Mauve
A pale purple named after the mallow flower and once a fashion sensation
Mauve is a soft, pale purple shade named after the mallow flower. Its name first appeared in English in the late 18th century, but the colour became widely known after the invention of the synthetic dye mauveine in 1856. Mauve once swept through fashion and art, especially in the late 19th century, and is now seen as a gentle, greyish violet.
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- Named after the mallow flower
- First synthetic dye discovered by William Henry Perkin in 1856
- Once a fashion craze in the late 1850s and 1860s
- Mauve dye faded easily and was soon replaced
- The 1890s are sometimes called the 'Mauve Decade'
What colour is Mauve?
Mauve is a pale purple colour, softer and lighter than magenta, with more grey and blue. It takes its name from the mallow flower, which has delicate purple petals. Many wildflowers described as 'blue' are actually closer to mauve. Today, mauve is often thought of as a gentle, muted violet, distinct from brighter purples.
Where does Mauve come from?
The name 'mauve' comes from the French word for the mallow flower. The first known use of 'mauve' as a colour name in English was between 1796 and 1798, though 'mallow' was used as early as 1611. Mauve became famous after William Henry Perkin accidentally created the first synthetic dye, mauveine, in 1856. This dye was originally called Tyrian purple but was renamed mauve when it entered the market in 1859.
How is Mauve made?
The original mauve dye, mauveine, was made from aniline, a chemical derived from coal tar. Perkin discovered it while trying to make quinine. Earlier dyes called 'mauve' were made from murexide or mixed natural dyes. The synthetic dye was easy to produce but faded quickly, leading to its decline in use by the 1870s.
Where Mauve is used
Mauve swept through fashion between 1859 and 1861, becoming highly popular for clothing. It was also used in art and textiles. The colour became associated with progressive artists in Europe and the US during the 1890s, a period sometimes called the 'Mauve Decade'.
Purple around the world
What the purple and violet family means from country to country.
In Holy Week, members of religious brotherhoods walk in procession in robes and pointed hoods, many of them purple, the colour of penance. A purple band also marked the flag of the Second Republic.
Sacred and holyPolitics and protestSource: Holy Week in SpainSuffragettes campaigning for women's votes wore purple, white and green: purple for dignity, white for purity and green for hope.
Politics and protestCourageSource: SuffragetteA child born to a reigning Byzantine emperor was called porphyrogennetos, born in the purple. The birth took place in a palace room lined with purple stone.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Born in the purpleIn the elections of 2005, voters dipped a finger in purple ink to prevent double voting. The stained finger, held up for cameras, became a sign of the vote.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Election inkPurple dye from the murasaki plant was costly and hard to make. In the court rank system set up under Prince Shotoku, the highest officials wore purple caps.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Twelve Level Cap and Rank SystemThe Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon made Tyrian purple from sea snails. The dye was so costly that it became the colour of kings and Roman emperors.
Royalty and powerAweSource: Tyrian purpleShades and relatives of Mauve
Several related shades include rich mauve (a deeper tone), French mauve (a deep version popular in France), opera mauve (named in 1927), mauve taupe, and old mauve. Old mauve shares its colour coordinates with 'wine dregs', another shade named in the 1920s.
Colours that go with Mauve
Harmonies are worked out from the value #E0B0FF. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Mauve
What colour is mauve?
Mauve is a pale purple with more grey and blue than magenta. It is often described as a gentle, muted violet.
Where does the name 'mauve' come from?
The name comes from the French word for the mallow flower, whose petals are a soft purple.
How was mauve dye first made?
The first synthetic mauve dye, called mauveine, was discovered by William Henry Perkin in 1856 while he was trying to make quinine. It was made from aniline, a coal tar derivative.
Why did mauve become so popular?
After the synthetic dye was introduced in 1859, mauve became a fashion sensation, especially in clothing and among artists in the late 19th century.
Does mauve have other names?
Yes, it is also known as mallow, Perkin's mauve, mauveine, aniline purple, and was once called Tyrian purple.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Mauve", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
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