Yesterday in a parking lot, I witnessed a heated argument. A woman was yelling at a guy that he needed to move his car immediately because he was parked in a purple parking space. The guy said he knew what he was doing and had the right to park there, but the woman kept insisting. I had to leave because I was with my kids, but what was that about? Who are the people who can park in purple parking spaces?

You might see accessible parking.

Nearby, there could be spaces reserved for families, expectant parents, veterans, employees, customers picking up online orders, or electric-vehicle charging.

Some facilities use unique colors to distinguish these categories.

The purpose is not always obvious to someone visiting for the first time.

A visitor might see a brightly painted space and think:

*That’s unusual.*

A regular customer, however, may know exactly what it means.

This is why parking-lot arguments sometimes happen.

Two people can look at the same space and interpret it differently.

## The Color Is Not a Universal Parking Code

It’s tempting to believe that every parking color has a standardized meaning.

Unfortunately, that’s not how parking works.

Some markings are standardized or strongly associated with particular uses.

Accessible parking is a good example.

But beyond widely recognized categories, property owners and local authorities can use colors in different ways.

A purple space at one shopping center may have nothing to do with a purple space at another location.