The Seven Deadly Sins

Pride, Greed, Wrath, Envy, Lust, Gluttony and Sloth – but enough about me; what about you?

Jul 29, 2026

Seven Deadly Sins T-shirt. Designed for REMO by Douglas Riccardi in 1989.

Streets Magnum Deadly Sins ice creams > "The Seven Deadly Sins" is a licensed Netflix Original anime series

Trivialised in more recent times by a range of Magnum Ice Cream flavours and with reference to a band of Japanese anime knights, the original idea of the seven deadly sins is linked to the works of the 4th century Christian monk Evagrius Ponticus, who actually listed eight evil thoughts in Greek – later translated into Latin in the many writings of John Cassian (another monk), thus becoming part of the Western tradition’s spiritual pietas or Catholic devotions as follows:

Gula (gluttony)
Luxuria/Fornicatio (lust, fornication)
Avaritia (avarice/greed)
Tristitia (sorrow/despair/despondency)
Ira (wrath)
Acedia (sloth)
Vanagloria (vainglory)
Superbia (pride, hubris) [Ed: Isn’t Superbia a good word!]

Seven Deadly Sins infographic > Hiëronymus Bosch: table of the seven deadly sins > Allegorical image by Henri Moreau

In 590 CE, Pope Gregory I revised the list by combining tristitia with acedia (a nice Greek word with an approximate meaning “to despond”) and vanagloria with superbia, and adding envy (which is invidia in Latin). Got all that?

Gregory’s list became the standard list of sins that we all now commit on a fairly regular basis.

The seven deadly sins exist in a theological tug of war with the seven capital virtues: chastity, temperance, charity, diligence, kindness, patience and humility.

In combination the sins and virtues comprise the original self-help book: an instructional balancing act of what to do, what not to do, how to behave, how not to behave; an attempt from long ago to tell us how to live, what to aim for and how to be one’s best self.

Postscript
REMO enjoys a long relationship with the seven deadly sins. In 1989 they were celebrated in a T-shirt design created for us by New York based designer Douglas Riccardi (then working with Tibor Kalman at the legendary M&Co. design group). The original phrenology-head-inspired design (still available HERE from REMO online) was silk screened in black with the sins printed on one side and the virtues printed on the other. Then in 1991 Remo had the idea to replace the sins and virtues with new category words to create an enduring symbol and logo for REMO.