| Purpure | |
|---|---|
| Class | Colour |
| Non-heraldic equivalent | Purple |
| Monochromatic designations | |
| Hatching pattern | |
| Tricking abbr. | p., pu., purp. |
| Poetic designations | |
| Heavenly body | Mercury |
| Jewel | Amethyst |
| Virtue | Temperance |
In heraldry, purpure (/ˈpɜːrpjʊər/) 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.
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.[1]
There is at least one instance of it being blazoned as "Imperial Purple".[2] One of the most expensive colours to acquire in ancient times, Tyrian purple was used in the war banner of Byzantine Emperor Komnenos[broken anchor]: Purpur (porphyr red) a double-headed eagle displayed Or.