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Claim offerInspiration in the color purple.
Learn the history and meaning of the color purple, one of the most ambiguous colors.
Get inspired with purple design templates.
Purple has morphed meanings across time and space, but its impact has always been powerful.
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How to use purple color.
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Idioms to inspire with purple color.
Certain phrases in English lean into the meaning of purple. Whenever these phrases are relevant to a project, you can play with purple and the symbolism in idioms like: purple prose, born to the purple, a purple patch, purple haze, purple heart.
Look to nature for more inspiration in purple.
Purple is found in exotic places in nature, which fits well with its meanings. Blackberries are a rich purple. Flowers like lavender and the artichoke flower show off shades of purple, too. At sunrise and sunset, reds and yellows move over the horizon where blue light is scattered away, and the momentary effect gives off a glowing shade of purple.
Purple combined with other colors.
Purple transforms when used with different colors. Purple next to salmon pink asserts bold messaging. Purple used with neutrals like tan or taupe provides purple contrast to stand out as a symbol of luxury. Purple used with blue is mysterious and potent.
Purple is anything but average.
From royalty to social change, purple has always been something special. Make your projects stand for something with bold and powerful use of purple. From a psychological perspective, purple gives a feeling of influence.
Information about purple color.
The purple HEX code picker is #A020F0. This is a rich and royal purple. Mixing different balances of blue and red will give you a full spectrum of purple possibilities.
Purple can be achieved in a RGB space with 160 red, 32 green, and 240 blue. Purple can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 33% cyan, 87% magenta, 0% yellow, and 6% black.
What is the meaning of purple?
The meaning of purple is as hard to define as the color itself. Purple represents the range of shades between blue and red. Any mix might take a different name. Purple was not a color identified by Sir Isaac Newton, and some scientists say it doesn’t have its own wavelength of light. Purple still persists in culture and art nonetheless.
Though purple is scientifically uncertain, it celebrates real symbolism around the world. Purple is a color of royalty, of creativity, and of multiple social movements.
The history of purple color.
Royalty and snails.
Purple was adopted as a color of royalty because of how difficult it was to make. The original purple pigment was made thousands of years ago in modern-day Lebanon. A sea snail called the spiny dye-murex was harvested and soaked, then a tiny gland was removed and juiced. When the juice was left in sunlight, it transformed to white, then yellow-green, then green, then purple. If it was not removed at the right moment, it would turn crimson red. One gram of so-called Tyrian purple took ten thousand snails to make.
Purple and indigo blue.
Purple color is also deeply associated with the Catholic church. Cardinals were assigned the color purple, but their clothes were dyed with indigo blue then overlapped with red to give the appearance of purple. The color purple later became popular among professors of Europe’s oldest universities.
A botched science experiment gave purple to the masses.
In 1856, the British chemistry student named William Henry Perkin accidentally created a purple dye. Purple was made available to the masses and flourished. Purple then became linked to social change when Women’s Suffrage took purple and white as official colors. In the 1970s, Women’s Liberation honored suffragists by taking purple, too. Through the psychedelic movement, purple came to mean anything counterculture. Today, purple is popular in the LGBTQ community.
The color purple across different cultures.
Purple has long meant rarity and royalty.
People surveyed in the United States and in Europe associate purple color with royalty, rarity, piety, magic, and mystery. When combined with pink, purple is also associated with femininity. The counterculture adoption of purple was recent, but its impacts have been lasting. From Jimi Hendrix’ “Purple Haze” to Prince’s “Purple Rain,” the color purple provides powerful symbolism.
Purple in China — the Han Dynasty.
The Han Dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25 – 220 AD) made its own purple pigment based on barium copper silicate. This chemical was close to indigo and highly unstable. Sometimes, purple appeared in Han pottery and paintings where Han blue had chemically broken down. Purple was considered a secondary color and was not prized like the five primary colors.
Purple in Japan and Thailand.
Another purple pigment was created in Japan in the Heian period (794 – 1185). The root of the alkanet plant (or “murasaki”) was used to make a dye suited for paint and textile. Purple became a popular color in paintings in Japan after that. In Thailand, the same plant was used to dye garments worn by widows in mourning.