Mardi Gras colors are purple, green, and gold, right? Wrong. Well, sort of wrong.

When celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, feel free to drape yourself head to toe in all three colors. But if you’re celebrating Mardi Gras in Mobile (and you really should be), then be aware that the city only officially sanctions two colors — purple and gold.

If that just made you drop your MoonPie, dust it off, and I’ll explain what happened to green.

A brief history of Mardi Gras (one version, anyway)

Ask any Mobilian where Mardi Gras began, and they’ll tell you that the Port City is the birthplace of this sacred revelry.

In 1699, French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville arrived on the Gulf Coast, seeking the mouth of the Mississippi River...