Purple has always been associated with royalty, invoking a rich, elaborate idea behind the shade. But, in the latter half of the twentieth century, the colour became affiliated with a different kind of royalty: the iconic, flamboyant, singer and musician that was Prince.

The Pantone Colour Institute has worked with The Prince Estate to create a standardised shade of purple in Prince’s honour. The international icon, who died of an accidental overdose in April 2016, was set to tour that year with his custom-made purple Yamaha piano in tow. The Pantone shade is a deep, rich purple called Love Symbol #2, inspired by his piano.

Following on from his role in the 1984 film Purple Rain, and his production of the Academy-award winning soundtrack, Prince became known as the ‘purple one’, and the colour started to become synonymous with Prince, the brand.

The colour is named after the unpronounceable ‘love symbol’ that was created for Prince for the launch of his 14th album in 1992. The symbol is an amalgamation of the male and female sex symbols and was used by Prince instead of a name for seven years. The symbol transformed him from artist to icon, by allowing him to curate an unforgettable brand image.

The Pantone Colour Institute is the colour advisory arm of Pantone that forecasts trends – including the release of an annual Colour of the Year – as well as producing custom shades and advising companies on the use of colour in brand identity.

As the Exec Director of Pantone’s Colour Institute, Leatrice Eiseman, said, “Purple is just that kind of a complex, interesting, attracting kind of colour…[the] back story to purple is that it inspires confidence in your creativity.” Sounds an awful lot like the artist who’s memory lives on, embodied by a distinctive shade of purple and an unpronounceable symbol.

Visit the Pantone website to find out more.