Purple

 Purple is a range of hues of color occurring between red and blue. In additive light combinations it occurs by mixing the primary colors red and blue in varying proportions. It is a secondary color becasue two colors (blue and red) make up this color.

In human color psychology, purple is also associated with royalty and nobility (stemming from classical antiquity when Tyrian Purple was only affordalbe to the elites).

Cultural associations

In parts of East Asian countries such as Japan, purple is known as the color of death.

Gaming

In Role-playing games such as Pokemon and Final Fantasy, purple is often used to depict psychic energy or dark magic. In Kingdom Hearts, purple is often mixed with black to depict darkness.

Geography

Purple Mountain is located on the eastern side of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, People's Republic of China.

Its peaks are often found enveloped in mysterious purple clouds at dawn and dusk, hense comes its name "Purple Mountain". The Purple Mountain Observatory is located there.

Heraldry

Porpora, or purpure, was not one of the usual tinctures in European heraldry, being added at a late date to bring the numbers of colors plus metals to seven, so that they could be given planetary associations.

The classic early example of purpure is in the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Leon: argent, a lion purpure, as early as 1245.

Literature

Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple, said, "Womanist is to feminist as purple is to lavender."

As a result of its association with royalty and luxury, the term purple is often used to describe pretentious or overly embellished literature. For example, a paragraph containing an excessive number of long and unusual words is called a purple passage.

Purple and violet are frequently mentioned in the poem The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe. The narrator's curtains are described as being purple and the cushions are described as having velvet violet lining."

Mourning

In 16th century England, purple was the color for the final stage of mourning according to Mark Twain in his first attempt at historical fiction, "The Prince and the Pauper".