Purple is a color that evokes mystery, creativity, and royalty. But beyond the basic purples we’re familiar with, how many different shades of purple actually exist? As it turns out, there are thousands of shades of purple, ranging from light lavenders to deep eggplants. In this article, we’ll explore the wide variety of purple shades and how they are created.
How Purple is Made
To understand the many shades of purple, it helps to first look at how the color purple is made. There are a few ways to make the color purple:
Mixing Red and Blue
The most common way to make purple is by mixing the primary colors red and blue. By adjusting the amounts of red and blue, different shades of purple can be created. More red makes a reddish purple, while more blue makes a bluish purple. When red and blue are mixed in even amounts, you get a pure vivid purple.
Mixing Complementary Colors
Purple can also be made by mixing complementary colors, which are colors opposite each other on the color wheel. The complement of red is green, so mixing red and green makes a shade of purple. Similarly, the complement of blue is orange, so mixing blue and orange produces a type of purple. Adjusting the proportions of the complements allows creating different shades.
Using Pigments
Natural and synthetic pigments are another way to make the color purple. Historically, the color purple came from rare and expensive pigments. Tyrian purple was made from mollusks and was highly prized in antiquity. Orchil was a purple dye made from lichens. Today, synthetic pigments like manganese violet or dioxazine purple are commonly used in paints, plastics, and textiles. The particular pigment used affects the final shade.
Key Factors in Purple Shades
Many factors go into all the different shades of purple that exist. Here are some of the main elements that differentiate the shades:
Hue
The hue refers to where the shade falls along the range of purples from red-violet to blue-violet. A red-violet will have more of a raspberry tone while a blue-violet takes on more of an indigo tone. Hue is changed by adjusting the mixture of the component colors.
Value
The value indicates how light or dark the color is. Light purples like lavender have higher value, while dark purples like eggplant have lower value. Value is changed by adding white to lighten or black to darken the hue.
Saturation
Saturation measures the intensity or vividness of the color. A highly saturated purple is very bright and intense, while a dull purple has low saturation. Saturation is altered by adding gray or by mixing complementary colors.
Temperature
Some purples take on a cool undertone while others appear warmer. Cooler purples may have more blue in them, while warmer ones likely have more red. Small changes in the mixture can create subtle temperature differences.
Key Types of Purple
With all those factors leading to variation, there are thousands of purple shades. But we can break them down into several essential purple types:
Violet
Violet is the pure, spectral purple located between red and blue on the visible spectrum. It has neither red nor blue undertones and is highly saturated. Violet appears in rainbows and other spectral displays.
Purple
Purple is any shade between violet and red-violet. Purple shades have more red than blue but are still balanced mixtures. They include colors like medium purple and electric purple.
Mauve
Mauve is a pale purple with a somewhat grayish tone from lower saturation. Early synthetic mauve dye helped jumpstart the chemical industry. Other mauve shades include pale mauve and camelia mauve.
Lilac
Lilac is a light purple tone associated with the color of lilac blossoms. It can range from pale to vivid in saturation and have more pink or blue tones. Pastel lilac and French lilac are examples.
Lavender
Lavender is an extremely light, soft purple. It is commonly associated with the color of lavender flowers and has a somewhat pinkish hue. Baby lavender and lavender blue are lovely lavender shades.
Orchid
Orchid refers to shades of light to medium purple with cool undertones, inspired by color orchid flowers. Colors like orchid pink, rich orchid, and orchid haze feature this tone.
Eggplant
Eggplant is an extremely deep, dark purple that has a somewhat reddish undertone. It gets its name from the shiny skin of eggplants. Eggplant is popular for print and web design.
Amethyst
Amethyst purple contains cool undertones and ranges from medium to deep purple shades. This gem-inspired color includes shades like rich amethyst and amethyst smoke.
Plum
Plum purple is a red-toned purple inspired by the deep purple flesh of ripened plums. Plum can range from reddish purple to deep eggplant purple. Plum purple and Japanese plum are examples.
How Many Shades of Purple Exist
So just how many shades of purple are there with all the possible hue, value, and saturation variations? There are thousands of distinguishable shades of purple. Here are some ways to estimate the vast number of purple shades:
– Crayola produces 120 purple crayon colors, from orchid to purple mountains’ majesty.
– Pantone has over 50 official purple colors in its matching system, including shades like wisteria, blissful, and paloma.
– Computer color picker tools can generate hundreds of thousands of distinct RGB purple codes.
– Mixing formulas allow creating any of millions of perceptible purples.
While no definitive number exists, we can confidently say there are many thousands of shades of purple, possibly even millions by some estimates. The wide range gives artists, designers, and anyone a vast palette to work with for any project requiring the creative color purple.
Notable and Unique Shades of Purple
Out of the vast number of purple shades, many have become especially popular and significant. Here are some noteworthy and unique shades of purple:
Royal Purple
Royal purple is a vivid, deep shade associated with royalty, nobility, and luxury. Tyrian purple was particularly prized in antiquity. Moderate royal purple remains commonly used for flags, seals, and heraldry.
Mardi Gras Purple
Mardi Gras purple is a bright purple-green tone used extensively during the Carnival season in New Orleans. It represents justice and power and features heavily in parade floats.
Saint Patrick’s Blue
Saint Patrick’s blue is a light blue-purple. It is created by combining royal blue and purple and is strongly associated with Saint Patrick’s Day and Irish culture.
Purple Heart Medal
The Purple Heart medal features a purple ribbon and is awarded to injured or killed American servicemen. The Badge of Military Merit featured purple in the Revolutionary War.
Psychedelic Purple
Psychedelic purple is any trippy, surreal purple. It tied to 1960s psychedelia and continuing new wave and pop culture. Vivid magenta-purple tones create a hallucinogenic look.
Purple Rain
Purple Rain is a rich purple famously associated with Prince and his 1984 album and film. Pantone released a custom Purple Rain color to honor the iconic musician in 2017.
Grape Purple
Grape purple mimics the bold purple shade of grapes and grape soda. This vivid tone has been called the color of 2016 and is frequently used for websites and marketing.
Maya Blue
Maya blue is a turquoise-blue purple pigment used across Mesoamerica. Made from indigo and palygorskite clay, it was prominent in art and architecture for centuries.
Han Purple
Han purple is an ancient pigment discovered on Chinese pottery. Made of barium copper silicate, it was used for unique color effects before the process was lost around AD 220.
Mountbatten Pink
Mountbatten pink is a grayish mauve color associated with Lord Mountbatten and his naval uniforms. Reportedly it makes men appear more commanding without appearing flashy.
Conclusion
From the bright purple of rainbows to the regal purple of kings and emperors, purple is a color with an enormous range of shades and fascinating history. By mixing primary colors, combining complements, using pigments, and varying saturation and value, an endless variety of purple hues can be created. While no single number can define the full scope, we know there are thousands, possibly millions, of shades of purple. This versatility helps make purple a color that will continue to delight, inspire, and clothe humanity for centuries to come.
| Keyword | Root keyword |
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| How many shades are there of purple? | shades of purple |
