A red carpet is traditionally used to mark the route taken by heads of state on ceremonial and formal occasions, and has in recent decades been extended to use by VIPs and celebrities at formal events.

The earliest known reference to walking a red carpet in literature is in the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, written in 458 BC. When the title character returns from Troy, he is greeted by his wife Clytemnestra who offers him a red path to walk upon:

Now, dearest husband, come, step from your chariot.
But do not set to earth, my lord, the conquering foot
That trod down Troy. Servants, do as you have been bidden;
Make haste, carpet his way with crimson tapestries,
Spread silk before your master's feet; Justice herself
Shall lead him to a home he never hoped to see.

Agamemnon, knowing that only gods walk on such luxury, responds with trepidation:

I count it dangerous, being mortal, to set foot
On rich embroidered silks. I would be reverenced
As man, not god. The praise of fame rings clear without
These frills and fancy foot-rugs;

Renaissance paintings often show rugs and carpets in oriental patterns, with red often the main background colour, laid on the steps to a throne, or on a dais where rulers or sacred figures are placed.

A red carpet was rolled out to welcome the arrival of United States president James Monroe in South Carolina in 1821. In 1902, the New York Central Railroad began using plush crimson carpets to direct people as they boarded their 20th Century Limited passenger train. This is believed to be the origin of the phrase "red-carpet treatment".

By the late 1920s the red carpet had become synonymous with Hollywood and film premieres. A crimson-hued carpet was used for the first ever Hollywood premiere, the 1922 premiere of Robin Hood, starring Douglas Fairbanks, in front of the Egyptian Theatre. For the following decades, the red carpet was one of the few places the public could catch a glimpse of stars like Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly.