Get inspired with lavender design templates.
The color lavender adds natural beauty, just like its fragrant namesake.
Learn the history and meaning of the color lavender and its fragrant inspiration.
The color lavender adds natural beauty, just like its fragrant namesake.
The lavender HEX code picker is #E6E6FA. This lavender is an understated but beautiful hue.
The color lavender can be achieved in a RGB space with 230 red, 230 green, and 250 blue. Lavender color can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 8% cyan, 7% magenta, 0% yellow, and 0% black.
The color lavender is a delicate mix of blue and red, both in their lightest shades. Put differently, lavender is a pale shade of purple. Purple was the color of royalty, but lavender skips that kind of grandeur. The color lavender symbolizes sophistication instead. Lavender also represents overwhelming beauty, like so many flowers in a lavender field.
Lavender color is a soft, pale purple inspired by the flower of the same name. It’s a universal symbol of elegance.
The color lavender was named after the flower. Unlike other colors named after flowers (like wisteria or periwinkle), lavender is a hue that also triggers the flower’s distinct aroma. The flower was named lavender because its Latin origin, lavare (to wash). Cleaning up was what lavender was first used for. The Ancient Egyptians used lavender in mummification. By the 16th century, lavender was added to soaps in Europe. The color lavender is associated with cleanliness as a result.
After the scent of lavender was forever tied to clean linens, the color was also given the lavender name. The color lavender first appeared in English in 1705. The name was used for a wider spectrum of purple colors after that.
As far as color names go, lavender really stuck. By 1930, a book called the Dictionary of Color published three new kinds of lavender in the same spectrum of pale, cool purple. Floral lavender still referred to the color of the flower. Lavender gray, lavender blue, and “old lavender” (a darker gray) were added, too. By 1955, a dictionary for stamp collectors called the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names had a dozen kinds of lavender.
Today, the color lavender is associated with sophistication, love, and beauty. That’s a departure from its original use. In Victorian Britain, lavender was one of the few colors permitted in women’s clothing worn during mourning. Lavender color clothing offered a subdued tone without having to wear only black garments.
Lavender is the pale version of one of the most important colors in religion: purple. Historically, purple dyes were the most difficult to make. From royalty to religious officials, purple was a symbol of wealth and status. Lavender didn’t take the same symbolism, but it was used as a humble nod to prestige. Another specific use of the color lavender is seen at Easter. Lavender and yellow are the two official colors of the Christian holiday.
Support of the LGBTQ+ community didn’t always come in multicolor flags. From the time of 7th century poet Sappho to the Roaring ‘20s, the color lavender resonated with the LGBTQ+ community. By the 1930s, however, lavender was cruelly lexicalized. From lavender-inspired slurs to a McCarthy era Executive Order to erase LGBTQ+ members from government, lavender was an insult. Since the days of Women’s Liberation, the weaponization of lavender has met public backlash.