What Does the Color Purple Mean?

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. Learning the color purple meaning and effects can help you understand why you may feel the way you do when you see it.

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Purple Meaning in History

The feelings that the color purple evokes are often due to cultural associations. 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.

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 on 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.

Purple Is Unique and Exotic

Since purple does not often occur in nature, it can sometimes appear exotic or artificial. For this reason, it tends to be quite a polarizing color. People tend to either really love purple or really hate it.

Visually, purple is one of the most difficult colors to discriminate. It also has the strongest electromagnetic wavelength, being just a few wavelengths up from x-rays and gamma rays. For this reason, it is often used in visual illusions such as the lilac chaser illusion.

The Color Purple Meaning and Biology

When discussing color meaning, it's also important to recognize the role that various biological factors play in perceiving it. Several factors affect how the brain perceives the color purple, such as vision, light, and a person's interpretation of what the color represents.

Additional factors that can contribute to how a person perceives color are its hue, its level of saturation or purity, and how bright or dull it is. All these play into the frequency, wavelength, and energy associated with the color, which also changes how the eye and, subsequently, the brain perceive it.

Keep in Mind

Responses to the color purple can vary considerably from one person to the next. However, many feel that this color seems royal yet mysterious.

Notice how purple is used in the image that accompanies this article. Consider how the color purple makes you feel. Do you associate purple with certain qualities or situations? Recognizing how you interpret purple's meaning helps you understand why you may respond to it in a certain way.