Purple

Purple
Color icon purple v2.svg
 — Common connotations —
royalty, imperialism, nobility, Lent, Easter, Mardi Gras, episcopacy, upper class, poison, friendship, passion, sharing, wisdom, rage, homosexuality, contrition, sympathy, extreme and sophistication
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #800080
sRGBB (r, g, b) (128, 0, 128)
HSV (h, s, v) (300°, 100%, 50%)
Source HTML/CSS[1][2]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
A purple plasma ball.

Purple is a general term used in English (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, UK and USA) for the range of hues of color occurring between red and blue.[3] In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions. It is a secondary color due to the fact that two colors (blue and red) make up this color. In subtractive pigments it can be equal to the primary color magenta or be formed by mixing magenta with the colors red or blue, or by mixing just the latter two, in which case a color of low saturation will result. Low saturation will also be caused by adding a certain quantity of the third primary color (green for light or yellow for pigment). There is a disagreement over exactly which shades can be described as purple, some people preferring more precise terms such as magenta or heliotrope for particular shades. A difference in retinal sensitivity to red and blue light between individuals can cause further disagreement.

In color theory, a "purple" is defined as any non-spectral color between violet and red (excluding violet and red themselves).[4] The spectral colors violet and indigo are not purples according to color theory but they are purples according to common English usage since they are between red and blue.

In art, purple is the color on the color wheel between magenta and violet and its tints and shades. This color, electric purple, is shown below.[5]

In human color psychology, purple is also associated with royalty and nobility (stemming from classical antiquity when Tyrian Purple was only affordable to the elites).

Contents

Etymology and definitions

Murex brandaris or spiny dye-murex

The word 'purple' comes from the Old English word purpul which originates from the Latin purpura. This in turn is derived from the Koine Greek πορφύρα (porphyra), name of the Tyrian purple dye manufactured in classical antiquity from a mucus secreted by the spiny dye-murex snail.[6]

The first recorded use of the word 'purple' in English was in the year A.D. 975.[7]

Purple versus violet

Violet
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #8F00FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (143, 0, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (274°, 100%, 100[8]%)
Source HTML Color Chart @274
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Violet is a spectral color (approximately 380-420 nm), of a shorter wavelength than blue, while purple is a combination of red and blue or violet light.[9] The purples are colors that are not spectral colors – purples are extra-spectral colors. In fact, purple was not present on Newton's color wheel (which went directly from violet to red), though it is on modern ones, between red and violet. There is no such thing as the "wavelength of purple light"; it only exists as a combination.[4]

The CIE xy chromaticity diagram

On the CIE xy chromaticity diagram, violet is on the curved edge in the lower left, while purples are the straight line connecting the extreme colors red and violet; this line is known as the line of purples, or the purple line.[10][11]

One interesting psychophysical feature of the two colors that can be used to separate them is their appearance with increase of light intensity. Violet, as light intensity increases, appears to take on a far more blue hue as a result of what is known as the Bezold-Brücke shift. The same increase in blueness is not noted in purples.

Pure violet cannot be reproduced by a Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color system, but it can be approximated by mixing blue and red. The resulting color has the same hue but a lower saturation than pure violet.

Generic purple

Generic Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #660099
RGBB (r, g, b) (102, 0, 153)
HSV (h, s, v) (280°, 100%, 60[12]%)
Source Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Generic purple [13][14][15][16][17] [18][19][20]is a dark purple color close to dark violet and similar to the color of grape jam that is thought of by many of the large number of people who are unclear about the difference between violet and purple simply as being “purple”. It is the color of the lettering on the covers of some Prince albums. Generic purple is a popular color for lettering on some websites because it contrasts nicely with the light gray background color of many websites. It is used in advertising for and is on the labels and lids of containers of Concord grape juice, jelly, and jam. Generic purple is used in the fashion industry for men’s and women’s suits and for men’s dress shirts, because although wearing clothing colored spectral violet (color #8F00FF, shown above) would be much too bright for most people, generic purple is a subdued conservative shade of violetish purple that anyone can comfortably wear to a business meeting.

Generic purple is a shade of purple in both in the sense of common English usage because it is a color between blue and red, and it is technically a shade of purple in the sense of color theory because it is a shade of a non-spectral color between violet and red, not including violet or red themselves; however, it is just barely within the range of purples according to color theory since it has a hue code of 280, just within the dividing line of 278 between purples and violets. .

The confusion between the colors violet and purple seems to stem from the fact that it is often the case that manufacturers of children’s crayons label as purple crayons which are colored generic purple, a color which is a bluish shade of purple tending towards violet, and not the redder tone of purple regarded as purple in color theory (color #800080, shown at the top of this article, which is a dark shade of the color at the center of the line of purples on the CIE chromaticity diagram).

Properties

On a chromaticity diagram, the straight line connecting the extreme spectral colors (red and violet) is known as the line of purples (or 'purple boundary'); it represents one limit of human color perception. The color magenta used in the CMYK printing process is near the center of the line of purples, but most people associate the term "purple" with a somewhat bluer tone, such as is displayed by the color "electric purple" (a color also directly on the line of purples), shown below. Some common confusion exists concerning the color names "purple" and "violet". Purple is a mixture of red and blue light, whereas violet is a spectral color.

Historical development

Tyrian purple: Classical antiquity

Tyrian Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #66023C
RGBB (r, g, b) (102, 2, 60)
HSV (h, s, v) (329°, 98%, 40%)
Source Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
Byzantine Emperor Justinian I clad in Tyrian purple, 6th-century mosaic at Basilica of San Vitale

The actual color of Tyrian purple, the original color purple from which the name purple is derived, is the color of a dye made from a mollusc that in classical antiquity became a symbol of royalty because only the very wealthy could afford it. Therefore, Tyrian purple was also called imperial purple.

Tyrian purple may have been discovered as early as the time of the Minoan civilization. Alexander the Great (when giving imperial audiences as the Emperor of the Macedonian Empire), the emperor of the Seleucid Empire, and the kings of Ptolemaic Egypt all wore Tyrian purple. The imperial robes of Roman emperors were Tyrian purple trimmed in metallic gold thread. The badge of office of a Roman Senator was a stripe of Tyrian purple on their white toga.[21] Tyrian purple was continued in use by the emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire until its final collapse in 1453.

Han purple: Ancient China

Han Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #5218FA
RGBB (r, g, b) (82, 24, 250)
HSV (h, s, v) (260°, 97%, 47%)
Source Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Han purple is a type of artificial pigment found in China between 500 BC and AD 220. It was used in the decoration of the Terracotta Army.

The graduated colors of crocus cultivars can appear as han purple in direct sunlight.


Royal purple: Medieval Europe

Royal Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #7851A9
RGBB (r, g, b) (120, 81, 169)
HSV (h, s, v) (267°, 52%, 66[22]%)
Source Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

This shade of purple is bluer than the ancient Tyrian purple.

In medieval Europe, blue dyes were rare and expensive,[23] so only the most wealthy or the aristocracy could afford to wear them. (The working class wore mainly green and brown.) Because of this (and also because Tyrian purple had gone out of use in western Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476), Europeans' idea of purple shifted towards this more bluish purple known as royal purple because of its similarity to the royal blue worn by the aristocracy. This was the shade of purple worn by kings in medieval Europe.

Artists' pigment purple (red-violet): 1930s

Medium violet red
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #C71585
RGBB (r, g, b) (199, 21, 133)
HSV (h, s, v) (322°, 89%, 78%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

'Royal purple' (shown above) or the dark violet color known as generic purple is the common layman's idea of purple, but professional artists, following Munsell color system (introduced in 1905 and widely accepted by 1930), regard purple as being synonymous with the red-violet color shown at right, in order to clearly distinguish purple from violet and thus have access to a larger palette of colors. This red-violet color, called artist's purple by artists, is the pigment color that would be on a pigment color color wheel between pigment violet and pigment (process) magenta. In the Munsell color system, this color at its maximum chroma of 12 is called Red-Purple, or more specifically Munsell 5RP.

Artists' pigments and colored pencils labeled as purple are colored the red-violet color shown at right.

Electric purple: 2000s

Electric Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #BF00FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (191, 0, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (285°, 100%, 100[24]%)
Source Colour Lovers
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

This color, electric purple, is precisely halfway between violet and magenta and thus fits the artistic definition of purple.[25]

Using additive colors such as those on computer screens, it is possible to create a much brighter purple than with pigments where the mixing subtracts frequencies from the component primary colors. The equivalent color on a computer to the pigment color red-violet shown above would be this electric purple, i.e. the much brighter purple you can see reproduced on the screen of a computer. This color is pure purple conceived as computer artists conceive it, as the pure chroma on the computer screen color wheel halfway between color wheel violet and electric magenta. Thus, electric purple is the purest and brightest purple that it is possible to display on a computer screen.

An old name for this color, used by Robert Ridgway in his 1912 book on color nomenclature, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, is true purple. [26]

Computer web color purples

Purple (HTML/CSS color) (patriarch)

Purple (HTML/CSS color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #800080
sRGBB (r, g, b) (128, 0, 128)
HSV (h, s, v) (300°, 100%, 50.2%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

This purple used in HTML and CSS actually is deeper and has a more reddish hue (#800080) than the X11 color purple shown below as purple (X11 color) (#A020F0), which is bluer and brighter.

This color may be called HTML/CSS purple. It seems likely that this color was chosen as the web color purple because its hue is exactly halfway between red and blue and its value is exactly halfway between white and black.

A traditional name sometimes used for this tone of purple is patriarch. The first recorded use of patriarch as a color name in English was in 1925.[27]


Purple (X11 color) (veronica)

Purple (X11 color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #A020F0
RGBB (r, g, b) (160, 32, 240)
HSV (h, s, v) (276.92°, 86.67%, 94.12%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the color purple, as defined in the X11 color, which is a lot brighter and bluer than the HTML purple shown above.

See the chart Color names that clash between X11 and HTML/CSS in the X11 color names article to see those colors which are different in HTML and X11.

This color can be called X11 purple.

The traditional name for this tone of purple is veronica. The first recorded use of veronica as a color name in English was in 1919.[28]


Medium purple (X11)

Medium Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #9370DB
RGBB (r, g, b) (147, 112, 219)
HSV (h, s, v) (270°, 68%, 72%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color medium purple.

This color is a medium shade of the bright X11 purple shown above.

Additional definition of purple

Purple (Munsell)

Purple (Munsell)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #9F00C5
RGBB (r, g, b) (159, 0, 197)
HSV (h, s, v) (288°, 100%, 77[29]%)
Source Munsell Color Wheel
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
The hues of the Munsell color system, at varying values, and maximum chroma to stay in the sRGB gamut.

The color defined as purple in the Munsell color system (Munsell 5P) is shown at right. The Munsell color system is a color space that specifies colors based on three color dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity), spaced uniformly in three dimensions in the elongated oval at an angle shaped Munsell color solid according to the logarithmic scale which governs human perception. In order for all the colors to be spaced uniformly, it was found necessary to use a color wheel with five primary colors--red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

The Munsell colors displayed are only approximate as they have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut.


Additional variations

Orchid

Cattleya labiata
Orchid
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #DA70D6
RGBB (r, g, b) (218, 112, 214)
HSV (h, s, v) (302°, 49%, 85%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color orchid is a light tone of purple. The name 'orchid' originates from the flowers of some species of the vast orchid flower family, such as Laelia furfuracea and Ascocentrum pusillum, which have petals of this color.

The first recorded use of orchid as a color name in English was in 1915.[30]

Heliotrope

Heliotropium arborescens
Heliotrope
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #DF73FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (223, 115, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (286°, 55%, 100%)
Source [Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color heliotrope is a brilliant tone of purple.

Heliotrope is a pink-purple tint that is a representation of the color of the heliotrope flower.

The first recorded use of heliotrope as a color name in English was in 1882.[31]

Psychedelic purple (phlox)

Garden Phlox (Phlox paniculata)
Psychedelic Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #DF00FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (223, 0, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (292°, 100%, 100[32]%)
Source Colour Lovers
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The pure essence of purple was approximated in pigment in the late 1960s by mixing fluorescent magenta and fluorescent blue pigments together to make fluorescent purple to use in psychedelic black light paintings. This tone of purple was very popular among hippies and was the favorite color of Jimi Hendrix. Thus it is called psychedelic purple. Psychedelic purple is the color halfway between electric purple and magenta.

In the 1980s there was a Jimi Hendrix Museum in a Victorian house on the east side of Central Ave. one half block south of Haight Street in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco which was painted this color.

Another name for this color is phlox, as it is the color of the phlox flower. The first recorded use of phlox as a color name in English was in 1918.[33]

Mulberry

Mulberry
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #C54B8C
RGBB (r, g, b) (197, 75, 140)
HSV (h, s, v) (285°, 67%, 70%)
Source Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color mulberry is displayed at right. This color is a representation of the color of mulberry jam or pie. This was a Crayola crayon color from 1958 to 2003.

The first recorded use of Mulberry as a color name in English was in 1776.[34]

Pansy purple

Pansy Purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #78184A
RGBB (r, g, b) (120, 24, 74)
HSV (h, s, v) (287°, 36%, 27%)
Source ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
Purple Pansy

The pansy flower has varieties that exhibit three different colors: pansy (a deep shade of violet), pansy pink, and pansy purple.

The first recorded use of Pansy Purple as a color name in English was in 1814.[35]

In nature

Plants

Animals

In culture

Academic Dress

Anti-apartheid movement

Astronomy

Billiard games

Computer games

Calendars

Comedy

Cultural associations

Gaming

Geography

Heraldry

Coat of arms of the Kingdom of León

History

Holocaust

Literature

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games

Microbiology

Military

Mourning

Music

Parapsychology

People

Politics

Religious text

Rhyme

Science fiction

Sexuality

Sports

Transpersonal psychology

Transportation planning

Vexillology

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords
  2. ↑ web.Forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #800080 (Purple):
  3. ↑ Mish, Frederic C., Editor in Chief Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.:1984--Merriam-Webster Page 957
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 P. U.P. A Gilbert and Willy Haeberli (2008). Physics in the Arts. Academic Press. ISBN 0123741505. http://books.google.com/books?id=qSRqXvZ67lQC&pg=PA112&dq=purple+violet+spectral+non-spectral&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=zAToSJbqD4ScswPputXqBg&sig=ACfU3U3eNPczxziwystPuiqLUjNSo-hsHg. 
  5. ↑ Graham, Lanier F. (editor) The Rainbow Book Berkeley, California: Shambhala Publications and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (1976) (Handbook for the Summer 1976 exhibition The Rainbow Art Show which took place primarily at the De Young Museum but also at other museums) Portfolio of color wheels by famous theoreticians—see Rood color wheel (1879) Page 93
  6. ↑ "Online Etymology Dictionary". http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=purple. 
  7. ↑ Oxford English Dictionary, second edition
  8. ↑ web.Forrett.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #8F00FF (Electric Violet):
  9. ↑ Louis Bevier Spinney (1911). A Text-book of Physics. Macmillan Co.. http://books.google.com/books?id=5zgFAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA573&dq=purple+violet+non-spectral&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=Ex4ZSb6UGpK6tQP33_HoDw. 
  10. ↑ Charles A. Poynton (2003). Digital video and HDTV. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 1558607927. http://books.google.com/books?id=ra1lcAwgvq4C&pg=RA1-PA221&dq=purple+violet+cie+line&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=iB4ZSdubHIewswPPiqWfDQ. 
  11. ↑ John Dakin and Robert G. W. Brown (2006). Handbook of Optoelectronics. CRC Press. ISBN 0750306467. http://books.google.com/books?id=fY98hmhWp58C&pg=PA381&dq=purple+violet+cie+line&lr=&as_brr=3&ei=iB4ZSdubHIewswPPiqWfDQ#PPA382,M1. 
  12. ↑ web.Forrett.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #660099 (Generic Purple):
  13. ↑ [ http://www.web-site-tools.com/s/660099.htm “660099”, the all Generic Purple website:]
  14. ↑ Picture of a ribbon with lettering on a birth announcement card both described as being colored generic purple:
  15. ↑ Image of a yoga mat described as being colored “generic purple”:
  16. ↑ [ http://image02.webshots.com/2/9/72/49/119897249aHJsJA_ph.jpg Image of an Iris flower described as being colored "generic purple":]
  17. ↑ [ http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/1119897249028634454aHJsJA Source of image of "generic purple" Iris flower—Garden photos webshots:}
  18. ↑ Color sample from a bandana for sale on www.pricewatch.com labeled as being colored “generic purple”:
  19. ↑ Pricewatch.coms, source page of generic purple bandana for sale:
  20. ↑ Google Image results for the color Generic Purple:
  21. ↑ Tyrian Purple in Ancient Rome:
  22. ↑ web.Forrett.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #7851A9 (Royal Purple):
  23. ↑ Varichon, Anne Colors: What They Mean and How to Make Them New York:2006 Abrams Page 161
  24. ↑ web.Forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to color #BF00FF (Electric Purple):
  25. ↑ Graham, Lanier F. (editor) The Rainbow Book Berkeley, California:1976 Shambala Publishing and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (Handbook for the Summer 1976 exhibition The Rainbow Art Show which took place primarily at the De Young Museum but also at other museums) Portfolio of color wheels by famous theoreticians—see Rood color wheel (1879) Page 93 Purple is halfway between magenta and violet
  26. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Discussion of the color Purple, Page 175; Color Sample of True Purple: Page 125 Plate 51 Color Sample A12
  27. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201; Color Sample of Patriarch: Page 109 Plate 43 Color Sample L9
  28. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201; Color Sample of Veronica: Page 109 Plate 43 Color Sample H9
  29. ↑ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #9F00C5 (Purple (Munsell)):
  30. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 200; Color Sample of Orchid: Page 105 Plate 41 Color Sample F5
  31. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 196; Color Sample of Heliotrope: Page 131 Plate 54 Color Sample C10
  32. ↑ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #DF00FF (Psychedelic Purple (Phlox)):
  33. ↑ A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill, Page 201; Color Sample of Phlox: Page 131 Plate 54 Color Sample H12
  34. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 199; Color Sample of Mulberry: Plate 48 Color Sample E9
  35. ↑ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 201; Color Sample of Pansy Purple: Page 131 Plate 54 Color Sample L8
  36. ↑ Barnett, Lincoln and the editorial staff of Life The World We Live In New York:1955--Simon and Schuster--Page 284
  37. ↑ Home page for The Purple Onion:
  38. ↑ Bibelforshcer—The German name for “Jehovah’s Witnesses”:
  39. ↑ Early Earth Was Purple, Study Suggests:
  40. ↑ Twain, Mark,"The Prince and the Pauper", ISBN 0 14 04.3669 3, Penguin Books, 1997, p.71.
  41. ↑ Lyrics and audio recording of the song Purple People Eater:
  42. ↑ Purple website for Prince fans:
  43. ↑ Purple Music, Inc (Producers of House Music):
  44. ↑ Swami Panchadasi The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms Des Plaines, Illinois, USA:1912--Yogi Publications Society Page 37
  45. ↑ Fire Destroys Home of Tiburon’s ‘Purple Lady’—San Francisco Chronicle October 22, 2009
  46. ↑ Varichon, Anne Colors:What They Mean and How to Make Them New York:2006 Abrams Page 140 – This information is in the caption of a color illustration showing an 8th Century manuscript page of the Gospel of Luke written in gold on Tyrian purple parchment.
  47. ↑ Berman, Rick and Braga, Brannan (Creators of Star Trek: Enterprise) editors Glass Empires (Three Tales of the Mirror Universe--Age of the Empress by Karen Ward and Kevin Dilmore [ Story by Mike Sussman ]; Sorrows of Empire by David Mack; The Worst of Both Worlds by Greg Cox) New York:2007 Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. (Trade Paperback) Page 363
  48. ↑ October 20, 2010 Spirit Day—the Day to Wear Purple by Lindsay Christ—Long Island Free Press October 20, 2010:
  49. ↑ Why Wearing Purple Will Protest Bullying:
  50. ↑ October 20th is Spirit Day in Hollywood—Neon Tommy’s Daily Hollywood:
  51. ↑ Yahoo Gay Pride Avatars:
  52. ↑ San Francisco Frontiers [Biweekly Gay] Newsmagazine Volume 15, Issue 4 June 20, 1996 Gay Pride Issue Pages 38-39 Can You Remember When? The List --List of Every Gay Bar that Ever Existed in San Francisco
  53. ↑ Leary’s 8 Calibre Brain Psychic Magazine April 1976
  54. ↑ A black and white copy of the chart may be found at the front of the following book: Leary, Timothy - "Info-Psychology", New Falcon Publications. ISBN 1-56184-105-6
  55. ↑ Legendary “Purple Banner of Castile” or “Commoner’s Banner”:

Further reading

External links

Shades of violet
Amethyst Byzantium Cerise Eggplant Fandango Fuchsia Han purple Heliotrope Indigo Iris
                   
Lavender (floral) Lavender Lavender blush Lilac Magenta Mauve Orchid Palatinate purple Periwinkle Persian blue
                   
Purple Red-violet Regalia Rose Sangria Thistle Tyrian purple Violet Wisteria
                 
The samples shown above are only indicative.
Web colors
black gray silver white maroon red purple fuchsia green lime olive yellow navy blue teal aqua