Violet (color)

Violet is the <a href="/facts/Color/XDvW7ESP">color</a> of <a href="/facts/Light/jeofpMn4">light</a> at the short <a href="/facts/Spectral_color/SG0F8xet">wavelength</a> end of the <a href="/facts/Visible_spectrum/frPBh8o5">visible spectrum</a>. It is one of the seven colors that <a href="/facts/Isaac_Newton/4L7gTncN">Isaac Newton</a> labeled when dividing the spectrum of visible light in 1672. Violet light has a wavelength between approximately 380 and 450 nanometers. The color's name is derived from the <a href="/facts/Viola_(plant)/RDoMXBDT">Viola genus of flowers</a>.
In the <a href="/facts/RGB_color_model/3Be0zwCj">RGB color model</a> used in computer and television screens, violet is produced by <a href="/facts/Additive_color/RXEDm1hb">mixing</a> red and blue light, with more blue than red. In the <a href="/facts/RYB_color_model/oBohLmE9">RYB color model</a> historically used by painters, violet is created with a combination of red and blue pigments and is located between blue and <a href="/facts/Purple/PVL40QPo">purple</a> on the <a href="/facts/Color_wheel/RxVBIr7g">color wheel</a>. In the <a href="/facts/CMYK_color_model/CUsJE64n">CMYK color model</a> used in printing, violet is created with a combination of <a href="/facts/Magenta/dk2zD4hq">magenta</a> and cyan pigments, with more magenta than cyan. On the <a href="/facts/RGB/3Be0zwCj">RGB</a>/<a href="/facts/Subtractive_color/lY5JqRgT">CMY</a>(<a href="/facts/CMYK/CUsJE64n">K</a>) color wheel, violet is located between blue and magenta.
Violet is closely associated with <a href="/facts/Purple/PVL40QPo">purple</a>. In <a href="/facts/Optics/p0vq4S1T">optics</a>, violet is a <a href="/facts/Spectral_color/SG0F8xet">spectral color</a> (referring to the color of different single wavelengths of light), whereas purple is the color of various combinations of red and blue (or violet) light, some of which humans perceive as similar to violet. In common usage, both terms are used to refer to a variety of colors between blue and red in <a href="/facts/Hue/9qufc1ap">hue</a>.
Violet has a long history of association with royalty, originally because <a href="/facts/Tyrian_purple/gwCmPKbz">Tyrian purple</a> dye was extremely expensive in antiquity. The emperors of Rome wore purple togas, as did the Byzantine emperors. During the <a href="/facts/Middle_Ages/RqzEKB9v">Middle Ages</a>, violet was worn by <a href="/facts/Bishop/n2QGsDWx">bishops</a> and university professors and was often used in art as the color of the robes of the <a href="/facts/Mary,_mother_of_Jesus/cq3fKofl">Virgin Mary</a>. In <a href="/facts/Chinese_painting/yff76oFM">Chinese painting</a>, the color violet represents the "unity transcending the duality of <a href="/facts/Yin_and_yang/b0YQXM7U">Yin and yang</a>" and "the ultimate harmony of the <a href="/facts/Cosmos/VTPCNeNQ">universe</a>". In <a href="/facts/New_Age/6cr8V2zG">New Age</a> thinking, purple and/or violet is associated with the <a href="/facts/Crown_chakra/YIYY7J5M">crown chakra</a>. One European study suggests that violet is the color people most often associate with extravagance, individualism, vanity and ambiguity.

Violet (color) open-in-new

Violet (color)