Tyrian purple - originated in the Phoenician civilization.
https://greekreporter.com/2025/09/04/true-meaning-byzantium-purple-born-emperors/
Those who are familiar with the Emperors of Byzantium know they were often spoken of as “purple-born,” a phrase that has, understandably, sparked some wild representations of these powerful rulers of the Byzantine Empire over the centuries. This has led to the rather amusing notion that their royal blood turned violet.
However, this whole Byzantine fascination with the color has a more symbolic element and reveals ancient beliefs related to power, imperial legitimacy, and the theatricality that defined the Byzantine court.
The Greek word “porphyrogennetos,” meaning “born in the purple,” was, in fact, a magnificent declaration of legitimacy within the ruling class of Byzantium and a grand statement of imperial supremacy against the commoners. To be “born in the purple,” so to say, one had to meet certain requirements. Namely, one had to be a child born within a particular, elegantly purple-adorned chamber (known in medieval Greek as the “Porphyra”) within the Great Palace of Constantinople.
Most importantly, that individual’s father had to be the reigning emperor of the time so that the child could claim the title of “purple-born.” Babies born under such circumstances had an exclusive birthing suite, quite literally covered in the most revered and highly expensive color of the ancient world—Tyrian purple. This was a symbolic stamp of true imperial lineage that cemented the future of the baby from the moment he was born.
The dye itself, painstakingly extracted from hundreds of thousands of Murex sea snails, was so ludicrously expensive at the time that its use was largely reserved exclusively for the imperial family. As the years went by and the tradition became more established, this became, quite simply, the unmistakable symbol of the Byzantine divine right to rule the entire empire. The tradition, which really started taking shape from the 8th century onwards, found its most famous figure in Emperor Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos in the 10th century, even though the pattern existed centuries prior.
This was the time when the Byzantines cemented the belief that imperial power was divinely derived and publicly confirmed from the very moment a future ruler drew his first breath within the purple chamber.
More profoundly, the Byzantine obsession with legitimate succession, with the visible, ritualistic affirmation of authority, is still very present in many royal families across the world.
You will see world leaders and influential people wearing purple. This continues to carry heavy symbolism, bypassed by 99.9% of people.
It's not just the color of royal families. It's the color of the global ruling class, born to elite bloodlines.