Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky.
The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681.
[ A 1585 translation of ]Nicolas de Nicolay
Nicolas de Nicolay, Sieur d'Arfeville & de Belair, (1517–1583) of the Nicolay (family) was a French geographer.
Biography
Born at la Grave in Oisans, in the Dauphiné, he left France in 1542 to participate in the siege of Perpignan which was ...
's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' includes "the tulbant ">urbanof the merchant must be ''skie coloured''".
Displayed at right is the web colour ''sky blue''.
Variations
Celeste
Celeste (, , ) is the colloquial
Colloquialism (), also called colloquial language, everyday language or general parlance, is the linguistic style used for casual (informal) communication. It is the most common functional style of speech, the idiom normally employed in convers ...
name for the pale turquoise
Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of y ...
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
colour. The same word, meaning "of the sky", is used in Spanish and Italian for the colour. In English, this colour may also be referred to as Italian sky blue. The Japanese equivalent is known as ''sora iro'' or ''mizuiro'', referring to the colour of the sky or its reflection on the sea.
Bleu celeste
Bleu celeste (, "sky blue") is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three ''staynard colours''). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It ...
("sky blue") is a rarely occurring tincture
A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemist ...
in heraldry
Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known bran ...
(not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three "staynard colours"). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It is depicted in a lighter shade than the range of shades of the more traditional tincture azure, which is the standard blue used in heraldry.
Gradations
The Italian Wikipedia cites ''Il dizionario dei colori: nomi e valori in quadricromia'' by S.Fantetti and C.Petracchi and describes multiple variants of Celeste as shown below, plus details as defined in the infobox above.
Light sky blue
Displayed at right is the web colour light sky blue. It is close in shade to baby blue
Baby blue is a tint of azure, one of the pastel colors.
The first recorded use of ''baby blue'' as a color name in English was in 1892.
Variations of baby blue Beau blue
Beau blue is a light tone of baby blue. "Beau" means "beautiful" in Fr ...
.
Medium sky blue
Displayed at right is the colour medium sky blue. This is the colour that is called ''sky blue'' in Crayola
Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylv ...
crayons. This colour was formulated by Crayola in 1958.
"Sky blue" appears in the 32, 48, 64, 96 and 120 packs of crayons.
Vivid sky blue
Displayed at right is the colour vivid sky blue.
Deep sky blue
Deep sky blue is an azure-cyan
Cyan () is the color between green and blue on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 490 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue.
In the subtractive color system, or CMYK col ...
colour associated with deep shade of sky blue
Sky blue is a shade of light blue comparable to that of a clear daytime sky. The term (as "sky blew") is attested from 1681. A 1585 translation of Nicolas de Nicolay's 1576 ''Les navigations, peregrinations et voyages faicts en la Turquie'' i ...
.
Deep sky blue is a web colour.
This is the colour on the colour wheel ( RGB/HSV colour wheel) halfway between azure and cyan.
The colour name deep sky blue came into use with the formulization of the X11 colour names
In computing, on the X Window System, X11 color names are represented in a simple text file, which maps certain strings to RGB color values. It was traditionally shipped with every X11 installation, hence the name, and is usually located in ''< ...
over 1985–1989.
The normalized colour coordinates for deep sky blue are identical to Capri
Capri ( , ; ; ) is an island located in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrento Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples in the Campania region of Italy. The main town of Capri that is located on the island shares the name. It has bee ...
, which first came into use as a colour name in English in 1920.[Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 191]
French sky blue
At right is displayed the colour French sky blue, which is the tone of sky blue that is called ''sky blue'' (''bleu ciel'') in the Pourpre.com colour list, a colour list widely popular in France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
.
Spanish sky blue
Spanish sky blue is the colour that is called ''celeste'' (the Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
word for "sky blue") in the ''Guía de coloraciones'' (''Guide to colourations'') by Rosa Gallego and
Juan Carlos Sanz, a colour dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone
Hispanophone and Hispanic refers to anything relating to the Spanish language (the Hispanosphere).
In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is t ...
realm.
Dark sky blue
Displayed at right is the colour dark sky blue.
This is the colour called ''sky blue'' in Pantone
Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graph ...
.
The source of this colour is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" colour list, color #14-4318 TPX—Sky Blue.[
]
In culture
;Sports
*Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...
: Following the colours of the Flag of Argentina
The national flag of the Argentine Republic is a triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reasons for those colors. The flag was created by Manuel Belg ...
, in which sky blue (''celeste'' in Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...
) is the predominant colour, many Argentine sport teams feature the colour, including Racing Club de Avellaneda
Racing Club de Avellaneda, officially known as Racing Club or shortened to just Racing, is an Argentina, Argentine professional sports club based in Avellaneda, a city of the Buenos Aires Province. Founded in 1903, Racing has been historically c ...
, Belgrano de Córdoba Belgrano may refer to:
People
* Joaquín Belgrano (1773–1848), an Argentine patriot
* José Denis Belgrano (1844–1917), Spanish painter
* Joseph Belgrano (1762–1823), Argentine military officer and politician, brother of Manuel
* Manuel Belg ...
, Racing de Córdoba
Club Atlético Racing (usually referred as Racing de Córdoba) is an Argentine football club from the city of Córdoba. The team currently plays in Federal A, the regionalised third division of the Argentine football league system.
History
Ra ...
, Club Atlético Temperley
Club Atlético Temperley is an Argentine sports club from the city of Temperley in Greater Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Primera Nacional, the second division of the Argentine footba ...
, Atlético Rafaela
Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to:
Sports Teams Athletico
*Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy
*Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...
, Villa San Carlos, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy
Club Atlético Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy , (usually known as Gimnasia de Jujuy or just GEJ) is an Argentine sports club based in San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy Province. The club was founded in 1931 and is best known for its football team, wh ...
, Gimnasia y Tiro de Salta
Club de Gimnasia y Tiro is an Argentine football club, based in the city of Salta. The team currently plays in Torneo Argentino A, the regionalised third division of the Argentine football league system.
Gimnasia y Tiro has played four seasons ...
, and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Concepción del Uruguay. In addition, the Argentina national football team
The Argentina national football team represents Argentina in men's international football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, the governing body for football in Argentina.
Nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' ('The White and ...
is known as the ''albicelestes'' due to the white-and-sky blue striping on their jerseys. This colour scheme is featured in other prominent national squads in popular sports such as rugby, field hockey
Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shootin ...
, polo or volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
, to name a few.
* Australia: Sky blue is the main colour of the Australian rugby league team, New South Wales Blues, as it is the official colour of the state they represent.
*Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
: Celeste is the main colour of the football team S.S.Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...
of Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, and one of the two main colours (the other being dark blue) of the football team Calcio Lecco 1912
Calcio Lecco 1912, better known as Lecco , is a football club in Lecco, Lombardy, Italy. The club currently plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian Football
Founded in 1912, it has played in three Serie A tournaments (the last o ...
of Lecco
Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...
.
*United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The two ...
adopted sky blue as the main colour of their home jersey in 1894 and have used that ever since then.
*Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
: The Uruguay national football team
The Uruguay national football team ( es, Selección de fútbol de Uruguay) represents Uruguay in international football, and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The Uruguayan team is ...
has worn a sky blue jersey since 1910, after Uruguayan club team River Plate F.C. wore sky blue while defeating contemporary Argentine powerhouse Alumni Athletic Club
Alumni Athletic Club, or simply Alumni, was an Argentine football team active during the first years of the sport in that country. Although officially founded in 1898, the team had been formed in 1893 when a group of students from the Buenos Air ...
. The national team is nicknamed ''La Celeste''. As in Argentina, a number of Uruguayan club teams use sky blue in their uniforms, such as C.A. Cerro
Club Atlético Cerro, usually known simply as Cerro, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo that currently plays in the Uruguayan Segunda División. Founded in 1922, the club plays its home games at Estadio Luis Tróccoli.
...
, Club Atlético Torque, Club Oriental de Football
Club Oriental de Football, sometimes referred to as Club Oriental de Fútbol, Club Oriental de La Paz, or simply Oriental, are a football club from La Paz, Uruguay. They currently play in the Uruguayan Segunda División Profesional, the second ...
, and Rocha F.C.
The Rocha Fútbol Club is a Uruguayan football (soccer), football club from the city of Rocha, Uruguay, Rocha, Uruguay. It was founded in 1999 and plays in the second professional division of Uruguay.
Rocha was the first club from outside Monte ...
See also
* Air Force blue
* Azure
* Bleu celeste
Bleu celeste (, "sky blue") is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three ''staynard colours''). This tincture is sometimes also called ciel or simply celeste. It ...
(in heraldry)
* List of colours
These are the lists of colors;
* List of colors: A–F
* List of colors: G–M
* List of colors: N–Z
* List of colors (compact)
* List of colors by shade
* List of color palettes
* List of Crayola crayon colors
* List of RAL colors
* List of ...
* Marian blue
Marian blue is a tone of the color ultramarine named for its use with the Virgin Mary.
Background
In paintings, Mary is traditionally portrayed in blue. This tradition can trace its origin to the Byzantine Empire, from circa 500 AD, where blu ...
* 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 shad ...
* RAL 5015 Sky blue
The following is a list of RAL Classic colours from the RAL colour standard. The visual samples are approximate and informative only.
RAL Classic Yellow and beige
Orange
Red
Violet
Blue
Green
Grey
Brown
White and b ...
References
{{Color topics
Shades of azure