Inspiration in the color plum.
Learn the history and meaning of the color plum, a rare purple that brings mystery, sweetness, and charm.
What is the meaning of the color plum?
Plum color is a purple that’s warmer than eggplant and richer than lavender. The color plum teeters along the edge of a hue that’s both warm and cool, as mysterious as it is sweet. Plum color is reminiscent of its ripest namesake and delivers just as much satisfaction.
The color plum is a deep, red-heavy shade of purple named after the saccharine fruit. Plum color evokes sweet and timeless meaning.
The history of plum color.
Ancient associations with the color plum.
The oldest record of cultivating plums dates to 470 B.C.E. in China. By Ancient Rome, European plums were being cultivated in more than 300 varieties. Plumbs come in multiple colors, but the shade of dark purple-red is the most significant. The Romans associated plums — and the color plum — with royalty. In Ancient Greece, plums and plum color were featured frequently in art. Persephone, the queen of the Greek underworld, was often depicted with a basket of plums.
Use of the color plum after the turn of the 19th century.
The color plum is a deep purple, meaning it mixes blue and red. One of the surprising secrets behind plum color is that it also adds a touch of green. The color plum is similar to mauve, but much deeper. Mauve was the first dye synthesized in the mid-1800s. “Plum” had settled into English as a word to describe anything plum color just a few years before, and by the 1870s, mauve and the purple frenzy gave the color plum an enormous boom.
Plum color moved from royalty to rebellious youth.
From Ancient Rome through the Renaissance, the color plum was one of the purples tied to royalty. After the so-called Mauve Decade of the 1890s, plum color took on new meanings, and they were varied. Plum color came to symbolize peace and springtime. The color plum also became associated with rebellion when it was used as a symbol of anti-apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s.
The color plum across different cultures.
Plum color throughout the East.
Plums (the fruit) are seen as a symbol of strength in Chinese culture. Plum color represents endurance because plum blooms survive the coldest months when other flowers die. In Japan, the color plum and its namesake are both signs of good luck. Plum color is connected to prosperity in India, too. In Hinduism, the color plum represents inner peace. Buddhism sees the color plum as a force that can clean out the “noise” in our minds to reach self-awareness or understanding.
The color plum in language.
Plum color was first recorded as an adjective in 1805, although the fruit was part of the language long before that. As early as 1780, “plum” had already been used to describe something desirable. It’s thought that this came from plum pudding where an especially sweet bite with bits of plum would be the best part. Today, describing a job or assignment as “plum” implies that it’s delightful, and use of the color plum can play off this association.
The color plum in psychology.
Many shades of purple, especially deep ones like the color plum, are associated with royalty. The rarity of the color plum in nature helped enhance this sense of luxury. Plum color is also said to evoke a sense of spiritualism and enlightenment due to its historic use in the East. In all kinds of design today, the color plum is associated with sophistication or a captivating sweetness.
How to use the color plum.
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Plum color in sophisticated palettes.
The color plum has a special power to evoke sophistication. Combine plum color with shades of gray, olive green, and white to create a refined palette. Pair it with the color opposite plum on the color wheel, green apple, and the palette stays sophisticated but takes on a modern look and feel. This is useful to avoid plum’s potential to look old-world.
Plum color is neither warm nor cool.
The color purple combines the cool tranquility of blue with the fiery passion of red. Plum color is so deep and close to perfect purple that it doesn’t look like a warm color or a cool one. Instead, it can be warmed or cooled by the other colors used around it.
The color plum in design.
Plum color can be dramatic or mysterious as a background color in design, art, and interiors. The color plum can also be a cosmopolitan accent color, especially when combined with vivid blue or lime green.
Tap into the psychology of plum color.
The color plum evokes luxury, but also mystery. It’s a complex hue that adds richness when it’s used. Plum color creates a feeling of exclusivity, almost as though the experience it inspires within each of us was a privileged and private pleasure.
Information about plum color.
The plum HEX code picker is #843179. This is the rich, slightly warmer shade of purple seen in ripe plums.
The color plum can be achieved in a RGB space with 132 red, 49 green, and 121 blue. Plum color can be achieved in a CMYK color space with 0% cyan, 63% magenta, 8% yellow, and 48% black.