View source for Magenta

{{Short description|Color}}
{{about|the color}}
{{Infobox color
|title=Magenta
|hex=FF00FF
|image=File:MagentaIcon.png
|source=[[CSS colors|CSS Color Module Level 3]]<ref>[http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#svg-color CSS Color Module Level 3]</ref>
|cmyk=(0, 100, 0, 0)}}

'''Magenta''' is a [[purple|purplish]] [[red]] color.<ref>''Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language'' (1964)</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130614053823/http://oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/magenta definition of magenta] in Oxford dictionary (American English) (US)</ref> On [[color wheel]]s of the [[RGB color model|RGB]] and [[subtractive color|CMYK]] color models, it is located directly midway between [[blue]] and [[red]]. It is one of the 4 colors of substractive ink used in color printing by most [[Color printing|color printers]], also known as [[CMYK color model|CMYK]] along with [[yellow]], [[cyan]], and [[black]] to make all the other colors and hues. The tone of magenta used in [[printing]], [[Shades of magenta|printer's magenta]], is redder than the magenta of the RGB (additive) model, the former being closer to [[Rose (color)|rose]].

Magenta took its name from an [[aniline]] dye made and patented in 1859 by the French chemist François-Emmanuel Verguin, who originally called it ''fuchsine''. 
It was renamed to celebrate the French-Sardinian victory under French Emperor [[Napoleon III]] at the [[Battle of Magenta]] against the larger army of the Austrian Empire on 4 June 1859 near the Italian town of [[Magenta, Lombardy|Magenta]], at the time in Austria. This battle was decisive in [[Second Italian War of Independence|liberating Italy]] from Austrian domination.<ref name=Ball214/><ref name="StClair">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Color|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=978-1473630819|location=London|pages=167–168|oclc=936144129}}</ref> 

A virtually identical color, called roseine, was created in 1860 by two British chemists, Edward Chambers Nicholson, and George Maule.

The [[web colors|web color]] magenta is sometimes also called [[fuchsia (color)|fuchsia]].

Magenta is a bright pink-like color used more like a [[RGBA color model|RGB]] hue.

It also came with a Colourblocks called Magenta, it is a character in [[Colourblocks]].

==In optics and color science==
[[File:Linear visible spectrum.svg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|Magenta is not part of the visible spectrum of light.]]

Magenta is an [[spectral color#Extra-spectral colors|extra-spectral color]], meaning that no [[Spectral color|color of the visible spectrum]] has magenta's hue. Magenta is associated with perception of [[spectral power distribution]]s concentrated mostly in two bands: longer wavelength reddish components and shorter wavelength blueish components.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Parkin |first1=Alan |title=Digital Imaging Primer |date=2015 |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-3540856191 |page=278 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=dRacCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA278}}</ref>

Magenta is the [[complementary color]] of green; thus, mixing one specific shade of magenta light and one specific shade of green light will result in white light.

In the RGB color system, used to create all the colors on a television or computer display, magenta is a secondary color, made by combining equal amounts of red and blue light at a high intensity.

[[File:Cone-fundamentals-with-srgb-spectrum.svg|thumb|upright|[[Cone cell]] response curves.  Note that a magenta response is elicited in the brain by stimulating S and L cones and little to no M stimulus.]]
In the [[CMYK color model]], used in color printing, it is one of the three primary colors, along with cyan and yellow, used to print all the rest of the colors. If magenta, cyan, and yellow are printed on top of each other on a page, they make black. If combined, magenta ink plus ink of its complementary color, green, will result in a dark brown or black.

In terms of [[physiology]], the color is stimulated in the brain when the eye reports input from short wave blue [[cone cell]]s along with a sub-sensitivity of the long wave cones which respond secondarily to that same deep blue color, but with little or no input from the middle wave cones.  The brain interprets that combination as some hue of magenta or purple, depending on the relative strengths of the cone responses.

In the [[Munsell color system]], magenta is called ''red-purple''.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Blue and red make magenta.png|In the [[RGB color model]], used to make colors on computer and television displays, magenta is created by the combination of equal amounts of blue and red light.
File:RGB color wheel.svg|In the RGB color wheel of [[additive colours|additive colors]], magenta is midway between blue and red.
File:CMYK subtractive color mixing.svg|In the [[CMYK colour model|CMYK color model]], used in color printing, [[cyan]], magenta, and [[yellow]] combined make black. In practice, since the inks are not perfect, some black ink is added.
File:Blended colour wheel.svg|Visible spectrum wrapped to join violet and red in an additive mixture of magenta. In reality, violet and red are at opposite ends of the spectrum and have very different wavelengths.
</gallery>

==Fuchsia and magenta==
The [[web colors]] [[fuchsia (color)|fuchsia]] and magenta are identical, made by mixing the same proportions of blue and red light. In design and printing, there is more variation. The French version of fuchsia in the [[RGB color model]] and in printing contains a higher proportion of red than the American version of fuchsia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-01-30 |title=Fuchsia Color: Meaning & Symbolism, Difference with Magenta |url=https://www.colorpsychology.org/fuchsia/ |access-date=2025-07-21 |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<gallery heights="170" widths="170">
File:DoubleFuchsias wb.jpg|The flower of the [[fuchsia]] plant was the original inspiration for the dye, which was later renamed magenta dye.
File:Basic Fuchsine Crystals.JPG|{{anchor|coaltardye}}Magenta took its name in 1860 from this [[aniline dye]] that was originally called "[[fuchsine]]", after the fuchsia flower.
File:NIEdot367.jpg|Magenta has been used in color printing since the late nineteenth century. Images are printed in three colors; magenta, cyan, and yellow, which when combined can make all colors. This image from 1902 is using the alternative [[RYB colour model|RYB color model]] instead.
File:Refill Ink Kit Color crop.jpg|Color printers today use magenta, cyan, and yellow ink to produce the full range of colors.
File:Komplementärfarben magenta auf grün.svg|Magenta is the [[complementary colour|complementary color]] of [[green]]. The two colors combined in the RGB model form white.
File:Marinir Indonesia.png|The [[Indonesian Marine Corps]] beret color is magenta purple.
</gallery>

==History==

===Fuchsine and magenta dye (1859)===
[[File:Carte du Duché de Bouillon (1864).jpg|thumb|160px|right|An 1864 map showing the [[Duchy of Bouillon]] in magenta]]
The color magenta was the result of the industrial chemistry revolution of the mid-nineteenth century. It began with the invention of [[mauveine]] by [[William Perkin]] in 1856, the first synthetic [[aniline dye]]. The enormous commercial success of the dye and the new color it produced, [[mauve]], inspired other chemists in Europe to develop new colors made from aniline dyes.<ref name=Ball214>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3Bd3KqmkhPMC&q=aniline+mauve+magenta&pg=PA214 |title=Bright Earth: Art and the Invention of Color |author=Philip Ball  |edition=illustrated |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2001  |isbn=978-0226036281  |page=214 |access-date=27 July 2014}} Originally referenced from French edition pp. 311–312 {{ISBN|978-2754105033}}</ref>

In France, François-Emmanuel Verguin, the director of the chemical factory of Louis Rafard near [[Lyon]], tried many different formulae before finally in late 1858 or early 1859, mixing aniline with [[carbon tetrachloride]], producing a reddish-purple dye which he called "[[fuchsine]]", after the color of the flower of the fuchsia plant.<ref name="StClair2">{{Cite book|title=The Secret Lives of Colour|last=St. Clair|first=Kassia|publisher=John Murray|year=2016|isbn=978-1473630819|location=London|pages=16–168|oclc=936144129}}</ref> He quit the Rafard factory and took his color to a firm of paint manufacturers, Francisque and Joseph Renard, who began to manufacture the dye in 1859.

In the same year, two British chemists, Edward Chambers Nicholson and George Maule, working at the laboratory of the paint manufacturer George Simpson, located in Walworth, south of London, made another aniline dye with a similar red-purple color, which they began to manufacture in 1860 under the name "roseine". In 1860, they changed the name of the color to "magenta", in honor of the [[Battle of Magenta]] fought by the armies of France and [[Kingdom of Sardinia|Sardinia]] against Austrians at [[Magenta, Lombardy]] the year before, and the new color became a commercial success.<ref name=Ball214/><ref>Maerz and Paul. ''A Dictionary of Color'', New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill. p. 126 Plate 52 Color Sample K12–Magenta</ref>

Starting in 1935, the family of [[quinacridone]] dyes was developed. These have colors ranging from red to violet, so nowadays a quinacridone dye is often used for magenta. Various tones of magenta—light, bright, brilliant, vivid, rich, or deep—may be formulated by adding varying amounts of white to quinacridone artist's paints.

Another dye used for magenta is [[Lithol Rubine BK]]. One of its uses is as a food coloring.

===Process magenta (pigment magenta; printer's magenta) (1890s)===
{{infobox color
|title=Process magenta (subtractive primary, sRGB approximation)
|hex=FF0090
|isccname=Vivid purplish red
}}
In [[color printing]], the color called '''process magenta''', '''pigment magenta''', or '''printer's magenta''' is one of the three primary pigment colors which, along with [[yellow]] and [[cyan]], constitute the three [[Primary colors#Color space primaries|subtractive primary colors]] of pigment. (The secondary colors of pigment are blue, green, and red.) As such, the hue magenta is the [[complementary color|complement]] of [[green]]: magenta [[pigment]]s absorb green light; thus magenta and green are opposite colors.

The [[CMYK]] printing process was invented in the 1890s, when newspapers began to publish color [[comic strip]]s.

Process magenta is not an [[RGB]] color, and there is no fixed conversion from CMYK primaries to RGB. Different formulations are used for printer's ink, so there may be variations in the printed color that is pure magenta ink.
{{Clear}}

===Web colors magenta and fuchsia===
{{infobox color
|title=Magenta (Fuchsia)
|hex=FF00FF
|source=[[X11 color names|X11]]
|isccname=Vivid purple}}
The [[web color]] '''magenta''' is one of the three secondary colors in the [[RGB color model]].
On the [[:File:RGB color wheel.svg|RGB color wheel]], magenta is the color between [[Rose (color)|rose]] and [[Violet (color)|violet]], and halfway between [[red]] and [[blue]].

This color is called ''magenta'' in [[X11 color names|X11]] and ''fuchsia'' in [[HTML]]. In the RGB color model, it is created by combining equal intensities of red and blue light. The two web colors magenta and '''fuchsia''' are exactly the same color. Sometimes the web color magenta is called ''electric magenta'' or ''electronic magenta''.

While the magenta used in printing and the web color have the same name, they have important differences. Process magenta (the color used for magenta printing ink—also called printer's or pigment magenta) is much less vivid than the color magenta achievable on a computer screen. CMYK printing technology cannot accurately reproduce on paper the color on the computer screen. When the web color magenta is reproduced on paper, it is called fuchsia and it is physically impossible for it to appear on paper as vivid as on a computer screen.

Colored pencils and [[crayon]]s called "magenta" are usually colored the color of ''process magenta'' (''printer's magenta'').

==In science and culture==

===In art===
* [[Paul Gauguin]] (1848–1903) used a shade of magenta in 1890 in his portrait of Marie Lagadu, and in some of his South Seas paintings.
* [[Henri Matisse]] and the members of the [[Fauvist]] movement used magenta and other non-traditional colors to surprise viewers, and to move their emotions through the use of bold colors.
* Since the mid-1960s, water based fluorescent magenta paint has been available to paint [[psychedelic art|psychedelic]] [[black light]] [[painting]]s. (Fluorescent [[Cerise (color)|cerise]], fluorescent [[chartreuse (color)#Chartreuse yellow|chartreuse yellow]], fluorescent blue, and fluorescent green.)
<gallery widths="180" heights="180">
File:Bouguereau-Psyche.jpg|Magenta, along with mauve, made with the newly discovered [[aniline dyes]], became a popular fashion color in the second half of the nineteenth century. It appeared in art in this 1890 work,  ''Psyche'', by [[Bouguereau]].
File:Paul Gauguin 099.jpg|[[Paul Gauguin]], ''Portrait of Marie Lagadu'' (1890).
File:Matissetoits.gif|[[Henri Matisse]], ''Les toits de Collioure'' (1905). Henri Matisse and the other painters of the [[Fauvist]] movement were the first to make a major use of magenta to surprise and make an impact on the emotions of the viewer.
File:1967 Mantra-Rock Dance Avalon poster.jpg|In the 1960s, magenta was a popular color in [[psychedelic art]], such as this concert poster for the [[Avalon Ballroom]] in [[San Francisco]] (1967). 
</gallery>

===In literature===
* The color plays a central role in [[Craig Laurance Gidney]]'s novel ''A Spectral Hue''.

===In film===
* The titular alien entity in the 2019 horror film ''[[Color Out of Space (film)|Color Out of Space]]'', an adaptation of the 1927 [[H. P. Lovecraft]] short story ''[[The Colour Out of Space]]'', is depicted as being magenta due to the color's extra-spectral status.

===In astronomy===
* Astronomers have reported that [[Stellar classification|spectral class]] T brown dwarfs (the ones with the coolest temperatures except for the recently discovered Y brown dwarfs) are colored magenta because of absorption by [[sodium]] and [[potassium]] [[atom]]s of light in the green portion of the spectrum.<ref>[http://www.darkstar1.co.uk/ds3.htm Brown Dwarves] (go halfway down the website to see a picture of a magenta brown dwarf)</ref><ref>Burrows et al. The theory of brown dwarfs and extrasolar giant planets. Reviews of Modern Physics 2001; 73: 719–765</ref><ref>[http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/davy/2mass/science/comparison.html An Artist's View of Brown Dwarf Types] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117180311/http://spider.ipac.caltech.edu/staff/davy/2mass/science/comparison.html |date=2011-11-17 }} (26 June 2002) Dr. Robert Hurt of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="160">
File:T-dwarf-nasa-hurt.png|Artist's vision of a spectral class T brown dwarf
</gallery>

===In biology: magenta insects, birds, fish, and mammals===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Reef0484.jpg|[[Coral]] from the [[Persian Gulf]]
File:Andean Flamingo Adult, Phoenicopterus andinus.jpg|An Andean [[flamingo]], (''[[Phoenicopterus andinus]]'')
File:Anisoptera Ana Cotta 2830198213.jpg|A [[dragonfly]], or [[Anisoptera]] Ana Cotta
File:Pseudanthias tuka.jpg|''[[Pseudanthias]]'' tuka, a reef fish from the [[Indian Ocean]]
</gallery>

===In botany===
Magenta is a common color for flowers, particularly in the tropics and sub-tropics. Because magenta is the complementary color of green, magenta flowers have the highest contrast with the green foliage, and therefore are more visible to the animals needed for their pollination.{{Citation needed|date=May 2024}}
<gallery mode="packed" heights="140">
File:Orchid Phalaenopsis hybrid.jpg|[[Orchid]] Phalaenopsis
File:Rhododendron sp. 016.JPG|[[Rhododendron]]
File:Clematis patens sunset 02.JPG|[[Clematis]] "Sunset"
File:Geraniaceae - Geranium sanguineum-1.JPG| ''[[Geranium sanguineum]]''
File:Dahlia - "Hillcrest Royal" cultivar.jpg|[[Dahlia]] "Hillcrest Royal"
File:Rambler Roses Cape Cod.jpg|Rambler [[rose]]
File:Syringa 'Paul Deschanel' 02.jpg|[[Syringa]] "Paul Deschanel"
File:Lilium 'Malinoviy Zvon' 03.JPG|[[Lily]] "Malinoviy Zvon"
File:Blüte Sommerphlox, Kategorie-Polemoniaceae.JPG|[[Polemoniaceae]], or [[phlox]]
File:Cactus plant petailed.jpg|A [[cactus]] flower
File:Achillea 'Staroe Burgundskoe' 02.jpg|[[Achillea]] "Staroe Burgundskoe"
File:2006-10-18Mirabilis jalapa02.jpg|''[[Mirabilis jalapa]]'' "Four O'Clock Flower"
</gallery>

=== In business ===
The [[Germany|German]] [[telecommunications company]] [[Deutsche Telekom]] uses a magenta [[logo]].  It has sought to prevent use of any similar color by other businesses, even those in unrelated fields, such as the insurance company [[Lemonade (insurance)|Lemonade]].<ref>{{cite news | last = Slefo | first = George P.| title = T-Mobile says it owns exclusive rights to the color magenta | newspaper = [[Ad Age]] | date = November 4, 2019 | url = https://adage.com/article/digital/t-mobile-says-it-owns-exclusive-rights-color-magenta/2212556 | access-date = 2019-11-06}}</ref>

===In public transport===
Magenta was the English name of Tokyo's [[Toei Ōedo Line|Oedo]] subway line color. It was later changed to ''[[Ruby (color)|ruby]]''.
It is also the color of the [[Metropolitan line]] of the [[London Underground]].

=== In transportation ===
In aircraft [[autopilot]] systems, the path that pilot or plane should follow to its destination is usually indicated in cockpit displays using the color magenta.<ref name="autopilot">{{cite web | url = https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/children-of-the-magenta-automation-paradox-pt-1/ | title = Children of the Magenta (Automation Paradox, pt. 1) | first = Katie | last = Mingle | date = 2015-06-23 | work = 99% Invisible }}</ref>

=== In numismatics ===
The [[Reserve Bank of India]] (RBI) issued a Magenta colored banknote of [[Indian 2000-rupee note|₹2000]] denomination on 8 November 2016 under [[Mahatma Gandhi New Series]]. This is the highest currency note printed by RBI that is in active circulation in [[India]].
<gallery mode="packed" heights="90">
Image:India_new_2000_INR,_MG_series,_2016,_obverse.jpg|[[Indian 2000-rupee note|Indian 2000 rupee]] note, obverse
Image:India_new_2000_INR,_MG_series,_2016,_reverse.jpg|[[Indian 2000-rupee note|Indian 2000 rupee]] note, reverse
</gallery>

=== In vexillology and heraldry ===
Magenta is an extremely rare color to find on heraldic flags and coats of arms,<ref>{{Cite web|title=coat of arms {{!}} Definition, History, Symbols, & Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/coat-of-arms|access-date=2021-05-11|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> since its adoption dates back to relatively recent times. However, there are some examples of its use:
<gallery mode="packed" heights="110">
File:Cantabrian_Lábaru_Flag.svg|[[Cantabrian Labarum]], [[Cantabria]], [[Spain]].
File:Blason ville fr Magenta (Marne).svg|[[Canting arms]] of the [[Magenta, Marne|commune of Magenta]], [[France]].
File:Flag of Cartago (Valle del Cauca).svg| Flag of the [[Cartago, Colombia|municipality of Cartago]], [[Colombia]].
</gallery>

===In politics===
<gallery mode="packed">
File:Flag of the NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum.svg|The Austrian NEOS party flag
File:Logo der Freien Demokraten.svg
</gallery>
* Throughout much of Europe, the color of magenta (or variants of such, such as [[Pink]] or [[Amaranth (color)|Amaranth]]) is used to symbolise [[social liberalism]] or [[classical liberalism]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Liberal Party Colours |url=https://liberalhistory.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/84_Lippiatt_Party_colours.pdf |access-date=6 April 2025 |website=www.liberalhistory.org.uk}}</ref>
* The color magenta is used to symbolize [[anti-racism]] by the [[Amsterdam]]-based anti-racism Magenta Foundation.<ref>Magenta Foundation. [http://www.magenta.nl/english/ Organization website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827010357/http://www.magenta.nl/english/ |date=2006-08-27 }}.</ref>
* In Danish politics, magenta is the color of [[Det Radikale Venstre]], the Danish social-liberal party.
* In Austrian politics, it is used to represent [[NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum]], a social liberal party.
* In Belgium, it is used by [[DéFI]],  a social liberal party.
* In Germany, Magenta is one of the colors of the [[Free Democratic Party (Germany)|Free Democratic Party]], or FDP.

==See also==
* [[Fuchsia (color)]]
* [[Lists of colors|List of colors]]
* [[Rose (color)|Rose]]
* [[Shades of magenta]]

==References==
<!-- from "==Notes and citations==" -->
{{reflist}}
<!-- ==References== -->
<!-- 1 reference moved to ref Ball214 above -->

==External links==
* [http://www.handprint.com/HP/WCL/waterc.html Pictures of actual aniline dye samples in various shades of magenta.]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130928095527/http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science/strange-but-true/colour_spectrum_magenta_complimentary_bizarre Magenta is a product of the brain rather than a spectral frequency]
* [http://richannel.org/colour-mixing-and-the-mystery-of-magenta Color Mixing and the Mystery of Magenta] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170216214803/http://richannel.org/colour-mixing-and-the-mystery-of-magenta |date=2017-02-16 }}, [[Royal Institution]] video

{{Web colors}}
{{Shades of magenta|Magenta}}
{{Shades of red}}
{{Shades of violet}}
{{Color topics}}

[[Category:Primary colors]]
[[Category:Secondary colors]]
[[Category:Tertiary colors]]
[[Category:Shades of magenta| ]]
[[Category:Optical spectrum]]
[[Category:Web colors]]