Reformist candidate Mohsen Mehr-Alizadeh announced that he had chosen the colour black to represent his campaign, as a symbol of his empathy with Iranians who have died of COVID. Black also holds significance in Shi’ism as a colour of mourning for holy figures. The use of colours to represent campaigns has increased in elections in recent decades, with most notable examples being purple representing Hassan Rouhani’s campaign in 2013, and, more controversially, green representing Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s campaign in 2009.