Music

Lady Gaga explains powerful meaning behind show-stopping inauguration outfit and brooch

Lady Gaga departs from a podium after signing the national anthem

Lady Gaga departs from a podium after signing the national anthem. (Caroline Brehman-Pool/Getty Images)

Lady Gaga has revealed the powerful symbolism behind the gigantic gilded bird brooch she pinned to her flamboyant inauguration performance outfit: and no, it wasn’t a reference to the Mockingjay symbol from the Hunger Games, as quite a lot of people thought.

As a nation ravaged by division watched the inauguration with bated breath, Gaga shimmied to the podium in a fitted navy cashmere jacket, a billowing, floor-length red skirt and a striking dove of peace brooch – all custom couture by Italian fashion house Maison Schiaparelli.

It was a dramatic ensemble described by the brand’s creative director Daniel Roseberry as a “love letter to the country I miss so dearly”, according to Harpers Bazaar magazine.

But to Gaga, who sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” into a golden microphone at the swearing-in ceremony of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris on Wednesday (20 January), the oversized pin carried an equally large meaning.

“A dove carrying an olive branch,” Lady Gaga explained on Twitter, accompanied by a close-up photograph of the brooch.

“May we all make peace with each other.”

It remains unknown where the other 999 doves are, however.

In Lady Gaga, Joe Biden found an advocate, ally and friend

Her words echoed many of Lady Gaga’s comments throughout the last few months, where the “Stupid Love” hitmaker positioned Biden as the only candidate capable of unifying a country exhausted by Donald Trump’s chaotic and combative presidency and the coronavirus crisis.

The day before her historic performance, being the first bisexual woman to sing America’s national anthem, activists said, Gaga rallied for peace in a powerful message posted to social media.

Joe Biden and Lady Gaga, both wearing masks, wave while wearing dark coats

Joe Biden and Lady Gaga. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

“I pray tomorrow will be a day of peace for all Americans,” she wrote in the caption, accompanied by an almost angelic photograph of herself in the Capitol.

“A day for love, not hatred. A day for acceptance not fear. A day for dreaming of our future joy as a country.

“A dream that is nonviolent, a dream that provides safety for our souls.”

Gaga and Biden have a longstanding friendship, with the singer campaigning with the Democrat in Pennsylvania – a crucial battleground state that he later won – before performing at his final rally.

But their ties stretch back to Biden’s stint as vice president during the Obama administration. Not only did Biden introduce Gaga at the Academy Awards, but the pair collaborated for a public service announcement to stop sexual assault.

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