Across ancient to early modern cultures, certain colors become “royal” because of three factors: rarity of the dye, cost of production, and symbolic resonance with cosmic or divine attributes.
Purple / Tyrian Purple
The most universally recognized royal color. Tyrian purple was extracted from the murex sea snail. Thousands of snails produced only tiny quantities of dye. Because of this extreme scarcity, the dye became a controlled substance; in the Roman Empire some shades of purple were legally restricted to the emperor. Symbolic associations: sovereignty, the twilight zone between heaven and earth, the fusion of red (power, blood) and blue (sky, divinity). In medieval Christian symbolism, purple becomes tied to Christ’s kingship and to penitential themes.
Royal Blue / Ultramarine / Azure
Royal blue emerges later, especially in medieval and early modern Europe. Lapis lazuli was imported from Afghanistan at immense cost. When ground into pigment (ultramarine), it was more expensive than gold. Blue signified the heavens, truth, and divine authority. Monarchies adopted deep blue as a sign of celestial sanction. Christian art associates blue heavily with the Virgin Mary, further enhancing its prestige and purity.
Scarlet / Crimson
Scarlet dyes, especially those made from kermes and later cochineal, were extremely expensive. Color symbolism: blood, vitality, martial vigor, erotic power. Roman generals and emperors wore scarlet cloaks. Later, in medieval and Renaissance Europe, scarlet indicated high office—cardinals, kings, and magistrates. Scarlet also appears in alchemy as the fiery tincture of perfected sulphur, linking it to the Red King and the Red Lion.
Gold
Gold is not strictly a color but a material, yet it becomes the most potent royal hue. Symbolism: the Sun, incorruptibility, divinity. Gold leaf in art, gold crowns, gilded thrones—these all exist because gold physically embodies what kingship claims spiritually: permanence, radiance, and centrality. In alchemy, gold is the king of metals, and the completed Stone possesses a solar-golden nature.
White
In several cultures, white is reserved for priest-kings and sacral rulers rather than warrior kings. Symbolism: purity, divine sanction, transcendence. In ancient Persia, white was the color of Zoroastrian priests. In Christian liturgy, white marks resurrection and kingship in a spiritual mode. White corresponds to Albedo, purification, and the celestial or angelic dimension of royal consciousness.
Black
Black appears paradoxically as a royal color in some medieval and early modern heraldry. Symbolism: potency, hidden power, mastery over death. In alchemy, black is Nigredo—the beginning of kingship through descent, destruction, and disidentification. Kings who wore black (in Gothic courts, Burgundian nobility, the Spanish Habsburgs) intended to signal austerity, self-command, and absolute authority.
Integration with the Royal Art
Purple links the Prince’s forgotten divinity with the hidden royal bloodline. Blue expresses the celestial identity and the restoration of alignment with Heaven. Scarlet embodies the trials, sacrifices, and battles of the Quest. Gold marks apotheosis: the Stone, the Crown, the enthronement. White corresponds to purification, angelic initiation, the Albedo exaltation. Black marks the Nigredo, the fall, exile, and descent into matter. Green is the primordial state: the Green Lion, the raw royal soul that must be transformed.