Purple facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This box shows the color purple.

Purple is a colour that combines blue and red.

The first written use of purple as a color name in English was in 975.

Comparison of blue, indigo, violet, and purple
Tones of purple color comparison chart
Tones of Tyrian purple
Other pages
Images for kids
See also

Comparison of blue, indigo, violet, and purple

Name	HEX Code	Red	Blue	Hue	Sat	Lum
Blue	#0000FF	0	255	240°	100%	50%
Indigo (Electric Indigo)	#6F00FF	111	255	266°	100%	50%
Violet (Color Wheel) (Near Violet)	#7F00FF	127	255	274°	100%	50%
Violet (Electric Violet) (Middle Violet)	#8F00FF	143	255	270°	100%	50%
Vivid Violet (Extreme Violet)	#9F00FF	159	255	277°	100%	50%
Purple	#800080	128	128	300°	100%	50%

Tones of purple color comparison chart

Lavender Mist (web color Lavender) (Hex: #E6E6FA) (RGB: 230, 230, 250)
Almost Mauve (Pantone TPX 12-2103) (Hex: #EBE1DF) (RGB: 235, 225, 223)
Mauve Morn (Pantone TPX 12-2102) (Hex: #EBDBDB) (RGB: 235, 219, 219)
Mauve Chalk (Pantone TPX 12-2902) (Hex: #E4D3D2) (RGB: 228, 211, 210)
Pale Lilac (Hex: #DCD0FF) (RGB: 220, 208, 255)
Mauvette (Plochere) (Mauve Pink) (Hex: #E8CCD7) (RGB: 232, 204, 215)
Deep Mauve Pink (Hex: #DE4BEEB) (RGB: 228, 190, 235)
Mauve (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #E0B0FF) (RGB: 224, 176, 255)
Thistle (Light Purple) (web color) (Hex: #D8BFD8) (RGB: 216, 191, 216)
Lilac (Hex: #CAA2C8) (RGB: 200, 162, 200)
Light Orchid (Crayola Orchid) (Hex: #E29CD2) (RGB: 226, 156, 210)
Pale Plum (web color Plum) (Medium Lavender Magenta) (Hex: #DDA0DD) (RGB: 221, 160, 221)
Lavender Magenta (web color "violet") (Hex: #EE82EE) (RGB: 238, 130, 238)
Orchid (web color) (Hex: #DA70D6) (RGB: 218, 112, 240) (CMYK: 0,49,2,15)
Heliotrope (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #DF73FF) (RGB: 223, 115, 255)
French Mauve (Deep Mauve) (Mauve (Pourpre.com)) (Hex: #D473D4) (RGB: 212, 115, 212)
Opera Mauve (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #CA82AF) (RGB: 202, 130, 175)
Light Veronica (Xona.com color list "[X11] Purple Light") (Hex:D46FF9) (RGB: 212,111, 249)
Psychedelic Purple (Phlox (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #DF00FF) (RGB: 223, 0, 255)
Vivid Orchid (Hex: #CC00FF) (RGB: 204, 0, 255)
Neon Purple (Hex: #BC13FE) (RGB: 188, 19, 254)
Hot Purple (Hex: #CB00F5) (RGB: 203, 0, 245)
Electric Purple (True Purple) (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #BF00FF) (RGB: 191, 0, 255)
Pontiff (Pontiff Purple) (Hex: #AF00FF) (RGB: 175, 0, 255)
Paars (Dutch Purple) (Hex: #AA00FF) (RGB: 170, 0, 255)
Veronica (Maerz & Paul) (X11 web color Purple) (Hex: #A020F0) (RGB: 160, 92, 240)
Purple (Munsell) (Munsell 5P) (Hex: #9F00C5) (RGB: 159, 0, 197)
Dark Orchid (web color) (Hex: #9932CC) (RGB: 153, 50, 204)
Deep Purple (Hex: #8B00CC) (RGB: 139, 0, 204)
Deep Indigo (web color Blue-Violet) (Hex: #8A2BE2) (RGB: 138, 43, 226)
Lavender Indigo (Hex: #9457EB) (RGB: 148, 87, 235)
Vanda (Hex: #9842E3) (RGB: 152, 66, 227)
Internet Purple (color of "all purple website" www.purple.com) (Hex: #7D26CD) (RGB: 125, 38, 205)
Royal Purple (Crayola) (Hex: #7851A9) (RGB: 120, 91, 169)
Purple Heart (Crayola) (Hex: #652DC1) (RGB: 101, 45, 93)
Prince Fan Purple (lettering on Prince fan website Prince.org) (Hex: #6600B7) (RGB: 102, 0, 187)
Generic Purple (www.web-site-tools.com/s/660099.htm) (Hex: #660099) (RGB: 102, 0, 153)
Purple Reign (Pantone TPX 19-3620) (Hex: 54446C) (RGB: 84, 68, 108)
Purple Rain (color of lettering on Prince's album Purple Rain) (Hex: #4B308D) (RGB: 75, 48, 141)
Vulgar Purple (Grape Jelly) (Hex: #3E2F84) (RGB: 62, 47, 132)
Pigment Indigo (web color Indigo) (Hex: #4B0082) (RGB: 75, 0, 130)
Dark Indigo (Hex: #310062) (RGB: 49, 0, 98)
Persian Indigo (Regimental (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #32127A) (RGB: 50, 18, 122)
Ultramarine (pigment) (Hex: #120A8F) (RGB: 18, 10, 143)
Persian Blue (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #1C39BB) (RGB: 28, 57, 187)
Electric Ultramarine (Ultramarine (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #3F00FF) (RGB: 63, 0, 255)
Han Purple (Hex: #5218FA) (RGB: 82, 24, 250)
Westminster (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #5F00FF) (RGB: 95, 0, 255)
Indigo (Electric Indigo) (Hex: #6600FF) (RGB: 102, 0, 255)
Pansy (Heartsease) (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #7700FF) (RGB: 119, 0, 255)
Violet (Electric Violet) (Hex: #8B00FF) (RGB: 139, 0, 255)
Pigment Violet (web color Dark Violet) (Hex: #9400D3) (RGB: 148, 0, 211)
Lavender (Floral Lavender) (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #B57EDC) (RGB: 181,126,220)
Purple Mountain Majesty (Crayola) (Lavender Purple) (Hex: #9678B6) (RGB: 150, 120, 182)
Violet Purple (Crayola) (Hex: #926EAE) (RGB: 146, 110, 174)
Purple Yam (Ube) (Hex: #8878C3) (RGB: 136, 120, 195)
French Lavender (Lavender (Pourpre.com) (Hex: #9683EC) (RGB: 150, 131, 236)
Medium Purple (web color) (Deep Lavender) (Hex: #9370DB) (RGB: 147, 112, 219)
Amethyst (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #9966CC) (RGB: 153, 102, 204)
Deep Lilac (German Lilac) (Hex: #9955BB) (RGB: 153, 85, 187)
Purpureus (Purpura) (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #9A4EAE) (RGB: 154, 78, 174)
Chinese Purple (Hex: #A757AB) (RGB: 167, 87, 171)
Meadow Mauve (Pantone TPX 18-3230) (Hex: #A55790) (RGB: 165, 87, 144)
Violet Eggplant (Chinese Eggplant) (Hex: #991199) (RGB: 153, 17, 153)
Striking Purple (Pantone TPX 18-3025) (Hex: #98508E) (RGB: 152, 80, 142)
Purple Orchid (Pantone TPX 18-3027) (Hex: #AE4F93) (RGB: 174, 79, 107)
Purple (Pantone) (Hex: #B634BB) (RGB: 182, 52, 187)
Medium Orchid (web color) (Hex: #BA55D3) (RGB: 183, 85, 211)
Deep Fuchsia (Fuchsia (Crayola)) (Hex: #C154C1) (RGB: 193, 84, 193)
Steel Pink (Crayola Ultra colored pencils) (Hex: #CC33CC) (RGB: 204, 51, 204)
Rich Mauve (French Mauve) (Mauve (Pourpre.com)) (Hex: #473D4) (RGB: 212, 115, 212)
Opera Mauve (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #CA82AF) (RGB: 202, 130, 175)
Mauve Taupe (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #AF868E) (RGB: 175, 134, 142)
Medium Vanda (Vanda (ISCC-NBS)) (Lavender Brown) (Hex: #AA8A9E) (RGB: 170, 138, 158)
Pale Red-Violet (web color Pale Violet Red) (Hex: #DB7093) (RGB: 219, 112, 147)
Fandango Pink (Pantone TPX 17-2033) (Hex: #DE5285) (RGB: 222, 82, 133)
Cabaret (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #D94972) (RGB: 217, 73, 114)
Red-Purple (Gallego & Sanz) (Hex: #E40078) (RGB: 228, 0, 120)
Fuchsia Purple (Pantone TPX 18-2436) (Hex: #CC397B) (RGB: 204, 57, 123)
Royal Fuchsia (Hex: #CA2C92) (RGB: 202, 44, 146)
Byzantine (Maerz & Paul) (Hex:BD33A4) (RGB: 189, 51, 164)
Fandango (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #B53389) (RGB: 181, 51, 137)
Medium Red-Violet (Red-Violet (Crayola)) (Hex: #BB3385) (RGB: 187, 51, 133)
Red-Violet (web color Medium Violet Red) (Hex: #C71585) (RGB: 199, 21, 133)
Mulberry (Crayola) (Hex: #C54B8C) (RGB: 197, 75, 140)
Hibiscus (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #B6316C) (RGB: 182, 49, 108)
Tyrian Red (Porpora (Fantetti & Petracchi)) (Hex: #B21B1C) (RGB: 178, 27, 28)
Bright Tyrian Purple (Pourpre (Pourpre.com [Pre-2010])) (Hex: #B80049) (RGB: 184, 0, 73)
Rich Tyrian Purple (Pourpre (Pourpre.com)) (Hex: #9E0E40) (RGB: 158, 14, 64)
Medium Tyrian Purple (Tyrian Purple (American Azalea Society))(Hex: #990024) (RGB: 97, 64, 81)
Amaranth Purple (Maerz & Paul) (Hex: #AB274F) (RGB: 171, 39, 79)
Night Shadz (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #AA375A) (RGB: 170, 55, 90)
Jazzberry Jam (Crayola) (Hex: #A50B5E) (RGB: 165, 11, 94)
Royal Heath (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #AB3472) (RGB: 171, 52, 114)
Fuchsia Red (Pantone TPX 18-2328) (Hex: #B33A7F) (RGB: 179, 58, 127)
Violine (Wallflower) (Hex: #A10684) (RGB: 161, 6, 132)
Traffic Purple (RAL 4006) (Hex: #A03472) (RGB: 160, 52, 114)
Amaranth Deep Purple (Amaranth (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #9F2B68) (RGB: 159, 43, 104)
Red-Violet Eggplant (Hex: #990066) (RGB: 153, 0, 102)
Medium Mauve (Vietnamese Mauve) (Hex: #993366) (RGB: 153, 51, 102)
Disco (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #871550) (RGB: 135, 21, 80)
Boysenberry (Pantone TPX 19-2431) (Hex: #873260) (RGB: 135, 50, 96)
Purple Wine (Pantone TPX 18-2929) (Hex: #8E3975) (RGB: 143, 57, 117)
Plum (Crayola) (Plum (traditional)) (Hex: #843179) (RGB: 132, 49, 121)
Mardi Gras (Xona.com color list Mardi Gras Light) (Hex: #880085) (RGB: 136, 0, 137)
PURPLE (HTML/CSS web color Purple) (Patriarch (Maerz & Paul)) (Hex: #800080) (RGB: 128, 0, 128)
Spanish Purple (Purpura (Gallego & Sanz)) (Hex: #7D2181) (RGB: 125, 33, 129)
Byzantium (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #702963) (RGB: 112, 41, 99)
Imperial (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: 602F6B) (RGB: 96, 47, 107)
Purple Magic (Pantone TPX 19-3540) (Hex: #693B71) (RGB: 105, 59, 113)
Purple Passion (Pantone TPX 19-3223) (Hex: #682860) (RGB: 104, 40, 96)
Palatinate Purple (Hex: #682860) (RGB: 104, 40, 96)
Tokyo Purple (Japanese Imperial Purple) (Hex: #5A004A) (RGB: 90, 0, 74)
Halaya Ube (Purple Yam Jam) (Hex: #663854) (RGB: 102, 56, 84)
Pansy Purple (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #78184A) (RGB: 120, 24, 74)
Nightclub (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #660045) (RGB: 102, 0, 69)
Tyrian Purple (www.99colors.net) (Imperial Purple) (Hex: #66023C) (RGB: 102, 2, 60)
Cosmic (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #763950) (RGB: 118, 57, 93)
Persian Plum (Xona.com color list) (Prune) (Hex: #701C1C) (RGB: 112, 28, 28)
Old Mauve (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #673147) (RGB: 103, 49, 71)
Eggplant (Crayola) (Aubergine) (Hex: #664051) (RGB: 97, 64, 81)
Dark Byzantium (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: #5D3954) (RGB: 93, 57, 84)
Blackberry (Xona.com color list) (Hex: #4D0135) (RGB: 77, 1, 53)
Deep Tyrian Purple (Purpura de Tiro Claro (Gallego & Sanz)) (Hex: #4E0041) (RGB: 78, 0, 65)
Japanese Purple (Purple (Japanese traditional colors)) (Hex: #4F284B) (RGB: 79, 40, 75)
Purple Taupe (www.99colors.net) (Hex: #50404D) (RGB: 80, 64, 77)
Dark Mardi Gras (Xona.com color list Mardi Gras) (Hex350036) (RGB: 53, 0, 54)
Dark Tyrian Purple (Purpura de Tiro (Gallego & Sanz)) (Hex: #360029) (RGB: 54, 0, 41)

Tones of Tyrian purple

These Tyrian purple colors, all of which are also shown in the color chart above, show the original purple of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The color imperial shown below was made by mixing Tyrian purple with indigo dye.

Bright Tyrian Purple (Pourpre (Pourpre.com [Pre-2010])) (Hex: #B80049) (RGB: 184, 0, 73)
Tyrian Red (Porpora (Fantetti & Petracchiref )) (Hex: #B21B1C) (RGB: 178, 27, 28)
Rich Tyrian Purple (Pourpre (Pourpre.com)) (Hex: #9E0E40) (RGB: 158, 14, 64)
Medium Tyrian Purple (Tyrian Purple (American Azalea Society)) (Hex: #990024) (RGB: 97, 64, 81)
TYRIAN PURPLE (www.99colors.net) (Imperial Purple) (Hex: #66023C) (RGB: 102, 2, 60)
Deep Tyrian Purple (Purpura de Tiro Claro (Gallego & Sanz)) (Hex: #4E0041) (RGB: 78, 0, 65)
Dark Tyrian Purple (Purpura de Tiro (Gallego & Sanz)) (Hex: #360029) (RGB: 54, 0, 41)
Imperial (ISCC-NBS) (Hex: 602F6B) (RGB: 96, 47, 107)

Other pages

List of colors

Images for kids

Byzantine Emperor Justinian I clad in Tyrian purple, 6th-century mosaic at Basilica of San Vitale
Purple was a central motif in the career of the musician Prince. His 1984 film and album Purple Rain is one of his best-known works. The title track is Prince's signature song and was nearly always played in concert. Prince encouraged his fans to wear purple to his concerts.
Cadbury logo as displayed at Cadbury World in Bournville, England
Emblem of King Alfonso IX of León (1180-1230) displayed in the 12th century Tumbo A manuscript in the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, Galicia.
An Egyptian bowl colored with Egyptian blue, with motifs painted in dark manganese purple. (between 1550 and 1450 BC)
Painting of a man wearing an all-purple toga picta, from an Etruscan tomb (about 350 BC).
Roman men wearing togae praetextae with reddish-purple stripes during a religious procession (1st century BC).
Different purple hues obtained from three types of sea snails
Dye bath of Tyrian purple
Cloth dyed with Tyrian purple. The color could vary from crimson to deep purple, depending upon the type of murex sea-snail and how it was made.
The Empress Theodora, the wife of the Emperor Justinian I, dressed in Tyrian purple. (6th century).
11th-century Byzantine robe, dyed Tyrian purple with murex dye. Creatures are griffins
A medieval depiction of the coronation of the Emperor Charlemagne in 800. The bishops and cardinals wear purple, and the Pope wears white.
A fragment of the shroud in which the Emperor Charlemagne was buried in 814. It was made of gold and Tyrian purple from Constantinople.
A 12th-century painting of Saint Peter consecrating Hermagoras, wearing purple, as a bishop.
In the Ghent Altarpiece (1422) by Jan van Eyck, the popes and bishops are wearing purple robes.
A purple-clad angel from the Resurrection of Christ by Raphael (1483–1520)
Gustav Klimt portrait of woman with a purple hat (1912).
George VI (1895–1952) wore purple in his official portrait.
The coronation portrait of Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1953) has three different shades of purple in the train, curtains and crown.
Program from the Woman Suffrage Procession, a 1913 Women's Suffrage march.
A pennant from the Women's Suffrage movement in the state of Indiana.
On a computer or television screen, purple colors are created by mixing red and blue light. This is called the RGB color model.
The CIE xy chromaticity diagram
Manganese pigments were used in the neolithic paintings in the Lascaux cave, France.
Hematite was often used as the red-purple color in the cave paintings of Neolithic artists.
A sample of purpurite, or manganese phosphate, from the Packrat Mine in Southern California.
A swatch of cobalt violet, popular among the French impressionists.
Manganese violet is a synthetic pigment invented in the mid-19th century.
Quinacridone violet, a synthetic organic pigment sold under many different names.
Blackberries were sometimes used to make purple dye in the Middle Ages.
This lichen, growing on a tree in Scotland, was used in the 18th century to make a common purple dye called Cudbear.
A sample of silk dyed with the original mauveine dye.
A sample of fuchsine dye
The male violet-backed starling sports a very bright, iridescent purple plumage.
The purple frog is a species of amphibian found in India.
Pseudanthias pascalus or purple queenfish.
The purple sea urchin from Mexico.
A purple heron in flight (South Africa).
A purple finch (North America).
The Lorius domicella, or purple-naped lory, from Indonesia.
The purple colors of this cauliflower, grapes, fruits, vegetables and flowers comes from natural pigments called anthocyanins.
Anthocyanins range in color from red to purple to green, blue and yellow, depending upon the level of their pH.
Anthocyanins also account for the purple color in these copper beech trees, and in purple autumn leaves.
Anthocyanins produce the purple color in blood oranges.
A purple pansy.
"Blue" hydrangea is often actually purple.
An artichoke flower in blossom in Dalat, Vietnam
Iris germanica flowers
Syringa vulgaris, or lilac blossoms
Medicago sativa, known as alfalfa in the U.S. and lucerne in the U.K.
The Aster alpinus, or alpine aster, is native to the European mountains, including the Alps, while a subspecies is found in Canada and the United States.
Lavender flowers.
A purple rose.
Wisteria is a pale purple color.
salsify
Purple Mountain near Killarney, Ireland.
Purple Mountain in Yellowstone National Park.
Purple Mountain, Nanjing.
The more distant mountains are, the lighter and more blue they are. This is called atmospheric perspective or aerial perspective.
Sunset at Auke Bay, Alaska. Thanks to Rayleigh scattering, the mountains appear purple.
A purple postage stamp honored Queen Elizabeth II in 1958
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 2010.
In the Roman Catholic Church, cardinals now wear scarlet and bishops wear amaranth.
Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the United States
Han purple and Han blue were synthetic colors made by artisans in China during the Han dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD) or even earlier.
A Japanese woman in a kimono.
Emperor Komyo of Japan. (1322–1380). Purple was the color of the aristocracy in Japan and China.