The process of creation of the color purple is one of the simplest. The key here lies in the proper mixing of the colors in hand.
What Does the Color Purple Mean?
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The color purple is associated with a variety of meanings, including wisdom, creativity, royalty, power, ambition, and luxury. It can also represent magic, extravagance, peace, pride, independence, and wealth. As with other colors, purple is the subject of color psychology, which suggests that colors can have a powerful impact on moods and even behaviors.
Each color is thought to have its own effect, but the feeling that each color produces can vary based on experience and culture. Like other colors, purple can lead to differing feelings, emotions, and associations.
What does the color purple mean? How does the color purple make you feel? People often describe this color as mysterious, spiritual, and imaginative. Purple tends to occur rarely in nature, so it is viewed as rare and intriguing.
Press Play to Learn More About How Colors Affect the Mind and Body
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If you’re wondering what colors make purple, purple is a combination of the primary colors blue and red.
So what are some of the most common associations people have with the color purple? The feelings that the color purple evokes are often due to cultural associations.
Meanings of Purple in History
Because purple is so strongly associated with royalty, people often perceive it as being a very regal color. These associations with royalty, as well as wealth, stem from the fact that the purple dye used in ancient times was very rare and extremely expensive.
The resources needed to create a dye in this color were much harder to come by (since purple is uncommon in nature) and much more costly. So only the elite could use purple dye. These associations with extravagance and aristocracy persist to this day.
The color purple became associated with wealth and royalty because, oftentimes, the rich were the only individuals who could afford clothing and other household items that were dyed purple.
Around 1200 B.C.E., the city of Tyre (along the coast of ancient Phoenicia) began producing purple dye by crushing the shells of a small sea snail. The resulting color became known as Tyrian purple and was so well known it was mentioned in Homer’s “Iliad” and Virgil’s “Aeneid.” Alexander the Great and the kings of Egypt also wore clothing colored with the famous Tyrian purple.
This connection with royalty was not just restricted to ancient times. Purple was the color of choice for the Purple Robe of Estate worn by Queen Elizabeth II on her way back to Buckingham Palace following her coronation in 1953.
Within the LGBTQ+ community, the purple of the pride flag represents non-binary gender identities. In the bisexual flag, the red and blue overlap to form purple representing bisexuality.
Purple Meanings and Associations
Some of the symbolic meanings and associations with the color purple include:
- Creativity
- Emotionality
- Enlightenment
- Femininity
- Imagination
- Inspiration
- Mystery
- Rarity
- Royalty
- Spirituality
Wisdom and Spirituality
Purple also represents wisdom and spirituality. Its rare and mysterious nature perhaps causes it to seem connected to the unknown, supernatural, and divine.
Different shades of purple have different spiritual meanings. For instance, light purples are associated with light-hearted, romantic energies, while darker shades can represent sadness and frustration. In some parts of Europe, purple is associated with death and mourning.
Courage and Bravery
In the U.S., the Purple Heart is among the highest honors for bravery in military service. The award, originally called the Badge of Military Merit, was created in 1782 by George Washington to give to soldiers for commendable action. The color represents courage and bravery.
Personality
While by no means scientific, liking purple might mean that you have positive feelings about some of the main associations of the color. So if purple is your favorite color, it might signify that you have an artistic, thoughtful, and intuitive side. You might also enjoy thinking about spiritual issues and the meaning of life. Of course, it might just mean that it is your favorite color due to your unique, individual associations and experiences.
Shades of Purple
- Amethyst
- Lavender
- Lilac
- Mulberry
- Orchid
- Plum
- Puce
- Pomegranate
- Royal purple
- Violet
- Wine
How To Make Purple: A Quick Primer
Mixing blue and red together makes purple. The amount of blue and red that you add to your mixture will determine the exact shade of purple you produce. More red will create a redder purple, and more blue will create a bluer purple.
Blue and red are essential to creating purple, but you can mix in other colors to create different shades of purple. Adding white, yellow, or gray to your mixture of blue and red will give you a lighter purple. Incorporating black into your blue and red mixture will give you a darker shade of purple.
In general, purple refers to any color with a hue that is between red and blue. But getting the perfect shade of purple is a little more complicated than simply mixing these two colors. This is where the science of color comes in! Understanding the science behind making purple will help you make purple all on your own.
We’ll cover the basics of the science behind making purple next!
What Is Purple? The Science Behind the Color
What two colors make purple? Mixing red and blue together makes purple, but getting the right shade of purple isn’t quite that simple.
To answer the question, “What colors make purple,” you need a basic understanding of color. Color comes from light, so we need to start by looking at how light works.
Understanding light can be complicated–I mean, that’s why we have physics. But luckily, the color-making geniuses at Crayola explain how light creates visible color like this:
When light shines on an object some colors bounce off the object and others are absorbed by it. Our eyes only see the colors that are bounced off or reflected.
The sun’s rays contain all the colors of the rainbow mixed together. This mixture is known as white light. When white light strikes a white crayon or marker barrel, it appears white to us because it absorbs no color and reflects all color equally. A black crayon or marker cap absorbs all colors equally and reflects none, so it looks black to us. While artists consider black a color, scientists do not because black is the absence of all color.
In simpler terms, objects have certain physical properties that cause them to absorb certain types of light, or electromagnetic waves. The light waves that aren’t absorbed are reflected, which creates the color you see with your eyes!
And what about black and white? An object will appear white when it reflects all colors. This is because white contains all wavelengths of light and is made of all colors of the rainbow. The light from the sun is an example of white light! Then there’s black. Black objects absorb all color because they reflect no light back.
Most of the time, an object will reflect some color. So when an object appears as green or red to you, it’s because of the wavelength of light that’s bouncing off of the object.
At this point, you’ve probably guessed that light comes in lots of different wavelengths. A wavelength is the distance between two crests of a wave of light. You can visualize how a wavelength of light behaves by thinking about how water hits the shore at the beach. Waves sometimes hit the shore low and far apart. At other times, waves come in higher and closer together. Now, if you wanted to measure the length of the waves at the beach, you’d start at the highest point, or crest, of one wave, then measure to the crest of the next wave. The distance from crest to crest is what we call the wavelength of the ocean on the beach.
Waves of light are a lot like waves of water–except light waves are a lot smaller and closer together. When light bounces off an object, our eyes measure the wavelengths and translate them into different colors.
The entire scope of possible wavelengths of light is called the “spectrum.” If you look below, you can see how the spectrum of light converts to the spectrum of color:
The length of a wave of light is measured in nanometers (nm). Longer wavelengths translate to colors that appear “warmer,” and shorter wavelengths create colors that look “cooler.”
If you look at the image above again, you’ll also notice that only a very small portion of the spectrum of light is visible to our eyes. We’re only able to see the wavelengths between about 400 and 800 nanometers. That may seem like a lot, but the spectrum of light extends far beyond that range in either direction. There is a lot of light on the available spectrum that we can’t see!
The segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that humans can see without help from technology is called the “ visible light spectrum .”
Red, a primary component of purple, is approximately 700 nanometers in wavelength. Red is one of the longer wavelengths that our eyes can see. The distance from crest to crest is only a little bit thicker than the membrane of a soap bubble .
But purple is also made of blue. Blue has wavelengths around 475 nanometers, making it one of the shortest wavelengths visible to our eyes.
So what colors make purple? Purple is a combination of red light and blue light. An object that we perceive as purple has a makeup that causes it to absorb all wavelengths of light except those that fall around 700 nanometers and 475 nanometers in length. The object reflects those exact wavelengths mixed together, which gives the impression that the object is purple.
PSA: Purple and Violet Aren’t the Same
Purple is sometimes confused with violet. But purple and violet are different colors. Here is the difference between purple and violet: violet refers to the color of a single wavelength, but purple comes from a combination of wavelengths.
Violet is considered a spectral color . Like blue and red, violet is created through a single wavelength of light which falls on the visible spectrum between 380 and 450 nanometers. Purple is not a spectral color. Instead, purple becomes visible to our eyes when the wavelengths of the spectral colors red and blue are mixed together and reflected by an object.
In the painter’s color wheel, purple and violet are placed next to each other between red and blue. But purple is closer to red on the color wheel, and violet is closer to blue.
Mixing purple might feel like magic–but it’s not! You can make the perfect shade of purple by using additive or subtractive mixing techniques.
Color Code of Purple and Its Shades:
The most popularly used shades of purple would be that of Veronica purple, X11 purple (or medium purple as it is colloquially known), and Munsell purple.
Under the hexadecimal shades their coordinates will be #A020F0, #9370DB and #9F00C5 respectively. Talking of the decimal system, the values will stand at RGB (160, 32, 240), RGB (147,112, 219) and RGB (159, 0, 197). Although there are many other available shades of purple, these are among the most popular shades.
Related Questions:
What are the different types of purple?
One of the most colorful colors, purple can be hard to categorize. There are many different shades of purple, but the two most common are lilac and violet.
Lilac is a soft, dusty purple with hints of blue and lavender. It’s often used in weddings for bridesmaid’s dresses and decorations.
Violet is a darker purple that is often used in clothing, accessories, and party decorations.
What is light purple called?
The color light purple is called lavender. It is a very light purple color. The color is between the lightest pink and the lightest purple.
Is violet and purple the same thing?
Many people think that violet and purple are the same things, but they are not. Violet is a shade of purple, and purple is a color in the spectrum of light. The word “purple” is frequently used to define shades of blue and red. Purple is also a color in the pigment color wheel.
What does purple color stand for?
Every color has a meaning, and the color purple stands for luxury, royalty, wisdom, creativity, and faith.
How do you mix bright purple?
How do you mix bright purple? Mixing bright purple is a bit more difficult than mixing other colors. You can mix it by adding a little bit of red and blue to a light purple, but it will never be as bright as a pure purple. The way to get the brightest purple is to mix violet and red.
Why purple is a royal color?
The color purple is always connected with royalty. One of the most famous stories about the color purple is that it was the color worn by Roman Emperors.
The story goes that they chose purple to honor the god Jupiter. Other sources say that the color purple became associated with royalty because of its association with wealth.
Purple is also a mixture of red and blue, two colors that are traditionally associated with power. This may be why it is also often associated with dignity and royalty.
Is purple a girl color?
At one point in time, it was. But the beauty of the color purple is that it can be for anyone. Purple has long been a popular color for girls.
In recent years, some retailers have been making the decision to make the color purple more gender neutral. Women have come to embrace the color purple, and it is a popular color for feminine clothing and accessories.
Is purple a girl color? Some say yes, some say no. Some say it’s a great color for a girl’s room, while others think it’s not a color for a girl at all. Purple is a beautiful color, no matter what gender you are.
In recent years, purple has been a popular color for clothing and accessories for both girls and boys. In addition to clothing, purple can be a nice color for a girl’s room.
What does the color purple mean in love?
Purple is the color of the sixth chakra, which is associated with love and relationships. The color can be seen as a representation of a change of heart. The color is often used to show the world that the wearer has a fresh perspective on love.
Are some mountains purple in color?
Mountains are never purple, but they may appear to be so when observed from a distance. That is because as the gap between the eye and the mountain increases, the human eye ends up seeing lesser contrast between the sky and the mountains.
Also, due to specific optical effects like scattering, the light from the blue sky (which is the more prominent one here) will appear to be scattered.
It is this effect that makes the mountains appear blue. That is why if you move closer to a hill that seemed to be blue from a distance you will realize that it is not blue. In nature, the mountains are never blue.
In the world of literature, what does the color purple symbolize?
Across different parts of the globe, the usage of the color purple is widespread in the literature. That symbolizes the power and might of the royalty.
In many works of literature will you find the woman of the royal family (or their rooms decorated) in shades of purple.
Lavender orchids are also seen to be used to symbolize the same thing. The flags of individual mythological kingdoms are also seen to have extensive usage of the color purple.
Is purple a feminine color?
Since the color purple goes well with shades of pink, people tend to mistake it as a feminine color. However, this is a myth and, in reality, purple is one of the most gender-neutral colors to exist.
Men may choose to team the color purple with the classic shades of blue, black, or grey to arrive at the best color combination.
What is the difference between violet and purple?
Many people are of the misconception that violet is one of the lighter shades of purple. However, it is far from being that as its position of around 750 THz in the optical spectra makes it an actual color.
On the other hand, purple is just a mixture of the primary colors of red and blue in appropriate proportions.
Thus, in no way can it be said that violet is a shade of purple. In fact, in the color spectrum, moving towards the lighter shades of purple we will eventually arrive at violet.
The moment you do so, you must realize that you have surpassed the purple boundary and any color from this point onwards will not be a shade of purple.
CONCLUSION:
The easy availability and calming presence of the color purple make it a preferred choice for most of us. The color is not so light that it will get dirty very quickly. Neither is it so dark such that it will carry an air of gloom and despair.
The color purple brings a breath of perfection to it. And that is what made it the preferred choice of royalty for generations now. The different shades of purple and the ways to arrive at them. And that we have discussed in the article have opened to you new doors of experimentation. We hope that you make the most of it. And this will enable you to see more uses of the color purple in the days to come.
