Lilac (color)

Lilac is a color that is a pale tone of violet that is a representation of the average color of most lilac flowers. It might also be described as light purple. The colors of some lilac flowers may be equivalent to the colors shown below as pale lilac, rich lilac, or deep lilac. There are other lilac flowers that are colored red-violet.

The first recorded use of lilac as a color name in English was in 1775.^[1]

1 Variations of lilac
2 Lilac in human culture
- 2.1 Geography
- 2.2 Greeting cards
3 References
4 See also

Variations of lilac

Pale lilac

Lilac (ISCC-NBS)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#`DCD0FF`
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(220, 208, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(255°, 18%, 100 ^[2]%)
Source		ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the pale tone of lilac that is represented as lilac in the ISCC-NBS color list. The source of this color is sample 209 in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)[1].

Rich lilac

Lilac (Pourpre.com)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#`B666D2`
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(182, 102, 210)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(284°, 51%, 82^[3]%)
Source		Pourpre.com
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The rich tone of lilac called lilac in the Pourpre.com color list, a color list popular in France, is shown at right.

Deep lilac

This deep tone of lilac is the color usually described as lilac in Germany, as opposed to the paler tones of lilac shown above.

French lilac

French Lilac
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#`86608E`
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(134, 96, 142)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(290°, 32%, 56^[4]%)
Source		ISCC NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color French lilac is displayed at right.

This color was formulated for use in interior design when a medium dark violet color is desired.

The first recorded use of French lilac as a color name in English was in 1814.^[5]

Lilac in human culture

Geography

Spokane, Washington, is known as the "Lilac City", and also holds an annual lilac festival and lilac parade.
Lombard, Illinois is called the "Lilac Village" and has an annual lilac festival and parade in May.

Greeting cards

The color lilac is often used in greeting cards given by grandchildren to grandparents.

References

^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 197
^ web.forrett.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #DCD0FF
^ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #B666D2 (Rich Lilac):
^ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #86608E (French Lilac):
^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 195; Color Sample of French Lilac: Page 111 Plate 44 Color Sample H7

Shades of violet
Amethyst	Byzantium	Cerise	Eggplant	Fandango	Fuchsia	Heliotrope	Indigo	Lavender blush	Lavender (floral)

Lavender (web)	Magenta	Orchid	Plum	Purple	Red-violet	Rose	Thistle	Violet	Wisteria

The samples shown above are only indicative.