The viceroy gown represented a specific style of gown colored red. Nute Gunray, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation, donned the viceroy gown, along with a red hat, on the planets of Utapau and Mustafar during the concluding days of the Clone Wars. At the war's conclusion, Lord Vader killed Gunray at the Separatist Council's final redoubt on Mustafar, and he died in his viceroy gown. For many years afterward, the gown stayed on the Trade Federation leader's decaying body.
The 2005 film Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith, a prequel trilogy entry, marked the first appearance of the viceroy gown. The reference book Star Wars: The Visual Encyclopedia from 2017 was the first to formally identify the gown. The non-canon reference book LEGO Star Wars: The Dark Side, published in 2014, refers to the garment as "expensive robes."