Encyclopedia
Blue is any of a number of similar
colors. When it is a pure color from a single source, it corresponds with a
wavelength range of about 420–490
nanometers. It is considered to be one of the three primary additive
colors in
RGB system; blue
light has the shortest
wavelength range of the three
additive primary colors. The English language commonly uses "blue" to refer to any color from navy blue to
cyan.
The complementary color of blue is
yellow.
Blue in RGB system
In the RGB color system, colors are formed by mixing a
red, a
green and a blue color. When talking about RGB, therefore, some people use blue to mean that specific blue, which varies in shade according to the device used to display the RGB color. Absolute color spaces based on RGB, such as
sRGB define an exact color for this blue, which may differ from the actual blue used in a particular computer monitor.
Naming and etymology
Blue in English
The modern English word
blue comes from the Middle English,
bleu or
blwe, which came from an
Old French word
bleu of
Germanic origin .
Bleu replaced Old English
blaw. The root of these variations was the Proto-Germanic
blæwaz, which was also the root of the Old Norse world
bla and the modern
Scandinavian word
blåit can also be green or orange occasionally. A
Scots and Scottish English word for "blue-grey" is
blae, from the Middle English
bla . As a curiosity,
blue is thought to be cognate with
blond and
black through the Germanic word. Through a Proto-Indoeuropean root, it is also linked with Latin
flavus , with Greek phalos , French blanche , and with Russian ?????,
belyi , and Welsch blawr all of which derive from the Proto-Indo-European
root *
bhel- meaning "to shine, flash or burn", , from whence came the names of various bright colors, and that of color black from a derivation meaning "burnt" .
Blue and green in other languages
Many languages do not have separate terms for blue and or green, instead using a cover term for both . For example, in
Vietnamese both tree leaves and the sky are
xanh .
Chinese has a word ?
qing that can refer to both, though it also has separate words for blue and green . The
Korean word can mean either green or blue. In
Japanese the word for blue is often used for colors that English speakers would refer to as green, such as the color of a traffic signal meaning "go". Some Nguni languages of southern
Africa, including Tswana languageure momaa na utilize the same word for blue and green. In traditional
Welsh ,
glas could refer to blue but also to certain shades of green and grey; however, modern Welsh is tending towards the 11-color Western scheme, restricting
glas to blue and using
gwyrdd for green and
llwyd for grey.Similarly, in Gaelic,
glas can mean various shades of green and grey , while
liath is grey proper , and the term for blue proper is
gorm . In
Swedish,
blå, the modern word for blue, was also used to describe black until the early 20th century.
Blue in Russian
On the other hand,
Russian does not have a single word referring to the whole range of colors denoted by the English term "blue." Instead, it traditionally treats light blue as a separate color independent from plain or dark blue , with all 7 "basic" colors of spectrum ; while in English the light blues like
azure and
cyan are considered mere shades of "blue" and not shades of a different color. To better understand this, consider that English makes a similar distinction between "
red" and light red , but such a distinction is unknown in several other languages; for example, both "red" and "pink" have traditionally been considered varieties of a single color in
Chinese.
Blue in Italian
Like Russian, Italian treats light blue as a separate color, which is to blue as pink is to red.
Blue in Turkish
Finally, it has been argued that
Turkish treats dark or navy blue as a separate color from plain or light blue . Mavi is etymologically originated from the Arabic word Ma'i, which meant "like water" and lacivert is originated from lajvard, which was accounted as an expensive gem with the color of navy blue. Some historians argue that lajvard was the Farsi name for lapis lazuli, although there is no solid evidence to prove this claim right.
Blue in the environment
A clear
sky on a sunny day appears blue because of
Rayleigh scattering of the light from the
Sun.
Large quantities of water appear blue because
red light around 750 nm is absorbed as an overtone of the O-H stretching vibration. Heavy water is colorless, because the absorption band is outside the visible spectrum.
Plants
- Blue agave is a blue-leafed variety of the Mexican agave, used for making tequila.
- Bluebonnets are two lupine annual flowers in the Lupinus genus that are native to Texas: Lupinus subcarnosus and Lupinus texensis. They have a light blue appearance and palmately compound leaves. In Scots it refers to the bird Parus cœruleus.
- Bluebell may refer to both the bulbous plants in the Hyacinthoides genus of lilies, or the plants in the genus Mertensia.
- Blueberry refers to any of the plants in the genus Vaccinium, all of which have flowers with edible berries colored blue to blue-black, which are also called "blueberries".
- Blue Flag Iris, Iris versicolor, also commonly known as the Harlequin Blueflag the Blue Flag Iris and ot...
, also commonly known as the Harlequin Blueflag. - Blue Jacaranda, an ornamental tree with blue flowers.
Animals
...
.
...
, or
Mountain Bluebird . They are medium-sized thrushes that usually have blue plumage and, in males, a rust-color breast.
When a
dog or cat is described as having a "blue" coat, it refers to a shade of grey which takes on a bluish tint, and diluted variant of a pure black coat. Breeds such as the
Kerry Blue Terrier dog and
Russian Blue cat have solid "blue" coats, as does the "British Blue" variety of the
British Shorthair cat. Others, such as the
Australian Shepherd and
Border Collie, may have
blue merle coats, which is "blue" mixed in with a solid, usually brown or black, base color. .
The western skink has a brilliant
cobalt blue tail.
Geography
Mountains and ranges
Rivers
...
.
Symbolism and expressions
Blue often denotes injury, such as in the phrase "
black and blue," since it is the color of a
bruise. Blue is used also as a word to denote a sad or melancholy state, as in depression, or simply a state of deep contemplation . Symbolically, blue is associated with that state, such as the term
blue period to describe
Pablo Picasso's work from 1901 to 1904.
- Blue is associated with water; on coloured maps, oceans, lakes, and streams often appear blue.
- Blue is associated with France. The term Les Bleus is often used in a sporting context. In all but motor sports, Italian color is light blue, and Italian athletes are called Azzurri.
- Blue is considered a calming, soothing colour, perhaps related to its association with water and to the sky.
- Blue has the connotation of conservatism, tradition, and stability, in contrast with red which seems more radical, which is probably why blue is used more by conservative parties. Paradoxically, the more liberal U.S. Democratic Party has recently become associated with the color blue, whereas red has become associated with the conservative Republican Party. This shift occurred in the 2000 Presidential election in which states which leaned toward Al Gore were colored blue by the major news networks and those that leaned towards George W. Bush
...
were colored red. Why the United States runs contrary to the rest of the world on this matter is unknown, but it is sometimes attributed by liberals to the Republican Party's desire to appear to be the party of "red-blooded Americans", leaving the other "American" color, blue, to the Democrats. Alternatively, some claim that liberals desired to dissociate themselves from a color still seen by many Americans as a symbol of communism. This standardization is relatively recent: many older reference works, such as
The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, had used blue to represent Republicans and red to represent Democrats, as did some media outlets.
Time magazine, which used blue for Republicans and red for Democrats as late as the 2002 Congressional elections but switched to the more prevalent system for the 2004 presidential election, was probably the last major media outlet to adhere to the old color scheme.
- Blue is often a colour used to symbolise honesty and trustworthiness. Hence it is used by mortgage companies and banks, as well as the clothing of businesspeople.
- Blue sky is a term used to describe the ability to conceptualize or create something from nothing. In other words, ex nihilo. It is a term that can describe a person, i.e. She's an amazing blue sky business analyst. It can also be used to illustrate constraints, i.e. You cannot work from a blue sky angle as there are limitations to what can be done for this project.
- In old Australian slang, a "blue" can also describe a fight or an argument. Men with red hair may be nicknamed "Bluey". The phrase "true blue" also means "genuine" .
- Blue comedy is comedy that uses references to socially taboo subjects such as sexual or lavatorial double entendre. Blue movie is a slang term for a pornographic film. There are also "blue magazines". This term is most common in Britain but also used in the United States and Israel.
- Although blue is traditionally associated with boys as pink is associated with girls, there have also been periods in which pink was considered proper for boys and blue for girls, and times when no set color convention appears to have been in place.
- In Swedish the phrase blåögd can refer to a naïve person or to an idea that is naïve. Perhaps because blue eyes in some places are more common in children, but in Sweden blue eyes are common amongst adults, so the origin of the saying is unclear.
- Blue is the color of the snooker ball which has a 5-point value.
- Blue is a variety of credit card issued by American Express.
- The German word for blue is used for "drunk". "blau machen" means to skip work.
- In Russian, the word for light blue is slang for "gay".
- In auto racing, a blue flag advises a car to yield to faster traffic behind.
- Blue balls is a slang term for a temporary fluid congestion in the scrotum and prostate region. It is most commonly associated with adolescents but can occur in any sexually mature male.
- Royalty are sometimes described as having blue blood.
- A "blue chip" is the nickname for a stock that is thought to be safe and in excellent financial shape.
- In the United States, $1 bills are delivered by the Federal Reserve Bank
...
in blue straps.
- Blue is the color claimed by the Crips street gang.
- Blueprint is a term for a design of something, usually important items.
Books and written works
In the
United Kingdom the traditional covering for Parliamentary and official publications and reports in the nineteenth century was a deep blue, and the reports came to be known as "
blue books". In present usage a blue book is usually an
almanac or similar reference work. For example, the
Oregon Blue Book is the official directory and fact repository of the state of
Oregon, while the
Harvard Bluebook dictates a style of legal citation.
The Blue Book is a term for a policy document issued by the
Federal Communications Commission in the
United States in 1946, urging television networks to uphold their commitment to public service. The
Kelley Blue Book is a popular guide used for
automobile prices.
A "
blue examination book" is a book of blank, lined writing paper having a blue cover. It is often used in American schools and universities as a convenient place for students to write answers to problems and essays during an examination. A popular supplier of blue examination books is Roaring Spring Paper Products in Roaring Spring, PA, originally founded as the Roaring Spring Blank Book Company in 1887.
Blue pages are a
telephone directory of government offices—either an official blue book or a section of a commercial directory. Compare with the
yellow pages or white pages.
In
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction [i] comedy series that debuted as a radio comedy [i] ...
there are many references to the
Hooloovoo, "a super-intelligent shade of the color blue."
In
House of Leaves is the debut novel [i] by writer Mark Z. Danielewski [i], published by Pantheon Books [i] ...
every instance of the word House is in blue.
On Being Blue: A Philosophical Inquiry is a book-length essay by William H. Gass.
In the non-canon
Star Trek series
Starfleet Corps of Engineers, there is a character called P8 Blue who is a civilian.
Prizes
"
Blue ribbon" is a term used to describe something of high quality, such as a
Blue-Ribbon Panel or a
blue-ribbon commission. This comes from the practice of awarding blue ribbons for first place in competitions. The
Blue Riband was a notional prize conferred since the 1860s to the ship that made the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing. The first ship actually to fly a blue pennant from her masthead upon winning this was the French liner Normandie in 1936.
Mathematics, science, and technology
- "Big Blue" is a nickname for IBM
...
.
...
's dialing console by replicating the tones used to switch long-distance calls and using them to route the user's own call, bypassing the normal switching mechanism. They were used to avoid charges for telephone calls.
- In medical diagrams, blue is used to represent veins carrying deoxygenated blood back to the heart. Deoxygenated blood is actually reddish violet. When a medical patient is not getting enough oxygen or has stopped breathing, however, their skin often takes a blue tint, a condition called cyanosis. The blue color of veins is associated with deoxygenated myoglobin, a compound similar to hemoglobin and found in tissues.
- In astronomy, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, the third full moon in a season that has four, or a moon that appears blue because of particles in the atmosphere. All are uncommon enough that the expression "once in a blue moon" means "once in a great while" or "infrequently."
- Blue 80A filters are used to correct the excessive redness of tungsten lighting in color photography.
National, athletic, and university associations
Azzurro, a light blue, is the national color of
Italy .
Blue is the national color of
Greece and
Israel and the color is seen on the
Israeli and
Greek flags.
Dark blue is associated with the
University of Oxford and
Florida International University Light blue is associated with the
University of Cambridge. The sporting colours of these universities are called "the blues". Those who represent their university in certain sports are allowed to wear a blue blazer, and the selection of someone to represent their university is therefore known as being "awarded a blue". . The awarding of a Blue is followed by many universities in the
Commonwealth of Nations for outstanding sporting achievement.
A specific shade of dark blue is associated with
Yale University. Blue Devils are the mascot of many American universities; Duke University's blue devils are the most famous. Ironically their rivals the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also uses a shade of blue as their school color. This has led many to associate their school colors to differentiate shades of blue in daily occurrences, with the darker blue known as "Duke blue" and the lighter powder blue as "Carolina blue." Other universities with the mascot include
Central Connecticut State University, Dillard University,
Lawrence Technological University,
State University of New York at Fredonia, and the University of Wisconsin-Stout. The
University of Michigan wolverines' fans usually chant "Let's go blue!" during sporting events.
The
Columbus Blue Jackets are a
National Hockey League team based in
Columbus,
Ohio. The Blue Jays are the mascots of the
Toronto Blue Jays, a
Major League Baseball team, and its two
minor league affiliates: the Dunedin Blue Jays in
Dunedin,
Florida, and the Pulaski Blue Jays in
Pulaski,
Virginia.
Social class, occupation, and military associations
Blue may denote the working class, derived from the traditional color of factory uniforms. Blue-collar workers are industrial workers and are often contrasted with white-collar office workers. However, in contrast to "blue collar," the phrase "blue blood" is used to mean "from an aristocratic background," because pale, untanned skin–historically, a sign of nobility–allows blue-tinged veins to show through.
Several vocations are associated with blue.
Law enforcement, and uniformed
police, often wear blue uniforms and have become associated with the color, as seen in phrases such as "boys in blue," "blue line," and "blue wall." Most
police cars have blue colors, and
United Nations peacekeepers 
