Indigo blue cannot really be defined, as it greatly depended on the type and quality of the plants from which it used to be extracted. In his book ‘Schilderkunst, materiaal en techniek’ (‘The Art of Painting, material and technique’) Max Doerner writes that the shade is similar to Berlin blue. Physicist Isaac Newton on the other hand placed the tone in the spectrum between blue and violet. Rembrandt water colour has opted for a darker Indigo which tends towards green.
Indigo: blue plant extract
The pigment Indigo was already popular among artists early on in history. First among the Romans and later, particularly between the 14th and 19th centuries, also among artists in the rest of Europe. The blue colour was originally extracted from plants. This natural variant disappeared from the scene when the German chemist Adolf van Baeyer developed a synthetic alternative. These days Indigo is made from pigments with an excellent lightfastness
The colour Indigo has a long history that stretches probably even before the Christian Era. The name comes from the Greek word Indikon or ‘paint stuff from India’. Indigo was originally extracted from plants that contained the dye Indigotine. In Europe this was the Woad plant. Only the leaves were used, which were ground and then soaked in vats of hot water until they had fermented. This process released a sweet smelling dye that coloured the water yellow. The plant remains were filtered out and the water transferred to shallow basins. Then by slapping the water with sticks oxygen was added which initiated a chemical process. This resulted in a blue sediment forming on the sides and the bottom of the basin. This sediment was scraped off, formed into cakes and left to dry. In order to make paint, these cakes were ground and then mixed with a binder such as egg or wax.
Blue dyeworks
Colouring the textile, on the other hand, was certainly a less fragrant process. The cakes first needed to be soaked in tubs filled with water, bran and urine, which resulted in a yellow solution. The textile was then, usually on a Saturday, added to this solution, after which it was hung up to dry on the Monday. Due to the oxygen from the air, the blue colour returned. This is also where the term ‘Blue Monday’ derives from. Colouring textile in this manner was done in blue dyeworks. It was a huge, flourishing trade particularly in England, the Low Countries, France and Thüringen in Germany. The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, however, discovered at the end of the 15th century in Asia a plant that contained thirty times more blue than Woad. This plant was given the name Indigofera Tinctoria and the blue that was extracted from it was called Indigo. Despite fierce attempts to prevent imports and even to prohibit it under penalty of death, Da Gama’s discovery heralded the end of the lucrative Woad era.
During the Industrial Revolution the German chemist Adolf von Baeyer managed to analyze and then synthesize Indigo. A production method was developed so that after 1915 the Indigo plant was hardly ever used again. But this pigment introduced by Von Baeyer has since also been superseded. The main reason was that its lightfastness left a lot to be desired. The Indigo in Rembrandt water colour is made using a combination of two pigments that produce a lightfastness of at least a hundred years under museum conditions.
What Color Is Indigo?
This is probably the most frequent question that people tend to ask when they hear the word “indigo” around. Indigo? Hmmm, sounds familiar…Is it some sort of blue? That’s how we usually think about this color.
However, indigo is far more than just “some sort of blue”. In fact, this color can hardly even be characterized as a simple color. But let us explain everything to you in detail.
So let us start with the color scheme. See, in fact, indigo is a rather complex color. It is rich and deep, being a combination of three-quarters blue and one-quarter purple.
So as you can see already, calling this color just blue or just purple is not quite accurate. And if we take a look at the color wheel, we will see that indigo sits halfway between violet and blue.
To get some brief understanding of the basic characteristics of indigo color, we have prepared a chart for you where you can find all the data regarding this color that you might need.
| Hexcode | #4b0082 |
|---|---|
| Web Color | #330099 |
| PANTONE Color | 19-1325 TCX Indigo |
| RGB | 29.4% red, 0% green, 51% blue |
| CMYK | 42.3% cyan, 100% magenta, 0% yellow, 49% black |
| Meanings | Integrity, spiritual, concentration, higher consciousness, addiction |
| Color wheel placement | A tertiary color between blue and violet/purple |
| Indigo color combo | Yellow |
And now let’s see in detail what makes indigo different from such, as we all think, similar colors as violet, purple, and blue. After getting yourself familiar with their characteristics, you will see why these colors can hardly be called the same.
Table of Contents
Indigo vs Violet
Naturally, those who learn about the indigo color for the first time, often ask: is indigo the same as violet? Well if we compare violet and indigo closely, we will see that they, of course, look pretty much alike.
However, they are definitely not the same color, as one color is not the shade of another color.
If we try to define the violet and indigo color difference, we will see that violet is lighter and indigo is much deeper and thus darker. But also, the color scheme matters here.
Violet is the color that sits at the end of the visible spectrum of light between blue and the invisible ultraviolet. Violet is a spectral color with its own set of wavelengths on the spectrum of visible light. The two primary colors red and blue make violet color.
As for the indigo, it is a rich and deep color that is close to the color wheel blue, as well as to some variants of ultramarine.
Indigo vs Purple
Another pair of colors that often makes people ask questions is indigo and purple. Well, in general, these two also look pretty much alike as if they are siblings. However, the difference can be found pretty easily.
See, purple is the color that combines the calm stability of blue and the fierce energy of red. Such two seemingly distinct colors unite to create a tranquil color that has a very soothing effect on our mind and emotional state.
PIn addition, quite few of us know that purple, in fact, is the most powerful visible wavelength of electromagnetic energy! In the physical world, it can be easily achieved by mixing a light shade of red and a light shade of blue (that’s if you will be mixing paints, for example!).
Of course, indigo looks way deeper and darker in comparison to blue, which is why quite many people tend to believe that indigo is actually a darker shade of blue color.
However, as we already know, indigo is a complex color that is received by combining purple and blue.
Related: 12+ Ideas For Your Living Room Color Palette
Indigo vs Blue
Since indigo does contain blue (three-quarters of this color actually contains blue), many people still think that indigo is in fact a shade of blue that is somewhat darker. However, even though such a statement makes sense to a certain point, we would not call blue and indigo totally the same colors! See, indigo (as we have already figured out) is a combination of blue and purple. On the contrary, blue is received by mixing cyan and magenta. So simply speaking, blue is a result of mixing a shade of purple (which is magenta) with a color combination of green-blue colors. Like this, we hope that you are now aware of what indigo color is and what makes it different from such similar colors as blue and purple. And now let us dive deeper and learn a few more interesting facts about this absolutely gorgeous color that so many people adore!
The History Of Indigo Color
The term “indigo” is pretty young. The first one who used it was Sir Isaac Newton who actually made up this word for identifying the shade of deep blue of the color spectrum when he was experimenting with light. Also, the word “indigo” refers to a dye that is made from indigofera – a species of plants that were originally cultivated in East Asia, Egypt, India, and Peru. The earliest use of this indigo dye dates back to 4000 BC.
- Indigo, with its more blue than purple nature, has been originally associated with intuition and perception.
- This color is believed to be helpful in opening the third eye.
- This color can help you focus and meditate more effectively.
- New Age beliefs state that indigo color can help you to achieve greater results on your spiritual path including the greater level of consciousness.
- Indigo symbolizes service to humanity.
- This color, being powerful and dignified, conveys integrity and deep sincerity.
- This color also relates to traditions.
- They also say that indigo can help with spatial thinking and creativity.
There is even a belief that in the rainbow, indigo along with violet and purple symbolizes the three Heavens being the color that represents the Universe.
The Four Tones Of Indigo
As you already know, indigo is a complex color. Moreover, it can be divided into four distinct tones! Since indigo is what we call a perplexing color, it has four major tones.
Some of them look more like blue whilst others lean closer toward purple.
So what are those four tones of indigo, you may be wondering:
- Electric indigo
- Blue violet
- Web color indigo
- Indigo dye
And now let’s take a closer look at each of them to see what makes these tones of the same color distinct.
So, as for electric indigo, this color is bright and saturated which is somewhere between the traditional indigo and violet. This is the brightest color indigo that can be approximated on the computer screen!
The indigo color which is also known and deep indigo or blue-violet indigo is the color (or should we say, a tone?) that is brighter than pigment indigo. However, it is not as bright as electric indigo.
The web color indigo is equivalent to the color indigo that is usually reproduced in pigments and colored pencils. Finally, the color of indigo dye is a different color from either spectrum indigo or pigment indigo. This is the actual color of the dye.
How Indigo Is Used In Home Decor?
Even though indigo may seem somewhat dark color for some of you, it is surprisingly popular in home decor! This color may not be your very first thought when you are deciding on what color to paint your interior walls with, but nobody will argue with the fact that this color adds a sense of tradition and depth to a room.
Also, you should not worry that this color may turn out to look like purple on your walls!
When used in home decor, indigo leans more toward deep blue and the indigo dye color. Finally, this color is rather versatile, being suitable for both wall application and painting different interior objects, like pieces of furniture, mirror frames, shelves, etc.
It can also be successfully used in upholstery, pillow cases, carpets, curtains, and decor elements (such as vases, etc). And of course, having canvas painted with this color on your walls will only make the whole room look even more classy!
