Harman Patil (Editor)

Shades of blue

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Wavelength
  
440–490 nm

sRGB  (r, g, b)
  
(0, 0, 255)

HSV       (h, s, v)
  
(240°, 100%, 100%)

Hex triplet
  
#0000FF

CMYK   (c, m, y, k)
  
(100, 100, 0, 0)

Source
  
X11

Shades of blue

Varieties of the color blue may differ in hue, chroma (also called saturation, intensity, or colorfulness), or lightness (or value, tone, or brightness), or in two or three of these qualities. Variations in value are also called tints and shades, a tint being a blue or other hue mixed with white, a shade being mixed with black. A large selection of these various colors is shown below.

Contents

Tints of blue

In this section, the term tint is used in its technical sense as used in color theory, meaning a blueish color mixed with white or light gray.

Baby blue

Baby blue is known as one of the pastel colors. With a hue code of 199, this color is a tone of azure.

The first recorded use of baby blue as a color name in English was in 1892.

Light blue

The web color light blue is displayed in the color box at right. Variations of this color are known as sky blue, baby blue, or angel blue. Within the X11 color system, with a hue code of 194, this color is closer to cyan than to blue.

The first recorded use of "light blue" as a color term in English is in the year 1915.

Periwinkle

Shown in the right is the color periwinkle, or periwinkle blue. Another name for this color is lavender blue. The color is a mixture of white and blue. It is named after the Periwinkle flower and is also commonly referred to as a tone of light blue.

Powder blue

The web color powder blue is shown on the right.

The first recorded use of powder blue as a color name in English was in 1774.

Morning blue

Displayed at right is the color morning blue. It is a representation of the color of the morning sky.

The year the first recorded use of morning blue as a color name in English is unknown.

Source of color: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Morning Blue (color sample #149)

Blue (RGB) (X11 blue)

The color defined as blue in the RGB color model, X11 blue, is shown at right. This color is the brightest possible blue that can be reproduced on a computer screen, and is the color named blue in X11. It is one of the three primary colors used on the RGB color space, along with red and green. The three additive primaries in the RGB color system are the three colors of light chosen such as to provide the maximum gamut of colors that are capable of being represented on a computer or television set.

This color is also called color wheel blue. It is at precisely 240 degrees on the HSV color wheel, also known as the RGB color wheel. It is a spectral color which lies at, or near, the short-wave (violet) end of the traditional "blue" and possibly was classified as "indigo" by Newton. Its complementary color is yellow.

Blue (CMYK) (pigment blue)

The color defined as blue in the CMYK color system used in printing, also known as pigment blue, is the tone of blue that is achieved by mixing process (printer's) cyan and process (printer's) magenta in equal proportions. It is displayed at right.

The purpose of the CMYK color system is to provide the maximum possible gamut of color reproducible in printing by the use of only three primaries.

The color indicated is only approximate as the colors of printing inks may vary.

Blue (NCS) (psychological primary blue)

The color defined as blue in the NCS or Natural Color System is an azure-like color shown at right (NCS 2060-B). The Natural Color System is a color system based on the four unique hues or psychological primary colors red, yellow, green, and blue. The NCS is based on the opponent process theory of vision.

The “Natural Color System” is widely used in Scandinavia.

Blue (Munsell)

The color defined as blue in the Munsell color system (Munsell 5B) is shown at right. The Munsell color system is a color space that specifies colors based on three color dimensions: hue, value (lightness), and chroma (color purity), spaced uniformly (according to the logarithmic scale which governs human perception) in three dimensions in the Munsell color solid, which is shaped like an elongated oval at an angle. In order for all the colors to be spaced uniformly, it was found necessary to use a color wheel with five primary colors: red, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

The Munsell color displayed is only approximate, as these spectral colors have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut. In the 21st century, this hue is classified as an intermediate between azure and cyan.

Blue (Pantone)

Blue (Pantone) is the color that is called blue in Pantone.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color # Blue C, EC, HC, M, PC, U, or UP—Blue.

Blue (Crayola)

Blue (Crayola) is the color called blue in Crayola crayons.

"Blue" was one of the original Crayola crayons formulated in 1903.

In this section, the term shade is used in its technical sense as used in color theory, meaning a blueish color mixed with black or dark gray. The colors arranged in order of their value (brightness) (V in the HSV code), the brighter colors toward the top and the darker colors toward the bottom.

Medium blue

Displayed at right is the web color medium blue. It is a shade of the standard (h = 240°) blue.

Spanish blue

Spanish blue is the color that is called Azul (the Spanish word for "blue") in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm. It is a shade of azure.

Liberty

At right is displayed the color liberty.

The first recorded use of liberty as a color name in English was in 1918.

The source of this color is: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Liberty (color sample #196)

Egyptian blue

Egyptian blue is a pigment that was used in Ancient Egypt.

Ultramarine

Ultramarine is a blue pigment in use since medieval times.

Dark blue

Dark blue is a shade of the standard (h = 240°) blue. The name comes from the word "Dark" (which originated from Old English dark, derk, deork; Anglo-Saxon dearc, and Gaelic and Irish dorch, dorcha) and "Blue" (taken from French and originated from the Indo-European root bhlewos).

Resolution blue

At right is displayed the color resolution blue.

This color name first came into use in 2001 when it was formulated as one of the colors on the Xona.com Color List.

Navy blue is a shade of the standard (h = 240°) blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with white) worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 (originally called marine blue before 1840) and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world.

The first recorded use of navy blue as a color name in English was in 1840.

Midnight blue

At right is displayed the color midnight blue.

This is the X11 web color midnight blue.

This color was originally called midnight. The first recorded use of midnight as a color name in English was in 1915.

Independence

At right is displayed the color independence.

The first recorded use of independence as a color name in English was in 1927.

The source of this color is: ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Color Names (1955)--Color Sample of Independence (color sample #204).

Space cadet

Displayed at right is the color space cadet.

Space cadet is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list widely popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color "space cadet" was formulated in 2007.

This color is apparently a formulation of an impression of the color that cadets in space navy training would wear.

Variations of blue in culture

Note: For blue in general in culture, please go to the main article on the color blue

Cartography

  • In historical atlases published in Germany, light blue is traditionally used as a color to represent Germany, as opposed to pink for England and the British Empire, purple for France, and light green for Russia.

    • Fashion

  • Dark clothing for males such as black, brown, or dark blue business suits have become much more popular since the mid-1990s, as opposed to the pastel colored business suits worn in the 1970s by major leaders in such institutions as the United States Congress (the vast difference in the clothing worn in the 1970s as opposed to the 2000s (decade) can be readily seen by looking at a videotape of the Watergate hearings).

    • Law Enforcement

  • In many parts of the world, police wear dark blue uniforms.

    • Sexuality

  • In Russian, the word for sky blue, голубой, can be used to mean a 'male homosexual'.
  • In English, phrase "blue joke" means dirty joke (a joke intended for adults; see blue comedy).

    • Sociology

  • In Western civilisation, those in the upper classes in high places of political or economic power often wear dark blue suits. Ordinary members of the working class (especially those who work in the computer industry) often refer derisively to these management functionaries as the suits. This terminology is also used in the television industry—the network executives are often referred to by the creative people (actors, directors, and screenwriters) as the suits.
  • Also, the term blue blood usually refers to the European nobility or upper class, and is based on a medieval belief that the royal blood was blue. In its ironical sence, the term may refer to snobbism and arrogancy.
  • Dark blue or medium blue can also represent the working class. A blue-collar worker is a member of the working class who typically performs manual labor and earns an hourly wage. Industrial and manual workers wear durable clothing that can be dirty, soiled, or even scrapped at work. A popular element of such clothes has been a light blue or navy blue work shirt and blue is also a popular color for work coveralls, the shirts and coveralls both typically made from denim.
  • At the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race on the Thames in London, dark blue is the color of the University of Oxford and light blue is the color of the University of Cambridge. Dark blue and light blue are also nicknames for students of these respective universities.

    • Wrapping the spectrum into a color wheel

    If the visible spectrum is wrapped to form a color wheel, blue (additive primary) appears midway between green and violet:

    References

    Shades of blue Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA