3 Unbelievable Purple Pleasures

Purple From The Start

Purple has been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. It’s been the theme color for almost every significant event in my life. It’s my happy place! It has the power to make you feel royal, noble, wealthy, and closer to the heavens.

When you think about the color purple you mostly associate it with Barney & Friends, as just another color in the rainbow, the result of mixing red and blue or Whoopi Goldberg’s role in The Color Purple.

And for the longest time, I thought that was the extent of it too. However, I’ve discovered that as rare as it appears to be, it shows up more than you think. It shows up in over 100 plants and animals naturally. Here are three of the least likely places you’d expect to find purple.

Carrots

Carrots are recognized by their bright orange color but what if I told you they came in other colors?

Before they were orange, carrots were yellow, white, and get this… PURPLE!

They are bright purple on the outside and the center color ranges from yellow to orange.

The story is that in the 1600s, a group of Dutch farmers were looking for a way to honor their ruler William of Orange. To honor William of Orange they created (through cross-breeding) a carrot that had higher amounts of beta carotene than the other carrots grown at the time.

The result of the increase of Beta carotene is the orange color we know today!

Three purple carrots that you can try are Purple Haze Carrot, Cosmic Purple Carrot, and Purple Dragon Carrot.

I haven’t tried them yet but Chefs say they taste a little sweet and spicy. They are best used raw in salads for the added crunch and a pop of color.

Flags

Red, blue, white, yellow, red, black, and green are the colors commonly found on flags all across the world. They are affordable and easy to find colors.

According to an article written by Smithsonian Magazine, in order to make a rare color like Tyrian Purple, you had to smash about a thousand small sea snails. This process only gave you a gram of dye, so if you saw someone wearing purple you knew they had money!

One country that for sure has purple on its flag is Dominica, not to be confused with the Dominican Republic. The words look the same but are two different countries.

You can find the color purple on the head and chest feathers of the Sisserou Parrot. The Sisserou Parrot is on the center of the flag and represents the countries national bird.

The other colors (yellow) represent the original inhabitants, (green stars) ten island parishes (black) fertile soil, and (white) purity of water.

Some argue that the Nicaraguan flag also has purple. At first glance, you don’t notice it much but you will find the color purple is part of the rainbow.

Sidebar: If you’re looking at the Nicaraguan flag before 1971 you might see some variations of the flag without purple. The was flag was made official in 1971 and it’s the later flags that you clearly see purple in the rainbow.

Mountains

If climbing Mount Everest is on your bucket list then you don’t want to miss reading about this hidden treasure.

First, the purple mountain has multiple locations. There’s one conveniently located in Yellow Stone National Park that you can visit. The purple mountain got its name from the purple hue of the Sandrock. When the right amount of light hits the Sandrock that’s when the mountain appears to be purple.

If you are familiar with Katherine Bate's poem that eventually turned into the song America the Beautiful then you know Colorado Springs is the place to be for the purple mountain majesties.

Nanjing, China is another popular tourist destination for the purple mountain. Locals call it the “First Mountain of Chinese Humanism”. At the top of this mountain is a resting place for emperors and “outstanding heroes” from six different dynasties.

In Closing

Purple will continue to be my favorite color for all the reasons I have mentioned above!

Not only does it make you feel good but purple has power! It has the power to appear in nature in over 100 plants and animals.

You can climb a purple mountain in Wyoming, Colorado Springs, or China. There are plenty are purple veggies like purple carrots for you to pick from.

So whether you love it or hate purple is here to stay!

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