From the examination of the visible and ultraviolet spectra, together with the excitation and fluorescence spectra of the chromatographically pure samples of rhodamine B, rhodamine 6G and violamine R, it is possible to establish the nature of the chromophores in the samples we have studied. In particular there is a report on the possible structures of resonance of rhodamine B, from which it is possible to understand the spectral behaviour of the rhodamines we have studied.