Lilac (color)

This article is about the color. For other uses, see Lilac (disambiguation).

Lilac is a light shade of pink representing the average color of most lilac flowers. The colors of some lilac flowers may be equivalent to the colors shown below as pale lilac, rich lilac, or deep lilac. However, there are other lilac flowers that are colored red-violet.

Lilac
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#C8A2C8
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(200, 162, 200)
HSV (h, s, v)	(300°, 19%, 78%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(71, 32, 308°)
Source	[1]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Light purple
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The first recorded use of the term lilac as an English color name was in 1775.^[2]

Variations

Pale lilac

Lilac (Pale lavender)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#DCD0FF
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(220, 208, 255)
HSV (h, s, v)	(255°, 18%, 100%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(86, 37, 276°)
Source	[3]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Very light violet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Pale lilac or Pale lavender is the color represented as lilac in the ISCC-NBS color list. The source of this color is sample 209 in the ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955).^[4]

Pale lilac colored flowers of Tetradenia riparia

Bright lilac

Lilac (Crayola)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#D891EF
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(216, 145, 239)
HSV (h, s, v)	(285°, 39%, 94%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(70, 72, 296°)
Source	Crayola
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Brilliant purple
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color bright lilac (displayed on the right) is the color labeled lilac by Crayola in 1994 as one of the colors in its Magic Scent specialty box of colors.

Bright lilac flower

Rich lilac

Lilac (Pourpre.com)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#B666D2
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(182, 102, 210)
HSV (h, s, v)	(284°, 51%, 82%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(56, 80, 294°)
Source	Pourpre.com at the Wayback Machine (archived August 10, 2022)
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Vivid purple
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Rich lilac, a rich tone of lilac labeled lilac at Pourpre.com (a popular French color list), is shown at right. Another name for this color is bright French lilac.

French lilac

French Lilac
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#86608E
sRGBB (r, g, b)	(134, 96, 142)
HSV (h, s, v)	(290°, 32%, 56%)
CIELChuv (L, C, h)	(46, 36, 300°)
Source	ISCC-NBS[5]
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Moderate purple
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color French lilac is displayed at right. This color was formulated for use in interior design, where a medium dark violet color is desired. The first recorded use of French lilac as a color name in the English language was in 1814.^[6]

The normalized color coordinates for French lilac are identical to pomp and power, first recorded as a color name in English in 1950.^[7]

In nature

The lilac-breasted roller is a member of the roller family of birds. It is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula.

In culture

Lilac was a color associated with the final stages of mourning in English and European cultures.^[8]

Effect Lilac chaser.

Book and film Lilac Ball.

See also

• List of colors
• Lavender
• Lilac chaser (illusion of visual perception)