Ten things you may not know about the colour purple

Purple is a colour with many personalities

The earliest purple dyes date back to about 1900 B.C. It took some 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye.

• Purple is a made up by a combination of red and blue.
• Purple is a secondary colour
• The complimentary colour for purple is yellow
• The colour purple is used to symbolise the gay and lesbian community.
• Wilhelm Richard Wagner a famous German Composer, composed his greatest works in a room with purple coloured drapes.
• In Thailand, purple is worn by a widow mourning her husband’s death.

• The purple in the U.S. military Purple Heart award represents courage. The Purple Heart is awarded to members of the United States armed forces who have been wounded in action.
• In Tibet, amethyst is considered to be sacred to Buddha and rosaries are often fashioned from it.
• Purple is the colour of the Crown Chakra.