what does this symbol mean?
IEC 60062 A resistor with one wide violet band around the middle of its body, above the figure 7

Violet band on a resistor

On a resistor, a violet (purple) band is the digit 7, the multiplier ×10,000,000, or, as the tolerance band at the end, ±0.1%.

How to read it

In the IEC 60062 color code violet is 7 as a digit band and ×10,000,000 (10⁷, “x 10M” in TT Electronics’ table) as the multiplier. As the tolerance band it is ±0.1%, TT Electronics’ tolerance letter B. The University of Texas at Dallas lab manual calls it “Violet/Purple”, and reads white, purple, yellow as 970 kΩ. It is the 7 in 47 values too: yellow, violet, red is 4.7 kΩ in the University of California, Berkeley lab appendix.

Also searched as: 0.1% tolerance band, purple band on a resistor, purple stripe on resistor, resistor color code violet, violet resistor band, violet stripe on resistor.

This explains what a resistor’s markings mean. Marking schemes vary between makers and series, and the part’s own datasheet takes precedence. It is not a guide to building or repairing electronics.

As a sixth band

On a six-band resistor violet is a temperature coefficient of 5 ppm/K, the smallest in Vishay’s marking sheet. Panasonic’s chart gives the same value and goes one lower, to gray at 1 ppm/K.

Where the charts disagree

The University of Central Florida’s table gives violet no tolerance. Vishay, TT Electronics and Panasonic give it ±0.1%.

More resistor color codes

The same shape elsewhere

Sources

Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 9, 2026. How we research

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