His “indigo” was what many people consider blue today. Today we think of this as aqua blue or turquoise. However – we need to realize that his “blue” was closer to the cyan blue of printing inks. Only 6!Īnd that Newton named 7 colors because he was into numerology and the meaning of 7 as perfection.

They even say that the true rainbow colors should be red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. Today, some people question why we include blue, indigo, and violet? Aren’t they too close to be 3 separate colors of the rainbow? If not for him, we would not have the handy acronym “ROY G BIV.” Which of course stands for Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. Yes, Sir Isaac Newton is the one we have to thank for naming the rainbow colors. He used a prism to show that white light could be divided into 7 distinct colors, then reunited into white again by use of another prism. Indigo was recognized as a color distinct from blue and purple by Sir Isaac Newton in the mid 17th century.Īt that time, he attempted to prove that white light contained a full spectrum of colors. There is controversy over whether indigo is even a color! Indigo is also famous as one of the colors of the rainbow, and one of the seven colors of the visible spectrum. When the British came to India, they started to grow the plant in larger numbers to export the dye for the clothing industry. The botanical name of the pant commonly called true indigo is indigofera tinctoria. This plant comes from India and has been used as a dye since ancient times. Indigo is named for the plant used to create the original dye in the color. It is made by mixing blue with red, just like other purplish shades.īut there are different shades called indigo, and this adds to the confusion! Indigo is a secondary color on the color wheel. So let’s better understand what color indigo is, and try to settle the debate. Formulate a first impression of someone wearing the color.

Feel in an interior environment of certain colors.

Perceive a business or product based on brand colors.

Yes! Because we know that the different color meanings are important to how people: When you’re thinking about using the color, does it matter? What color is indigo? Is it blue or purple? If there’s a color that inspires debate, it is indigo.

Which is darker indigo or dark denim?