that attendees not wear funereal black. Rather, for an afternoon that was thick with evangelical overtones, their “Sunday best” would be more appropriate with a patriotic bent: in red, white or blue.
The tens of thousands of mourners that filed into State Farm Stadium, in Glendale, Ariz., where the service was held, met that mandate. They arrived, for the roughly five-hour service, in red sundresses and blue golf polos. In short-sleeved white dress shirts with red ties. And in T-shirts printed with “Trump,” with American flags and with Mr. Kirk’s face.
This was a patriotic mélange, with a conspicuous right-wing tilt. The modern conservative moment has, after all, co-opted red, white and blue as its team colors. On Sunday, the organizers behind Mr. Kirk’s memorial didn’t just acknowledge that, they amplified it, by explicitly requesting that one could pay their respects to Mr. Kirk by wearing the colors of the flag he often draped himself in.
The crowd’s discordant degrees of formality also suited this distinct and distinctly American event. Pulled together by Turning Point in 11 days, Mr. Kirk’s memorial service, held in a mammoth football stadium, swung tonally between a political rally, a megachurch service, a recruiting event for Turning Point and a teary remembrance of a husband, father and friend. The differing ways of dressing for this ceremony were themselves a mirror on the many perceptions of what this ceremony should achieve.
Yet, many of the clothes also signified the singular influence of Mr. Kirk. Many wore shirts splayed with the word “Freedom,” an echo of the T-shirt that Mr. Kirk, 31, was wearing when he was shot in Utah. As Mr. Kirk has been reframed as a conservative martyr, this plain-speaking shirt has become a right wing meme, and a ubiquitous piece of merch online: “Freedom” tees are available on Etsy for as little as $8.
For now, as Sunday again proved, the MAGA-style hat remains the preferred wearable medium of the right. The stands were coated in caps splayed with Mr. Kirk’s initials, his last name and “Make America Charlie Kirk,” in unmistakable white font. These caps are currently available on the Turning Point USA website for $39. In the moments before his death, during an event at Utah Valley University, Mr. Kirk tossed MAGA red hats with the Turning Point logo stitched on the side into the audience. In death, he has received his own version.
The Republican elite have long since adopted the steady uniform of their party’s leader, channeling President Trump in their dark blue suits, pressed white shirts and red ties. This day was no different. Moribund rules of solemnity lag behind a desire to show that you are aligned with the team. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump Jr., the political activist Jack Posobiec and Vice President JD Vance all fit this template. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth bucked the uniform slightly in blue ties. Stephen Miller, a White House deputy chief of staff, and Elon Musk, who famously loathes wearing suits, were among those who stood out in standard black suits.
And then there was Erika Kirk, Mr. Kirk’s wife, who has stepped in as chief executive of Turning Point. Dressed in a textural white suit with a black top, Ms. Kirk was the rare speaker showing visible emotion. As she dabbed tears from her eyes, likening her husband’s assassination to Jesus’s crucifixion, her hand passed in front of her glimmering cross necklace. President Trump, the headliner, and the last speaker following Ms. Kirk, took to the stage with his red tie at center, a fitting image on a day when Christianity and conservative politics were a call and response.