Purpure

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In heraldry, purpure is a tincture, more or less the equivalent of the color "purple", and is one of the five dark tinctures (colors). It may be portrayed in engravings by a series of parallel lines at a 45 degree angle running from upper right to lower left from the point of view of an observer, or else indicated by using purp. as an abbreviation.

Purpure has existed since the earliest periods, for example in the purpure lion of the arms of León; at that time, it was painted in a greyer shade. However, it has never been as common as the other colours, and this has led to some controversy as to whether it should be counted among the five common colours.

There is one hypothesis that may explain why such a controversial colour should continue to have been counted among the standard colours. Beginning in the sixteenth century, it became fashionable to blazon the arms of royalty using the names of celestial bodies in place of the usual tincture names. Under such a system, it is natural that there should be five dark tinctures, since there were five known planets. Including the sun and moon to represent the light tinctures brings the total to seven, a number associated with divine completeness. Remove the tincture purpure and the tinctures would instead be six, a number associated with earthly corruptibility.

Purpure is said to represent the following:

Of jewels, the amethyst
Of heavenly bodies, Jupiter
Of the four elements, air
Of the days of the week, Thursday
Of the months of the year, February and November
Of metals, tin
Of trees, the sabine
Of flowers, the lily
Of the Zodiac signs, Sagittarius and Pisces
Of animals, the lion
Of fishes, the whale
Of virtues, Dignity, power, and sovereignty

[edit] See also

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Sinople

[edit] External links

Heraldica.org: Purpure, discussion based on Michel Pastoureau, Traité d'Héraldique.
Red vs. Purple Lions

The Heraldic Tincture Series
Rule of Tincture
Metals: \| Argent \| Or \|
Colours: \| Azure \| Gules \| Purpure \| Sable \| Vert \|
Furs: \| Ermine \| Vair \| Potent \|
Stains: \| Murrey \| Tenné \| Sanguine \|
Other: \| Bleu celeste \| Carnation \| Cendrée \| Orange \|

					Shades of violet
Amethyst	Cerise	Eggplant	Fuchsia	Heliotrope	Indigo	Lavender	Lavender blush	Lilac	Magenta	Mauve	Mountbatten pink

Orchid	Persian indigo	Purple	Red-violet	Sangria	Thistle	Violet	Violet-eggplant	Wisteria	Rose	Lavender rose	Lavender gray

Shades of violet without swatches
Iris	Palatinate	Purpure