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This article is about the color. For other uses, seeIndigo(disambiguation).
Indigo is the color on thespectrum betweenabout 450 and 420nanometers inwavelength, placing itbetweenblue andviolet. Colorscientists do not usually recognize indigo as a signficant color category, and classify wavelengths shorter than about 450 nm asviolet.[1]
Indigo and violet are different frompurple, which cannot be seen on the electromagneticspectrum but can be achieved by mixingblue light withred light.
One can see spectral indigo by looking at the reflection of a fluorescent tube in a non-recordablecompact disc. This works because the CD functions as adiffractiongrating, and afluorescent lamp generally has a peak at 435.833 nm (frommercury), as is visible on thefluorescent lampspectrum.
Distinction between four shades of indigo
Like many other colors (orange andviolet arethe most well-known), indigo gets its name from an object in the natural world—the plant namedindigo once used for dyeing cloth (see alsoIndigo dye).
The color electric indigo is an approximation of spectrum indigo. This is the color indigo as it can beapproximated on a computer screen—it is the color between theweb colorsblue andviolet.
The web color blue violet or deep indigo is a shade of indigo brighter than pigment indigo but not as bright aselectric indigo.
The color pigment indigo is equivalent to theweb color indigo and approximates thecolor indigo that is usually reproduced in pigments and colored pencils.
The color of indigo dye is a different color than either spectrum indigo or pigment indigo. This is the actual color ofthe dye from the indigo plant when switched onto raw fabric. A vat full of this dye is a darker color, approximating the webcolorMidnight Blue.
Electric indigo
Electric Indigo
Image:Information-silk.png|About these coordinates
rect 0 0 50 50 About these coordinates desc none— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #6600FF
RGBB (r,g,b) (102, 0, 255)
HSV (h,s,v) (264°, 100%, 100%)
Source [Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
In an RGBcolor space, spectral indigo and violet must be approximated by purples, thisis, by mixing a little red with a lot of blue. Spectral indigo is closely approximated by the color electric indigo. Thissample was taken directly from theCIE chromaticity diagram opposite the 430nanometer line. It is much brighter than the pigment indigo reproduced below. Spectrum Indigo fits nicely between spectrumviolet and spectrumblueas can beseen in the color bands displayed below. It is impossible to representspectrum indigo exactly on a computer screen, because truespectrum indigo is outside the color triangle orgamut of the RGBcolor space defined by the monitor primaries.
Indigo is neither an additiveprimary color nor a subtractive primary color. It wasnamed and defined byIsaac Newton when he divided up theoptical spectrum (which is a continuum of frequencies). He specifically namedseven colors primarily to match the seven notes of a westernmajorscale, because he believed sound and light were physically similar, but also to link colors with the (known)planets,days of theweek, and otherlists that had seven items.
Humans do not tend to recognize indigo as a separatehue category between blue and violet. Forthis reason, some commentators includingIsaac Asimov have suggested that indigo should notbe regarded as a color in its own right but merely as a shade of blue or violet. Color scientists typically divide the spectrumat about 450 nm between violet and blue, with no indigo.[1] Indigo is sometimes confused with navy blue.[2]
Others continue to accept it[3] as it has been acceptedtraditionally as one ofNewton‘s named colors of thespectrumalong withred,orange,yellow,green,blue, andviolet.
Deep indigo (web color blue violet)
BlueViolet
Image:Information-silk.png|About these coordinates
rect 0 0 50 50 About these coordinates desc none— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #8A2BE2
RGBB (r,g,b) (138, 43, 226)
HSV (h,s,v) (271°, 81%, 89%)
SourceX11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
At right is displayed theweb color blue violet, a color intermediate in brightnessbetween electric indigo and pigment indigo. This color is also called deep indigo.
Pigment indigo (web color indigo)
Pigment Indigo
Image:Information-silk.png|About these coordinates
rect 0 0 50 50 About these coordinates desc none— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet #4B0082
RGBB (r,g,b) (75, 0, 130)
HSV (h,s,v) (275°, 100%, 51%)
SourceX11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
The color box at right displays theweb color Indigo which is equivalent to pigmentindigo, the color indigo as it would be reproduced by artists‘ paints as opposed to the brighter indigo above (electricindigo) that it is possible to reproduce on a computer screen.
Pigment indigo can be obtained by mixing 55% pigmentcyan with about 45% pigmentmagenta.
Compare the subtractive colors to the additive colors in the two primary color charts in the article onprimary colors to see the distinction between electric colors as reproducible from light on a computerscreen (additive colors) and the pigment colors reproducible with pigments (subtractive colors); the additive colors are a lotbrighter because they are produced from light instead of pigment.
Pigment indigo (web color indigo) represents the way the color indigo was always reproduced in pigments, paints, or coloredpencils in the1950s. By the1970s,because of the advent ofpsychedelicart,artists became usedto brighter pigments, and pigments called "bright indigo" or "brightblue-violet" that are the pigment equivalent of the electricindigo reproduced in the section above became available in artists‘pigments and colored pencils.
See also
List of colors
Indigo dye
Indiglo, a brand name for a method ofelectroluminescence technology
References
^ab J. W. G. Hunt (1980). Measuring Color. Ellis Horwood Ltd. ISBN 0-7458-0125-0.
^ Craig F. Bohren and Eugene E. Clothiaux (2006).Fundamentals of Atmospheric Radiation. Wiley-VCH. ISBN 3527405038.
^ Graham, Lanier F. (editor) The Rainbow Book Berkeley, California:1976 Shambala Publishing and The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Indigo Pages 152-153 It is pointed out thatNew Ageartists andphilosophers accept indigo as a spectrum color because it is used to represent one of the sevenchakras (the sixth)
Shades of blue
Alice blueAzureBaby blueBlueCeruleanCerulean blueCobalt blueCornflower blueDark blueDenimDodger blue Indigo
International Klein BlueLight blueMidnight blueNavy bluePeriwinklePersian bluePowder bluePrussian blueRoyal blueSapphireSteel blueUltramarine
Shades of violet
AmethystCeriseEggplantFuchsiaHeliotrope IndigoLavenderLavender blushLavender grayLavender roseLilacMagenta
MauveMountbatten pinkOrchidPalatinate PurplePersian indigoPurpleRed-violetRoseThistleVioletViolet-eggplantWisteria
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
(Sorted by wavelength, short to long)
Gamma ray •X-ray •Ultraviolet •Visible spectrum •Infrared •Terahertz radiation •Microwave •Radio waves
Visible (optical) spectrumViolet •Blue •Green •Yellow •Orange •Red
Microwave spectrumW band •V band •K band:Ka band,Ku band •X band •C band •S band •L band
Radio spectrumEHF •SHF •UHF •VHF •HF •MF •LF •VLF •ULF •SLF •ELF
Wavelength designationsMicrowave •Shortwave •Mediumwave •Longwave
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