Template:Short description Template:Infobox heraldic tincture In heraldry, purpure (Template:IPAc-en) is a tincture, equivalent to the colour purple, and is one of the five main or most usually used colours (as opposed to metals). 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 the abbreviation purp.

File:Flag of Early Medieval Kingdom of Leon.svg
Banner used during the reign of Alfonso VII of León (1105-1157)

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 common colours. In French heraldry, the colour is usually excluded from the common colours as well as considered "ambiguous" (could be either colour or metal), and Finnish heraldry restricts its use to certain additaments.<ref name="finnpurpure">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There is at least one instance of it being blazoned as "Imperial Purple".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} Template:Dead link</ref> One of the most expensive colours to acquire in ancient times, Tyrian purple was used in the war banner of Byzantine Emperor Komnenos: Purpur (porphyr red) a double-headed eagle displayed Or.

Poetic meaningsEdit

The different tinctures are traditionally associated with particular heavenly bodies, precious stones, virtues, and flowers, although these associations have been mostly disregarded by serious heraldists.<ref name=Oxford>Template:Cite book</ref> Purpure is associated with:

  • Of jewels, the amethyst<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
  • Of heavenly bodies, Mercury<ref name=Oxford/><ref>Elvin, p. 89.</ref> (however, Western alchemy associates the amethyst with Jupiter). The planet Mercury is further associated with the element mercury or "quicksilver" in traditional alchemical/occultistic lore.
  • Of virtues, temperance<ref name=Oxford/>

GalleryEdit

See alsoEdit

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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