Netflix Spanish crime series Money Heist features iconic red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks — a disguise design with symbolic connotations.

Netflix released "Part 4" of its Spanish crime drama Money Heist (La casa de papel) in April 2020, which sees the group of robbers still wearing the series' trademark red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks. The purpose of the costumes in the narrative is to disguise the true identities of the criminals underneath, and given how iconic Money Heist's costumes have become, it makes sense from a marketing perspective for the show's creators to find reasons to include them in each subsequent season. However, there's also a narrative purpose to including the same costumes in Money Heist season 4, which can be ascertained by exploring what the red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks really mean.

The costumes originate in the first season, or "Part 1," worn by Money Heist's core group of complex characters. Money Heist Part 1 and 2, released in 2017, follows the story of a high-stakes heist of the Royal Mint of Spain, told largely from the perspective of a female robber, codenamed "Tokyo." Considered by many to be a refreshing new take on the heist genre, Money Heist was acquired by Netflix after its initial limited-series run on Antena 3, a Spanish free-to-air TV channel.

Money Heist became Netflix's most popular non-English program, leading the streaming service to order further installments of the series, extending it beyond the original limited series two-part format. Despite the narrative moving beyond the original caper, the eye-catching red jumpsuits and Salvador Dalí masks continue to be the preferred disguises worn by the robbers (even as the membership grows and changes) — the reason for this is largely the symbolic meaning behind the costumes' design.

The Meaning Behind Money Heist's Red Jumpsuits & Salvador Dalí Masks

The red jumpsuits in Money Heist support the show's core theme of revolution. Red is a bold color, often associated with resistance. It's the color of blood, which is likely why it has symbolic connotations with violence, as well as passion. Red flags are commonly associated with revolutionary movements in real-life as well as in fiction — for example, in Les Misérables. The professor, the mastermind calling the shots behind the scenes, even states in season 1 that group isn't just targeting the Royal Mint in order to obtain money — it was an act of "resistance" against "the system." From the show's very beginning, the robbers' ethos has always contained an element of revolution.

There is a national quality to the color red as well. One of the most compelling aspects of Money Heist is its strong Spanish identity, which is part of why the series is so appealing to international audiences. Red is associated with Spain for a myriad of reasons, the most obvious being that it's one of the country's two national colors (the other being yellow/gold). Folklore suggests that the red in Spain's flag relates to its national sport of bullfighting; red is also the color of Spain's signature spices, saffron and paprika. The red jumpsuits are then a metafictional wink to the audience, celebrating the global success of the unapologetically Spanish crime series.

The Salvador Dalí masks similarly serve as a symbol of resistance and national pride on Money Heist. Dalí is arguably the most important figure of the surrealist movement in the early 20th century; although the movement is typically associated with France, Dalí' was Spanish, and spent a significant portion of his life living in Spain. Like all surrealist art, Dalí's work was inherently rebellious — the surrealist movement sought to disrupt the norm. Like the robbers (and their red jumpsuits) in Money Heist, Dalí has become a symbol for revolution.

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