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As the weather warms, more people will be heading outside, perhaps for a nice walk or hike through the countryside. While experiencing nature, you might notice many different colors, like the green of the plants, the pink of some flowers, brown dirt and gray rocks. However, if you see some purple on a fence post, you'll want to turn around and walk away from it.
That's because the fence hasn't been painted that way by some creative artist, rather it is purple to send a message to anyone who sees it. That message: No trespassing.
The reason for using purple paint and not just putting up a "No Trespassing" sign is because signs can be taken or fall down, while paint is more permanent. There are even laws in 16 states that declare that using purple paint is equivalent to putting up "No Trespassing" signs. Known as Purple Paint Laws, they are in place to alert would-be hunters that hunting is prohibited in that area. In fact, there is even a specific paint color used for the posts, aptly called "No Hunting Purple." Since 1,000 hunting accidents injure or kill people each year, property owners paint their posts purple to help keep their families, pets and animals safe.
The Purple Paint Law first came about in 1987, when Arkansas passed it. Texas, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Maine, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Alabama, Arizona, Pennsylvania and Kansas then followed suit. To help residents understand the legislation, many states at first required both signs and paint, but after some time, the local governments felt there was enough awareness of what the paint color meant and no longer required the signage as well. Unfortunately, anyone visiting an area that uses the purple paint who is not familiar with it might not be aware of the color's meaning, so it's important for the safety of both landowners and potential accidental trespassers that word gets out about the significance of purple fence posts.