Heian era
Royal Purple & Silver— 紫と銀
Imperial purple set against lunar silver — Heian courtly luxury at its quietest.
Hue family · 20 colors · 4 palettes
Purple Color Combinations
Murasaki, kikyo, fuji — purples from imperial robe to wisteria petal.
Purple was the highest-status colour of the Heian court. Murasaki, the dye-plant gromwell, produced a hue so labour-intensive to fix that the term kinjiki (forbidden colour) was created specifically to restrict it to the imperial family. The Wada plates carry that history forward in plates that pair murasaki with court gold and ink-black.
Every purple in the dictionary
Click any swatch to see the palette where it appears. Every color page lists hex, RGB, WCAG contrast, and cross-links to every Wada plate that uses it.
#a36aa5 Aconite Violet 11× · 4.1:1 on white
#59256a Red Violet 8× · 11.1:1 on white
#501345 Cotinga Purple 7× · 13.8:1 on white
#9a72aa Light Mauve 7× · 3.9:1 on white
#7a4456 Taupe Brown 7× · 7.5:1 on white
#4e1d4c Dusky Madder Violet 6× · 13.1:1 on white
#b73f74 Rosolanc Purple 6× · 5.3:1 on white
#b984af Lilac 4× · 3.0:1 on white
#8c4c62 Veronia Purple 4× · 6.3:1 on white
#bf5892 Eupatorium Purple 3× · 4.2:1 on white
#704357 Dark Slate Purple 2× · 8.0:1 on white
#80719e Dull Blue Violet 2× · 4.4:1 on white
#c53c69 Indian Lake 2× · 5.0:1 on white
#7d133a Pansy Purple 2× · 10.4:1 on white
#b71f57 Pomegranite Purple 2× · 6.3:1 on white
#a72144 Red 2× · 7.1:1 on white
#B5A6C9 Fuji 藤 1× · 2.3:1 on white
#7A4E8F Murasaki 紫 1× · 6.3:1 on white
#713b4c Violet Carmine 1× · 8.6:1 on white
#642d5e Violet Red 1× · 10.1:1 on white
Palettes dominant in purple
4 historical combinations from the 1933 archive where purple carries the strongest visual weight. Each palette page exports as JSON, Tailwind config, CSS variables, or a downloadable share-card image.