“Born to the purple” is an idiom referring to someone born into royalty or a wealthy, influential family. The phrase comes from the difficulty of making a particular shade of purple cloth, which was reserved for royalty in ancient times. The tradition continued in Byzantine and European monarchies, but eventually relaxed. The phrase still indicates birth into a position of great prestige.
The phrase “born to the purple” is an idiom in the English language. It has roots in classical antiquity, but is still used, albeit rarely, in modern English. A man or woman of royal blood can be said to be “born to the purple.” The phrase can also sometimes be used to refer to someone born into a very wealthy and influential family, but not actually of royal blood.
In the era of classical antiquity, a particular shade of purple cloth was very difficult to make. Rare sea snails had to be collected, and this task was both tedious and more than a little dangerous. Cloth dyed this purple color was highly prized and was a symbol of great power in the ancient world. Sumptuary laws typically only allowed members of a royal family to wear this color, although, over time, the force of this prohibition gradually diminished.
Other substances known for their rich purple color were also associated with royalty. Porphyry, a variety of purple marble, was widely used in Roman times to denote imperial rank, a tradition seen in statues such as the Four Emperors, carved from porphyry, depicting the four tetrarchs shaking hands in a show of imperial unity . The Byzantine Empire and subsequent European monarchies and empires continued the tradition of reserving the richest purples for royal use.
A son of a royal family had the right to wear this unique color, and was therefore “born in purple”. In the Byzantine Empire, empresses retired to give birth in porphyry-lined chambers. This fact may also have contributed to the origin of this expression.
The societies that followed the Byzantine Empire gradually relaxed the strict limits on the use of purple. The secret of making the royal purples of Tire was also lost for a long time, which made the sumptuary laws somewhat irrelevant. The expression stuck, however, and “born in the purple” continued to mean birth into status and privilege.
The Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution gradually remade the face of Europe and led to the gradual decline of the power of royal royalty. Children of elite families in commerce, finance, government, or other areas could still be said to be “born in the purple.” This phrase is somewhat obscure and archaic in the modern world, but can still be found in popular literature and culture and continues to indicate birth into a position of great prestige.
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