Rex is the oldest Mardi Gras krewe still parading and is responsible for many traditions, including the colors of Carnival and the doubloon. Rex Ball, and the meeting of the courts of Rex and Comus, traditionally signals the end of the Mardi Gras season.

Rex was started in 1872 by local businessmen, partly to put on a parade for the visiting Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia but mostly to drum up the economy in a post Civil War New Orleans. While very much a...
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Rex is the oldest Mardi Gras krewe still parading and is responsible for many traditions, including the colors of Carnival and the doubloon. Rex Ball, and the meeting of the courts of Rex and Comus, traditionally signals the end of the Mardi Gras season.

Rex was started in 1872 by local businessmen, partly to put on a parade for the visiting Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich of Russia but mostly to drum up the economy in a post Civil War New Orleans. While very much a private organization and no stranger to discrimination, of the original krewes Rex was the most accessible and the only one to immediately comply with controversial 1991 city ordinance that aimed to de-segregate the old line krewes. Its motto is "Pro Bono Publico"- "For the Public Good".

The tradition of private balls and masked dancing was imported from Europe by the French, who settled the city and ruled until 1763. The ensuing masked Mardi Gras balls (thrown by the "native" Creole population) pre-date the first "official" Mardi Gras ball by the Krewe of Comus, which held its first parade and ball in 1857.

Mardi Gras Balls' roots in aristocracy shine through today as most are private events reserved for the upper society of New Orleans. This exclusivity also plays out in the annual selection of a krewe's "royal court", with the queen and her maids often being society debutantes. In addition to the parading around the ballroom of the royalty, balls also traditionally stage a tableau, a depiction of a scene that is in keeping with the theme of the ball.

Although most balls still hold to a standard of exclusivity, many are becoming more democratic and open, especially the newer "super krewes" such as Endymion, whose invitations can be purchased by the public. While formal attire is still required, the atmosphere of the newer balls is more relaxed than the traditional affairs. For many though, these newer celebrations are no match for the history of the older Mardi Gras balls.
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