Lavender (color)

This article is about the color. For other uses, see Lavender (disambiguation).

Lavender (web color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#E6E6FA
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(230, 230, 250)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(240°, 8%, 98%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Lavender is a pale tint of violet. It applies particularly to the color of the flower of the same name. The web color called lavender is displayed at right—it matches the color of the very palest part of the lavender flower; however, the more saturated color shown below as floral lavender more closely matches the average color of the lavender flower as shown in the picture and is the tone of lavender historically and traditionally considered lavender by the average person as opposed to those who are web site designers. The color lavender might be described as a medium violet or a light pinkish violet. The term lavender may also be used in general to apply to a wide range of pale, light, medium, or grayish violet colors, as well as some pale or light pinkish, magenta, or purple colors as well as some pale or light blueish-indigo colors. In paints, the color lavender is made by mixing violet and white paint.

The first recorded use of the word lavender as a color term in English was in 1705.

Historical development of the concept of the color lavender

Originally, the name lavender only applied to flowers. By 1930, the book A Dictionary of Color identified three major shades of lavender—[floral] lavender, lavender gray, and lavender blue, and in addition a fourth shade of lavender called old lavender (a dark lavender gray) (all four of these shades of lavender are shown below). By 1955, the publication of the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (a color dictionary used by stamp collectors to identify the colors of stamps), now on the Internet, listed dozens of different shades of lavender. Today, although the color floral lavender (the color of the flower of the lavender plant) remains the standard for lavender, just as there are many shades of pink (light red, light rose, and light magenta colors), there are many shades of lavender (some light magenta, some light purple, [mostly] light violet [as well as some grayish violet], and some light indigo colors).

Variations of Lavender

Lavender blush

Lavender blush
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#FFF0F5
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(255, 240, 245)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(340°, 6%, 100%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color lavender blush. It is a pale pinkish shade of lavender.

Lavender mist (web color Lavender)

Lavender mist
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#E6E6FA
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(230, 230, 250)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(240°, 8%, 98%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color designated as the web color lavender is a very pale tint of lavender that in other (artistic) contexts may be described as lavender mist.

Languid lavender

Languid lavender
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#D6CADD
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(214, 202, 221)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(270°, 17%, 82%)
Source		Plochere
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color languid lavender. The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.

Lavender gray

Lavender gray
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#C4C3D0
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(196, 195, 208)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(245°, 6%, 82%)
Source		ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The historical name for this color is lavender gray. It is listed in A Dictionary of Color as one of the three major variations of lavender in 1930 along with lavender blue (shown below) and [floral] lavender (also shown below). (This book also designates a fourth shade of lavender, called old lavender, also shown below). This color matches Prismacolor colored pencil PC 1026, Greyed Lavender.

Sample of lavender gray: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)—Color sample of lavender gray (color sample #213):

Pale Lavender

Lavender (ISCC-NBS)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#DCD0FF
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(220, 208, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(264°, 14%, 100%)
Source		ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the pale tint of lavender shown as lavender in sample 209 in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names.

Lavender blue

Main article: Periwinkle (color)

A periwinkle flower

Periwinkle
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#CCCCFF
sRGBB	(r, g, b)	(204, 204, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(240°, 20%, 100%)
Source		Maerz and Paul
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Lavender blue is listed in A Dictionary of Color as one of the three major variations of lavender in 1930 along with lavender gray (shown above) and [floral] lavender (shown below). It is identified as being the same color as periwinkle. The first use of the term lavender blue as a color term was in 1926.

Light lavender (wisteria)

Wisteria
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#C9A0DC
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(201, 160, 220)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(281°, 27%, 86%)
Source		Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Chinese wisteria

The color wisteria is displayed at right. Wisteria, a light medium violet color is equivalent to light lavender.

The Prismacolor colored pencil PC 956, which used to be called light violet and is now called lilac (the actual color of the colored pencil is equivalent to wisteria rather than lilac) is this color.

Wisteria in this exact shade is one of the Crayola crayon colors on the list of Crayola crayon colors. It was formulated as a Crayola color in 1993. The first recorded use of wisteria as a color name in English was in 1892.

Lavender pink

Lavender (Crayola)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#FBAED2
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(251, 174, 210)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(332°, 31%, 98%)
Source		Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

After the introduction of the Munsell color system, in which purple, described as equivalent to red-violet is described as one of the five psychological primary colors along with red, yellow, green, and blue, some people began to think of lavender as being somewhat more pinkish color.^{[citation needed]} This color can be described as lavender pink or pale pinkish-purple when purple is defined as equivalent to red-violet as artists do.^{[citation needed]}

This shade of lavender, displayed at right, is the color designated as lavender (color #74) in the list of Crayola crayon colors.

Before 1958, the color shown below as medium lavender gray and now called purple mountain majesty by Crayola was called lavender in Crayola crayons.

Lavender magenta (web color "violet")

"Violet" (web color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#EE82EE
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(238, 130, 238)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(300°, 45%, 93%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Lavender magenta is a name sometimes used for the web color called "violet" due to the fact that this color is not a tone of violet at all, but is actually a tone of magenta. That this color is a tone of magenta can be easily ascertained by inspecting its red and blue color codes, which are equal to each other--the identifying signature of a tone of magenta.

Medium lavender magenta (web color plum)

Plum (web color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#DDA0DD
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(221, 160, 221)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(300°, 28%, 87%)
Source		HTML/CSS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Main article: Plum (color)

At right is displayed the color medium lavender magenta which is equivalent to the web color version of plum (pale plum).

This color may be regarded both as a tone of lavender since it is a light color between rose and blue and as a light medium tone of magenta because its red and blue values are equal (the color signature of a tone of magenta for computer display).

Heliotrope

Main article: Heliotrope (color)

Heliotrope
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#DF73FF
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(223, 115, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(286°, 55%, 100%)
Source		Maerz and Paul
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color heliotrope may be regarded as also being vivid lavender. Another name for this color is psychedelic lavender because this color was a popular color often used in the hippie psychedelic poster art of the late 1960s for the Fillmore Auditorium and the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco that were and are sold in the head shops of the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. These posters were drawn and produced by such artists as Wes Wilson, Stanley Mouse, Rick Griffin, and Victor Moscoso. Images of psychedelic posters:

Bright Úbe

A piece of cake flavoured with ube

Bright Úbe takes its name from purple yams, notably from the appearance of pastries or ice cream where said tuber is an ingredient or the overall flavor. Outside the Philippines, such products are available in Filipino grocery or speciality stores.

Lavender (floral)

A lavender flower

Lavender (floral)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#B57EDC
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(181, 126, 220)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(275°, 43%, 86%)
Source		Maerz and Paul
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the color Lavender (floral). This color matches the color shown as "lavender" (viewed under a full-spectrum fluorescent lamp) in the 1930 book A Dictionary of Color (reference below), the world standard for color names before the introduction of computers. This color may also be called floral lavender. It is a medium violet.

This tone of lavender would be the approximate color you would get if you mix together 50% violet paint and 50% white paint.

This tone of lavender may be regarded as actual lavender and the other tones displayed in this article can be regarded as all variations on this shade.

This lavender also closely matches the color given as lavender in a basic purple color chart.

Amethyst

A polished amethyst gem stone

Amethyst
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#9966CC
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(153, 102, 204)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(270°, 50%, 80%)
Source		Maerz and Paul
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color amethyst is a moderate, transparent violet. Its name is derived from the stone amethyst, a form of quartz.

The first recorded use of amethyst as a color name in English was in 1572.

Though the color of natural amethyst varies from purple to yellow, the amethyst color referred to here is the moderate purple color most commonly associated with amethyst stones. There is disagreement as to the cause of the purple color of the amethyst stone. Some believe that the color is due to the presence of manganese, while others have suggested that the amethyst color could be from ferric thiocyanate or sulfur found in amethyst stones.

Deep lavender (web color medium purple)

Medium purple
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#9370DB
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(147, 112, 219)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(270°, 68%, 72%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Main article: Purple

Displayed at right is the web color medium purple which is equivalent to deep medium violet or deep lavender.

Lavender purple (purple mountain majesty)

Purple mountain majesty
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#9678B6
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(150, 120, 182)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(260°, 34%, 71%)
Source		Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color purple mountain majesty, a Crayola color since 1993. This color may be regarded as a medium lavender gray.

This color was the color called lavender in Crayola crayons before 1958, when Crayola switched to calling the color shown above as lavender pink as being lavender. See the website "Lost Crayola Crayon Colors". Because of that, another name for this color is lavender purple.

This color is a representation of the way mountains look when they are far away.

Twilight lavender

Twilight lavender
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#8A496B
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(138, 73, 107)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(297°, 48%, 96%)
Source		Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color twilight lavender is displayed at right. Twilight lavender is a color formulated by Crayola in 1990 as one of the colors in its Silver Swirls specialty box of metallic colors.

Halayà úbe

Ube jam is called Halayà úbe in Tagalog

The photo shows the color halayà úbe, the color of the purple yam jam (halayà úbe) sold in Filipino grocery stores.

Old lavender

Old lavender
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#796878
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(121, 104, 120)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(270°, 3%, 22%)
Source		ISCC-NBS
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The dark lavender gray color displayed at right is called old lavender. It is a dark grayish violet.

The first recorded use of old lavender as a color name in English was in the year 1924.

The source of this color is color sample #228 at the following website: —The ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names (1955), a website for stamp collectors to evaluate the colors of their stamps.

Lavender in human culture

Food

• Okinawan "yams" (actually a variety of sweet potato) are colored the color shown above as deep rich lavender gray (ube) and in the Tagalog language of the Philippines these yams are called "ube". (To see a picture of an Okinawan yam, go to: ) )

Fraternities and sororities

• Lavender, along with maroon, is one of the official colors of Sigma Kappa.

Sexuality

• Just as in the 1890s mauve symbolized homosexuality, the shade of lavender described above as [true] lavender or floral lavender became the symbol of homosexuality in the 1950s and 1960s. The first usage was in the 1920s to indicate an effeminate style. Sean Casey wrote in 1928, "I am very sorry..that I have hurt the refined sentimentalities of C. W. Allen by neglecting to use the lavender...language of the 18th and 19th centuries." A 1935 dictionary of slang reported "streak of lavender," meant an effeminate man or a sissy, a term used in 1926 by Carl Sandburg to describe young Abraham Lincoln.

See also

• Mauve
• Wisteria
• List of colors
• Lilac