Other plant-based colors — especially greens — are commonly used with the color aubergine in graphic design. Medium greens can offset the intensity of aubergine color while giving projects a natural look and feel. Just picture eggplants hanging on their green branches.

Tap into the psychology of the color aubergine.

Aubergine or eggplant color comes with many meanings evoked by other purples, but the color aubergine is darker and earthier, so its meanings pass through a veil of mystery. Aubergine color represents luxury, power, royalty, and ambition. In some contexts, it can also suggest magic. The color aubergine has a strong presence whose psychology can override that of other colors around it.

Popular use of aubergine color in interior design.

The color aubergine is a powerful tone to bring to interiors, though color psychology shows that dark colors can be overpowering when used in excess. Applied as an accent color, aubergine adds an air of sophistication and luxury.

Combine aubergine with other colors.

Aubergine color is commonly paired with white in contemporary fashion, graphics, art, and interiors. The color aubergine can even be used as a backdrop with white text or elements placed over it. Other palette ideas to play with aubergine color include combining it with gray and violet for a more dramatic look. Next to forest or even lime green, aubergine color takes on a look harkening back to Victorian grace. The color aubergine can also be combined with shades of yellow for a younger, more modern feel.

Information about aubergine color.

The aubergine HEX code picker is #614051. This is the dark, earthy purple with distinct undertones of added red.

The color aubergine can be achieved in a RGB space with 97 red, 64 green, and 81 blue. Aubergine color can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 0% cyan, 34% magenta, 16% yellow, and 62% black.

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What is the meaning of the color aubergine?

The color aubergine (also known as the color eggplant) is a dark purple named after the fruit. Aubergine color recalls its past of grandeur and royalty, though its American English name “eggplant” doesn’t sound particularly fancy. The color aubergine is nonetheless tied to power and affluence. Actual eggplants vary in color from white to blue to purple, but the namesake aubergine color takes on the fruit’s deepest hue.

Aubergine color is a dark purple with added undertones of red, making it dramatic but warm.

The history of aubergine color.

Aubergine color gained attention on both sides of the pond.

The color aubergine has existed as long as the hue has occurred in nature. Naming this dark purple-red, however, flowered with the cultivation of its namesake. Aubergine color matches the darkest aubergines, that oblong fruit used in everything from baba ganoush to ratatouille. Another name for aubergine is “eggplant,” which is the name used more in the U.S. The color eggplant recalls the same purple-red that the color aubergine does.

Historically, the darker the purple, the more regal it was.

Most people see aubergine color and think of royalty. Purple has been tied to authority and nobility since Caesar, and the darker the purple, the more sober and regal it becomes. The color eggplant (and all purple) was historically difficult and expensive to make, which added even greater esteem to the prized aubergine color.

Synthetic purples still didn’t dial in on the color aubergine.

Synthetic purples were the first synthetic dyes invented, but the famed mauve and subsequent shades were lighter and brighter than the aubergine color. Eggplant continued to be a hard-to-make hue. The popularity of gem tones in the 1920s, neutrals in the Depression and WWII, pastels in the 1950s, and bright colors in the 1960s kept aubergine color out of sight. By the 1970s, the color aubergine became a vogue color in fashion and design. Crayola added eggplant color to the crayon box in 1998.

The color aubergine across different cultures.

The color aubergine in language.

The color aubergine was first recorded in 1895, and eggplant color was first recorded in 1915. Aubergine (used primarily in British English) came from a Sanskrit word that traveled through Persian, Arabic, Catalan, and French before making it to English. Eggplant (used primarily in American English) was named after the egg-white color of one variety of eggplant. By the time eggplant color was used as a color adjective, though, it referred to the darkest purple species of the fruit.

Spiritual interpretations of the color aubergine.

Many shades of purple are believed to represent wisdom. The deeper the purple, the deeper its sense of reflection. The color aubergine is a rare color in nature, even though its namesake is a fruit. This gives aubergine color a sense of mystery not unlike the dark aubergine color of far-off galaxies. In some cases, aubergine or eggplant color can also represent sadness, frustration, or mourning.

The color aubergine in nature.

The color aubergine is named after the naturally-occurring eggplant color. Other than the oblong fruit, aubergine color in nature is actually quite rare. Some flowers, other fruits, and fungi share their hue with the color aubergine, like the hellebore flower (known as the Lenten rose), Alloclavaria Purpurea (known as purple coral), purple basil, acai berry, and some beet roots and figs.

Design with aubergine

Inspiration in the color aubergine.

How to use the color aubergine.

Graphic design trends with the color aubergine.