Inheraldry,purpure (/ˈpɜːrpjʊər/) is atincture, equivalent to the colourpurple, and is one of the five main or most usually usedcolours (as opposed tometals). It may be portrayed inengravings 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 abbreviationpurp.

Purpure has existed since the earliest periods, for example in the purpure lion of the arms ofLeón; 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 eithercolour ormetal), 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 EmperorKomnenos^{[broken anchor]}: Purpur (porphyr red) a double-headed eagle displayed Or.

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.^[3] Purpure is associated with:

• Of jewels, theamethyst^[4]
• Of heavenly bodies,Mercury^[3][5] (however, Western alchemy associates the amethyst with Jupiter). The planet Mercury is further associated with the element mercury or "quicksilver" in traditionalalchemical/occultistic lore.
• Of virtues,temperance^[3]

• 
  Arms of the Kingdom of León, displayed in theTumbo A manuscript.
• 
  Arms ofMauves-sur-Loire city (Loire-Atlantique)
• 
  Arms of Hakewill of Exeter, Devon.
• 
  Coat of arms of the former Dutch municipality ofZijpe.
• 
  Coat of Arms of Klyonovskoe settlement (Moscow, Russia).
• 
  Arms of Dene of Newton St Petrock, Devon.
• 
  Arms of British MPJo Cox, installed in theHouse of Commons of the United Kingdom
• 
  Arms of the Portuguese municipality ofMontemor-o-Velho
• 
  Arms of CardinalLuis Ladaria Ferrer
• 
  Coat of arms ofKingdom of León
• 
  Coat of arms of Castile and León

• Born in the purple ("Porphyrogennetos")
• Tyrian purple

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPurpure.

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

• Colours (heraldry)
• Shades of magenta
• Shades of violet

• CS1 Finnish-language sources (fi)
• All articles with dead external links
• Articles with dead external links from May 2023
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• Short description matches Wikidata
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