Throughout history, purple was never used to represent a kingdom, civilization, or Empire.

縱觀歷史，從來沒有一個國家、文明，或帝國使用紫色作為代表。

So what's wrong with purple?

紫色有什麼問題嗎？

It's such a popular color today.

紫色在現今非常受歡迎。

Why would no country use it in their flag?

那為什麼沒有國家將它用在國旗上呢？

The answer is really quite simple.

這個答案其實非常簡單。

Purple was just far too expensive.

紫色太貴了。

No countries have purple on their flag because up until the 1800s, purple was worth more than its weight in gold.

沒有國家在國旗上使用紫色是因為，直到 1800 年代，紫色價值比與其等重的黃金還要昂貴。

The color purple has been associated with royalty power and wealth for centuries.

幾世紀以來，紫色讓人聯想到與皇室權力與財富。

In fact, Queen Elizabeth I forbade anyone except close members of the royal family to wear it.

事實上， 伊莉莎白一世禁止非皇室成員的人穿戴紫色。

Purple's elite status stems from the rarity and cost of the dye originally used to produce it.

紫色的高貴地位來自其稀有性，以及原本用來生產染料的費用。

The dye initially used to make purple came from the Phoenician trading city of Tyre, which is now in modern-day Lebanon.

一開始用來製造紫色的染料來自腓尼基的貿易城市泰爾，也就是現在的黎巴嫩。

Fabric traders obtained the dye from a small sea snail that was only found in the Tyre region of the Mediterranean.

織品貿易商從小型海蝸牛取得染料，這種生物只在泰爾地區的地中海找得到。

A lot of work went into producing the dye as more than 10,000 snails were needed to create just one gram of tyrian purple.

製造染料耗費許多工程，光一克的泰爾紫就需要超過一萬隻蝸牛。

Since only wealthy rulers could afford to buy and wear the color, it became associated with the Imperial classes of Rome, Egypt, and Persia.

只有有錢的統治者買得起和穿得起這個顏色，所以紫色開始與羅馬、埃及，和波斯的帝國成員畫上等號。

Purple also came to represent spirituality and holiness because the ancient Emperor's kings and queens that wore the color were often thought of as gods or descendants of the gods.

紫色也用來代表靈性以及神聖性，因為以前帝國穿戴紫色的國王和王后常被認為是神，或神的後代。

Sometimes, however, the dye was too expensive even for royalty.

但有時候對皇室來說，紫色還是太貴了。

Third century Roman Emperor Aurelio famously wouldn't allow his wife to buy a shawl made from tyrian purple silk because it literally cost three times its weight in gold.

第三世紀羅馬帝王奧雷利奧，出名地不准他的妻子買用泰爾紫製造的披肩，因為它要價其重量三倍的黃金。

A single pound of dye cost three pounds of gold, which is the equivalent of fifty six thousand dollars today.

一磅的染料就要三磅黃金，等於現在的五萬六千美元。

So since the sheer price of purple was so astronomically high, no one not even the richest nations could afford to have purple on their flag.

因為紫色的天價，就連最富有的國家也用不起紫色在國旗上。

The hue became more accessible to lower-class is about a century and a half ago.

一個半世紀前，這個顏色開始在下層社會中普及。

In 1856, 18-year old English chemist William Henry Perkin accidentally created a synthetic purple compound while attempting to synthesize quinine an anti-malaria drug.

1856 年，英國一位 18 歲的化學家 William Henry Perkin 在合成奎寧和抗瘧疾藥時，意外製造出一種紫色複合物。

He noticed that the compound could be used to dye fabrics, so he patented the dye, manufactured it and got filthy rich.

他發現這個複合物可以用來染製織品，所以他申請了專利並加工製造，因此致富。

Purple dye was then mass-produced so just about everybody could afford it.

紫色染料自此被大量生產，大家都負擔得起它的價格。

The elite stopped valuing purple and the status symbol faded away but the country flags remain the same.

上層人士不再以紫色為貴，它的標誌地位也漸漸消失，但仍沒有國家使用紫色在國旗上。

Since 1900, a handful of new national flags have been designed and a few of them have opted to use purple in their flag.

自從 1900 年代，開始有幾個新設計的國旗選用紫色。

So don't be making any bets just yet.

所以還不要下任何賭注喔！

Hopefully you found this interesting.

希望你們覺得這部影片有趣。

Sometimes the simplest questions have the most fascinating answers.

有時最簡單的問題，有著最迷人的答案。

For more interesting videos like this one, please subscribe.

想看更多這類有趣影片嗎？請訂閱我們的頻道。