Purple is a color that evokes many emotions and associations. While it is often connected to royalty, luxury, and creativity, purple can also represent pain, sadness, and suffering. The use of purple to symbolize suffering dates back thousands of years and appears in religion, art, literature, and culture across the world. By examining the history and psychology behind purple, we can better understand this somber side of the color spectrum.
The Color Purple in History
In ancient times, purple dye was rare and expensive to produce. It was made from a secretion of sea snails found in the Mediterranean and was highly prized across many ancient civilizations. As a result, purple clothing was exclusively worn by royalty and the wealthy elite. Lower classes that had to endure hard labor, slavery, and poverty were unable to wear the royal color. This created an early association between purple and the disparity between luxury and suffering.
During the Roman empire, purple also took on a somber role. Dark purple was used to trim the tunics worn by magistrates during times of mourning. Following the death of Julius Caesar, a purple banner was raised in Rome as a sign of grieving. Roman Christian women would also wear dark mauve or purple to signify repentance.
Purple in Religion
In Christianity, purple is strongly tied to the Lenten season and the suffering of Jesus Christ. During Lent, altar cloths and priestly robes are changed to somber purple colors in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice and death. Purple vestments are also used for funerals and burials. This religious symbolism connected the color to solemnity, penance, and grief.
In Catholicism, purple candles are lit during novenas devoted to sorrowful events. Followers may pray with a deep purple candle when asking for forgiveness or when mourning a loss. In Judaism, purple is a traditional color of mourning. It is common for mirrors and religious objects to be covered in purple fabrics during periods of grieving.
The Purple Heart Medal
One iconic use of purple to symbolize sacrifice is the Purple Heart military decoration in the United States. The Purple Heart medal is awarded to members of the armed forces who are wounded or killed in service. The badge bears a purple heart shape surrounded by gold. While its origins date back to the American Revolutionary War, the medal in its current form was established in 1932. Since then, over 1.8 million Purple Heart medals have been awarded to honor the suffering and sacrifice of U.S. soldiers.
Purple in Art and Literature
Beyond its use in ancient religions, purple has commonly represented sorrow in the visual and literary arts.
Art History
In paintings, purple robes and fabrics often appear on depictions of Christ during his Passion and crucifixion, underscoring his anguish and sacrifice. Saints are also commonly shown wearing purple as a symbol of their repentance and suffering in following Christ.
Purple clothing similarly evokes suffering in secular works. In Picasso’s famous anti-war painting Guernica, the woman clutching a dead child is clothed in purple, amplifying the anguish and toll of war.
| Painting Title | Use of Purple |
|---|---|
| The Crucifixion by Diego Velázquez | Deep purple robe of Mary Magdalene kneeling in mourning |
| The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya | Man about to be executed wears vivid purple vest |
| Guernica by Pablo Picasso | Woman in purple clutches dead child |
Literature
In modern times, purple has maintained connotations of sadness and suffering in literature as well.
In Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple, the protagonist Celie faces abuse, oppression, and anguish. The color purple comes to symbolize those hardships but also her resilience.
Descriptions of bruises are often evoked using purple or deep violet. For example, in The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, the young Pecola is described as having ugly “dark purple bruises” inflicted by her abusive father, representing her pain.
Psychology of Purple
But why has purple taken on these solemn meanings? Color psychology sheds some light on the intrinsic emotions purple can evoke.
Color Wavelengths
In the visible spectrum, violet and purple hues have the shortest wavelengths and highest frequencies. Shorter wavelengths have more energy compared to gentler blues and greens. This strong energy can elicit intense responses.
Energy and Intensity
Physiologically, exposure to the high frequency of purple hues raises blood pressure, pulse, and respiration rates in the autonomic nervous system. This triggers physical excitement and arousal more than other colors. While this energy has positive uses, it also speaks to purple’s ability to strongly stimulate our emotions—including grief, anguish, and regret.
Purple’s Ambiguity
Purple is also considered one of the most complex and ambiguous colors. It combines stable blue with high-energy red. This dichotomy creates mixed meanings. Purple both stimulates the senses and soothes them. It represents opposites like extravagance and suffering, coolness and intensity, creativity and anger. This multiplicity of associations allows purple to evoke both the highs and lows of human experience.
| Color Psychology | Link to Suffering |
|---|---|
| High visibility and shortest wavelength | Stimulates intense emotions |
| Boosts arousal and physical stress | Associated with physical pain |
| Combination of red (energy) and blue (stability) | Dual meanings including sorrow |
Conclusion
So does purple intrinsically denote suffering? While color associations are complex, purple has an ages-old connection to grief, remorse, and anguish across cultures. Its ambiguity allows it to represent both the highest and lowest of human experience. Purple’s mix of passion and calm, extravagance and pain gives it an expressive depth. During times of mourning or repentance, purple offers a striking visual embodiment of solemnity and sacrifice. While purple contains multitudes of meaning, it undoubtedly retains a legitimate connection to sadness that still resonates today.
