Violet (color)

Violet

Violet is a beautiful color that looks like the light at the end of a rainbow. It is one of the seven colors Isaac Newton saw when he studied light in 1672. Violet is named after the Viola flowers.

People make violet on screens by mixing red and blue light together. In old paintings, artists mixed red and blue paints to get violet. Violet sits between blue and purple on the color wheel.

Violet has been an important color for a long time. Long ago, Roman emperors wore violet clothes to show they were very important. Bishops also wore violet clothes. In Chinese painting, violet shows balance in the universe.

The word violet comes from old languages. It started with the Latin word viola, which means the violet flower. People began using “violet” to name the color in English around the year 1370.

Violet is a special color in science. It is one kind of color we can see, at the end of the spectrum of visible light. It is between indigo light and ultraviolet light, which we cannot see.

Many flowers are violet, like lilac and crocus. Some bees, like the violet carpenter bee, have violet on their bodies. The imperial amazon parrot, found on the flag of Dominica, is violet too.