The color Byzantium is a particular dark tone of

purple Purple is a color similar in appearance to violet light. In the RYB color model historically used in the arts, purple is a secondary color created by combining red and blue pigments. In the CMYK color model used in modern printing, purple is ...

. It originates in modern times, and, despite its name, it should not be confused with

Tyrian purple Tyrian purple ( ''porphúra''; ), also known as royal purple, imperial purple, or imperial dye, is a reddish-purple natural dye. The name Tyrian refers to Tyre, Lebanon, once Phoenicia. It is secreted by several species of predatory sea snails ...

( hue rendering), the color historically used by

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

and

Byzantine emperors The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

. The latter, often also referred to as "Tyrian red", is more reddish in hue, and is in fact often depicted as closer to

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

than purple. The first recorded use of ''byzantium'' as a color name in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

was in 1926.

Variations of byzantium

Byzantine

The color Byzantine is displayed at right. The color Byzantine is a rich tone of medium purple toned toward

magenta Magenta () is a purple-red color. On color wheels of the RGB color model, RGB (additive) and subtractive color, CMY (subtractive) color models, it is located precisely midway between blue and red. It is one of the four colors of ink used in colo ...

. The first recorded use of ''byzantine'' as a color name in

was in 1924.Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 191; Color Sample of Byzantine: Page 125 Plate 51 Color Sample K8 Note: This color sample matches the color shown above as "byzantine".

Dark byzantium

The color dark Byzantium is displayed at right.

Variations of byzantium

Byzantine

Dark byzantium

References

See also