Periwinkle
- HEX
- #A3A8EE
- RGB
- 163 168 238
- HSL
- 236° 69% 79%
- CMYK
- 32 29 0 7
Periwinkle or Sky blue?
Sky blue with a drop of violet.
Language
Periwinkle is named after Vinca, a creeping evergreen with violet-blue flowers. The name runs back through Old English perwince to Latin pervinca. The edible sea snail called a periwinkle got its name separately.
History
The pretty flower had a grim side. In medieval England, garlands of it were set on condemned prisoners; one chronicle says the Scottish knight Simon Fraser was crowned with periwinkle, in mockery, on his way to execution in 1306. In Italy it was called the flower of death and woven into wreaths for dead children.
Kin
- Cornflower: Another blue named after a European flower
- Violet: Its flower sits right on the line between blue and violet
- Lavender: A sister color named after a flowering plant
In paintings
- Rouen Cathedral (series), Claude Monet
Sources
- Etymonline, 'periwinkle'
- Grieve, A Modern Herbal (1931), 'Periwinkle'
Hex values are screen approximations. Every page lists its sources.