30 Meanings of the Color Blue

Blue is a pervasive color in nature that has symbolic meaning to most, if not all, cultures. As the color that dominates the sea and sky, blue is familiar, comfortable, calm and inoffensive. It often feels like an unremarkable background color. However, as a pigment blue was historically rare and expensive such that much folklore developed around its use. The following are common meanings attached to blue followed by a detailed description of each.

Baby Blue
#c3e7fd

Blue traditionally symbolizes youth.

Dark Navy Blue
#00022e

Dark blues are a formal color traditionally used for formal wear.

Royal Blue
#000d50

Blue has symbolized high status institutions in Europe since antiquity.

Sky Blue
#00ccff

Blue is the color of sky and sea. As such, it tends to feel calm.

Ice Blue
#ebfff9

Blue feels cool or cold due to its association with natural elements.

Alice Blue
#f0f8ff

Blues are variously associated with masculinity or femininity depending on the shade.

True Blue
#112358

Blue symbolizes loyalty and trust.

Sincere Blue
#39bdf2

Honesty, sincerity and truth.

Peace Blue
#a8dcdf

Blue is commonly use to symbolize peace, civility and cooperation.

Blue Moon
#1890a8

Rarities and surprise events as with the sayings “once in a blue moon” and “out of the blue.”

Midnight Blue
#120b21

Blue is used as an analogy to feeling down such as “getting the blues.” As such, it can represent sadness.

Blue Monday
#0c1f69

Symbolizes routine and stability.

Diamond
#cff7f6

Associated with luxury and high value items such as diamonds and sapphires.

Marine Blue
#11778b

Oceanic environments and water in general.

Sailing Blue
#439dfb

Sailing culture and related imagery.

Clean Blue
#00e7f1

Cleanliness and sanitation due to blue’s association with water.

Neon Blue
#000afc

Blues such as neon blue are associated with cyberpunk and retrofuturism.

Ghost Blue
#c0d0df

Ghosts and the supernatural.

Midnight Blue
#191970

The nighttime sky is often perceived as blue such that dark blues can symbolize the night.

Space Cadet
#1e2952

Space and space exploration.

Robin's Egg Blue
#00cccc

Mature femininity and elegance.

Cornflower Blue
#6495ed

Blue and particularly cornflower blue is associated with romantic hope and fidelity.

Standard Blue
#0889e4

Blue is the most popular color that is viewed as a safe choice. It is conventional and reserved.

Police Blue
#2417ac

Symbolizes the police due to association with blue uniforms.

Old Glory Blue
#002147

Symbolizes America and patriotism.

French Blue
#0b257c

Traditionally symbolizes France and French culture.

Liberty
#0e1531

Liberty and freedom due to association with America and France.

Earth Blue
#2b2ae4

The planet Earth and environmentalism related to water and air.

Blue Purity
#bde1f0

Blue symbolizes purity due to its association with clean water.

Mystic Blue
#00fff2

Vivid blues are rare in nature such that blue is used in mystical imagery.

Summary

The following are the strongest associations with blue:

Boys	Calm
Christianity	Cold
Formality	Ghosts & The Supernatural
Gullibility	Loyalty
Marine Environments	Masculinity
Naivety	Navy
Neutral	Nobility
Police	Royalty
Sadness	Sailing
Sea	Sincerity
Sky	Trust
Water	Youth

Blue is the most common color in nature as the dominant color of the sky and water. In fact, the Planet Earth appears to be blue from space. Due to its ubiquity in nature, blue is considered to be a calming color.

Due to its prevalence in nature, blue is considered a neutral color that matches all other colors.

The human mind perceives blue as cold to the touch. This is due to elements of nature such as water, ice and sky that tend to be cool or cooling. In terms of perceptual color temperature, blue is the coldest color.

Blue is traditionally used for boys and to represent masculinity in Western culture.

In Europe, blue is associated with youth and naivety. For example, the German idiom blauäugig, translated 'blue eyed', means naive or gullible. This is based on the tendency for Caucasian newborns to be born with blue or gray eyes. In many cases, this color changes to another color such as brown within about a year.

Blue is historically used as an analogy for sadness in English. For example, the idiomatic phrase "feeling blue." This use of blue dates to at least the 16th century with no known origin. People have theorized that it relates to the body turning blue due to a lack of oxygen or extreme cold.

In Europe, blue pigments were late to emerge and when they did emerge they were based on expensive minerals, particularly lapis lazuli. Due to their cost, blue pigments were used to symbolize high status individuals in Europe since antiquity. As such, the color is variously associated with royalty, nobility and the merchant class.

The color ultramarine, made with lapis lazuli, was the most expensive pigment used by medieval European artists. As such, ultramarine was reserved for the most important subjects in a painting, particularly depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus. For this reason, blue became an important color to Christian culture and is associated with Christianity to this day.

In Chinese folklore, blue often symbolizes ghosts, the supernatural and villains.

Blue is an common color for the flags and symbols of nations. It is also an extremely pervasive color in the symbols of corporations, schools and sports teams.

Dark blues are a common color for formal uniforms. For this reason, blue is associated with police, formality and the military, particularly the Navy.

Blue symbolizes loyalty. This stems from the idiomatic phrase "true blue" that originates with the phrase "as true as Coventry blue" that refers to a historical pigment from Coventry that was apparently copied with cheaper alternatives. As blue is a common color for uniforms, political parties, nations and sports teams -- the loyalty association is likely related to specific loyalty to institutions that became a more general phase over time.

With the advent of chemical blue pigments, blue went from being a rare color in goods to amongst the most common colors. It is often selected for things like fashion, products and packaging due to its neutral and unoffensive nature.

Blue is consistently ranked as the most common favorite color in the United States. As blue is a popular color it is considered a conventional or uninspired choice that risks mediocrity. This was depicted in the novel and film Fight Club whereby the protagonist's lame boss asks for the color of an icon to be changed to cornflower blue in a Monday morning meeting.

As blue is the color of the sky, it is very much perceived as a background color that doesn't stand out. As such, it is a poor choice for high visibility applications such as warning signs.

Next: Blue Things

30 Meanings of the Color Blue

Summary

Green Color Meaning

Red Color Meaning

Black Color Meanings

Blue

Persian Blue

Off-Blue

True Blue

Pastel Blue

Color Examples

Blue Palette

Blue Things

Trending

New Articles