To provide a color liquid crystal projector that the quantity of heat generated at a polarizing plate is reduced and a projection image with high contrast and high color purity can be formed.

This projector is provided with a light source 14, a color separation means separating the light of the light source into plural luminous flux having mutually different wavelength areas, a liquid crystal device 30 modulating the respective luminous flux separated by the color separation means and a projection optical system 50 projecting the respective luminous flux modulated by the liquid crystal device 30 toward a screen. By constituting the color separation means of the plural reflection type polarizing plates 20R, 20G and 20B transmitting one out of P polarized light or S polarized light and reflecting the other mutually different prescribed wavelength, the colorseparated luminous flux(polarized light) is guided to the liquid crystal device 30. Thus, the color purity is enhanced without arranging absorbing type polarizing plates 48 and 49 before and behind the liquid crystal device 30. Besides, since the quantity of light absorbed by the plates 48 and 49 is small even if the plates 48 and 49 are arranged, such trouble that the heat is generated at the polarizing plate does not occur.