Shades of blue

Blue
 — Spectral coordinates —
Wavelength 440–490 nm

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #0000FF
sRGBB (r, g, b) (0, 0, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 100%, 100%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

This article is a catalog of notable tints and shades of the color blue.

Contents

Tints of blue

Periwinkle

Periwinkle

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #9999FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (153, 153, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 40%, 100%)
Source [1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Shown in the right is the color Periwinkle Blue, or just periwinkle. The color is a mixture of white and blue. It is named after the Periwinkle flower and is also commonly referred to as light blue.

Powder blue

Powder Blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #B0E0E6
RGBB (r, g, b) (176, 224, 230)
HSV (h, s, v) (220°, 70%, 90%)
Source X11[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

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.[2]

Light Blue

Light Blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #ADD8E6
RGBB (r, g, b) (173, 216, 230)
HSV (h, s, v) (194°, 24%, 90%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

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. In the X11 color system(as shown in the left), 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.[3]

Baby blue

Baby blue is known as one of the pastel colors.

The first recorded use of baby blue as a color name in English was in 1892.[4]

Computer web color blue

Blue (RGB) (X11 blue)

Blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #0000FF
RGBB (r, g, b) (0, 0, 255)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 100%, 100%)
Source X11 color names[5]
HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

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. Its complementary color is yellow.


Additional definitions of blue

Blue (CMYK) (pigment blue)

Blue (CMYK) (Pigment Blue)

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #333399
RGBB (r, g, b) (51, 51, 153)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 67%, 60%)
Source CMYK
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

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.

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

Blue (NCS) (psychological primary blue)

Blue (NCS)

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #0087BD
sRGBB (r, g, b) (0, 135, 189)
HSV (h, s, v) (197°, 100%, 74[6]%)
Source sRGB approximation to NCS 2060-B[7]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

The color defined as blue in the NCS or Natural Color System is 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)

Blue (Munsell)

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #0093AF
RGBB (r, g, b) (0, 147, 175)
HSV (h, s, v) (190°, 100%, 68[8]%)
Source Munsell Color Wheel
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

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 in three dimensions in the elongated oval at an angle shaped Munsell color solid according to the logarithmic scale which governs human perception. 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 colors displayed are only approximate as they have been adjusted to fit into the sRGB gamut.


Shades of blue

Medium blue

Medium blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #0000CD
RGBB (r, g, b) (0, 0, 205)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 100%, 40%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color medium blue.

Dark blue

Dark Blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #00008B
RGBB (r, g, b) (0, 0, 139)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 100%, 25%)
Source X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Dark blue is a shade of 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).

Navy blue

Navy Blue

— Color coordinates —

Hex triplet #000080
sRGBB (r, g, b) (0, 0, 128)
HSV (h, s, v) (240°, 100%, 50%)
Source HTML/CSS[1]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color 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.[9]

Variations of blue in culture

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

Fashion

Law Enforcement

Sexuality

References

  1. ^ a b c d e W3C TR CSS3 Color Module, HTML4 color keywords
  2. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 202. See color sample of powder blue, Page 95--Plate 36 Color Sample H2
  3. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190
  4. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190; Color Sample of Baby Blue: Page 93 Plate 35 Color Sample E2
  5. ^ "X11 rgb.txt". http://cvsweb.xfree86.org/cvsweb/*checkout*/xc/programs/rgb/rgb.txt?rev=1.1. Retrieved 2008-02-05. 
  6. ^ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #0087BD(Blue (NCS)):
  7. ^ The sRGB values are taken by converting the NCS color 2060-B using the “NCS Navigator” tool at the NCS website.
  8. ^ web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code #0093AF (Blue (Munsell)):
  9. ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 103; Color Sample of Navy blue: Page 131 Plate 40 Color Sample E11
  10. ^ "Gay.ru". Gay.ru. http://english.gay.ru/life/history/queermoscow/. Retrieved 2009-04-14.