The color Byzantium is a particularly dark shade of purple. It has its origins in the modern era and, despite the name, it should not be confused with Tyrian purple (reproduction of the hue), the color historically used by Roman and Byzantine emperors. The latter, often called “Tyrian red”, has a more reddish hue and is actually often depicted as crimson rather than purple. The first recorded use of Byzantium as a color name in English was in 1926.