Sky blue refers to a collection of shades comparable to that of a clear daytime

sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

. Typically it is a shade of

cyan Cyan () is the color between blue and green on the visible spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a predominant wavelength between 500 and 520 nm, between the wavelengths of green and blue. In the subtractive color system, or CMYK c ...

or light

teal alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...

, though some iterations are closer to light azure or

light blue Light blue is a color or range of colors, typically a lightened shade with a hue between cyan and blue. The first use of "light blue" as a color term in English language, English is in the year 1915. In Russian and some other languages, there ...

. 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 (1542), si ...

's 1576 ' includes "the tulbant urbanof the merchant must be ''skie coloured''". Clouds Blue Sky 001

Displayed at right is the web colour ''sky blue''.

Variations

Celeste

Celeste (, , ) is the

colloquial Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation amo ...

name for the pale

turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrous phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone for millennia due to its hue. The robi ...

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

colour. The same word, meaning "of the sky", is used 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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, Portuguese and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for the colour.

Etymologically Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

, it is derived by

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

term , that means in Italian. There are two "conventional" colours denominated celeste, according to the

color model In color science, a color model is an abstract mathematical model describing the way colors can be represented as tuples of numbers, typically as three or four values or color components. When this model is associated with a precise description ...

s. One is the ''pure Celeste'', ( HEX#B2FFFF;

RGB The RGB color model is an additive color model in which the red, green, and blue primary colors of light are added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors. The name of the model comes from the initials of the three ...

178,255,255)'''' which may be referred as the "true" celeste as it is traditionally or officially understood; in English, it may also be referred to as Italian sky blue (blu cielo italiano) and Bianchi Green, referring to Bianchi, the famous Italian company for bikes, the first in the history of vehicles, whose colour is characteristic. The Japanese equivalent is known as ' or ', referring to the colour of the sky or its reflection on the sea. The other one is also another conventional celeste ( HEX #99cbff and

153,203,255) containing 100% of

, associated to a more generic color of the

and remembering a type of light

zenith The zenith (, ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in the vertical direction (Vertical and horizontal, plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The z ...

al blue and the next ''sky blue'' gradations. Celeste puro tra sole e orizzonte a Torregrotta

Celeste, that is, the ''pure Celeste'' strictly speaking ( HEX #B2FFFF;

178,255,255) from here on (and which can be thought as the "true" or "conventional" celeste), is a gradation of the

and a cold color. It is the colour of the

with optimal

visibility In meteorology, visibility is the measure of the distance at which an object or light can be clearly discerned. It depends on the Transparency and translucency, transparency of the surrounding air and as such, it is unchanging no matter the amb ...

, when it is clear, perfectly or near-perfectly cloudless and sunny with an optimal quantity of

humidity Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation (meteorology), precipitation, dew, or fog t ...

, absence or optimal quantity of atmospheric dust,

aerosol An aerosol is a suspension (chemistry), suspension of fine solid particles or liquid Drop (liquid), droplets in air or another gas. Aerosols can be generated from natural or Human impact on the environment, human causes. The term ''aerosol'' co ...

particulates Particulate matter (PM) or particulates are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspension (chemistry), suspended in the atmosphere of Earth, air. An ''aerosol'' is a mixture of particulates and air, as opposed to the particulate ...

with a good or at least moderate AIQ (Air Quality Index), absence of

mist Mist is a phenomenon caused by small droplets of water suspended in the cold air, usually by condensation. Physically, it is an example of a Dispersion (chemistry), dispersion. It is most commonly seen where water vapor in warm, moist air meets ...

haze Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classificati ...

, resulting in a good

diffusion Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemical p ...

of light

without saturation, which causes the prevalence of the

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

or of the warm colours of

sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning, at the start of the Sun path. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon. Terminology Although the S ...

and

sunset Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its Earth's rotation, rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it ...

; in these excellent conditions, it is possible to see Celeste and its variations perpendicularly to the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

, toward the

horizon The horizon is the apparent curve that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This curve divides all viewing directions based on whethe ...

, where the

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

is maximum as the sky is directly illuminated, and these shades merge with the golden light of solar rays and the

of the horizon, both in the

morning Morning is either the period from sunrise to noon, or the period from midnight to noon. In the first definition it is preceded by the twilight period of dawn, and there are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and nigh ...

and

afternoon Afternoon is the time between noon and sunset or evening. It is the time when the sun is descending from its peak in the sky to somewhat before its terminus at the horizon in the west. In human life, it occupies roughly the latter half of the s ...

, or even across the entire region between the

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

and the horizon, when the

is high, relatively next to solar or true

noon Noon (also known as noontime or midday) is 12 o'clock in the daytime. It is written as 12 noon, 12:00 m. (for '' meridiem'', literally 12:00 midday), 12 p.m. (for ''post meridiem'', literally "after midday"), 12 pm, or 12:00 (using a 24-hour cl ...

. In particular, in the warm seasons, with the

inclination Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object. For a satellite orbiting the Eart ...

of a

hemisphere Hemisphere may refer to: In geometry * Hemisphere (geometry), a half of a sphere As half of Earth or any spherical astronomical object * A hemisphere of Earth ** Northern Hemisphere ** Southern Hemisphere ** Eastern Hemisphere ** Western Hemi ...

with respect to the

, there are simultaneously the optimization of

, daylight hours, and so the ''pure celeste'' might be visible in the entire region between the

and

both in the

and

; generally, the higher the Sun is during the day and the year, the less visible celeste and variations will be. In particular, they are most visible in the morning across the

and the

in the early hours with the rising of the

, sometimes even until noon, until they are reduced to a few stripes on the horizon, where the

is more intense. In the afternoon, it is the opposite and the ''pure celeste'' and similar gradations could be widely visible between the Sun and horizon when the star is high, but starting to go down, that is especially in the early afternoon hours. Instead, in the cold season, with a low Sun and

, the ''pure celeste'' may be visible only at the horizon, where the

is more intense for the maximum

light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be visual perception, perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400– ...

, but is more difficult to see because of the major

weather Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloud cover, cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmo ...

instability. Since

is strongest at the

, that is where the ''pure celeste'' is more evident, producing the tonalities of the

, very close to the

Alternatively, other variants, like ''Celeste polvere,'' ''Pallido'' and ''Velato'', are visible towards the horizon when the Sun is near to the zenith, always with conditions for good visibility. In the afternoon, always with good conditions, these three types of celeste, together with softer and less bright shades of celeste, are visible at a

straight angle In Euclidean geometry, an angle can refer to a number of concepts relating to the intersection of two straight lines at a point. Formally, an angle is a figure lying in a plane formed by two rays, called the '' sides'' of the angle, sharing ...

from north to south, until around

. In reality, it can be difficult to observe the ''pure celeste,'' being the color of a clear day with optimal meteorological conditions; other shades of blue are often visible in the sky, as ''Light Sky Blue'' and similar gradations, among which is the other conventional celeste, similar to the light blue sky colours rather than the ''pure celeste''. One scientific explanation needs to be made: the Sun emits

across the entire

electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the full range of electromagnetic radiation, organized by frequency or wavelength. The spectrum is divided into separate bands, with different names for the electromagnetic waves within each band. From low to high ...

and so celeste, which is very close to the

with a

of 178,255,255, is very luminous, and so visible in the direction of the Sun because it is there the maximum quantity of solar light is present, especially towards the horizon, even if human eyes can only perceive the

visible light Light, visible light, or visible radiation is electromagnetic radiation that can be perceived by the human eye. Visible light spans the visible spectrum and is usually defined as having wavelengths in the range of 400–700 nanometres (nm ...

. Here celeste and variations are more visible in the warm seasons because of the

of a

with respect to the

, in spring and especially

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, with the optimization of solar light, hours of

daylight Daylight is the combination of all direct and indirect sunlight during the daytime. This includes direct sunlight, diffuse sky radiation, and (often) both of these reflected by Earth and terrestrial objects, like landforms and buildings. Sunlig ...

and meteorological factors. Being the gradation of near-perfectly sunny and clear sky, the color of an ideal sky, it is difficult to see ''pure celeste,'' especially during the coldest or most unstable seasons; instead, generically the sky shows the color of the other conventional celeste with 100% of blue, recalling a light

al blue and the next other types of ''sky blue''; this is not surprising due to the best diffusion of the blue because of the Raylegh scattering.

Bleu celeste Bleu celeste (, "sky blue") is a rarely occurring and non-standard tincture (heraldry), tincture in heraldry (not being one of the seven main colours or metals or the three Stain (heraldry), ''staynard colours''). This tincture is sometimes a ...

("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 chemistr ...

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, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

(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 ' 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.

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 and retail company specializing in list of art media, art supplies. It is known for its brand ''Crayola'' and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered ...

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-

colour associated with deep shade of sky blue. 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 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. A popular resort destination since the time of the Roman Republic, its natural beauty ...

, which first came into use as a colour name in English in 1920.

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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Spanish sky blue

Spanish sky blue is the colour that is called ''celeste'' (the

word for "sky blue") in the ' (''Guide to colourations'') by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a colour dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the

Hispanophone Hispanophone refers to anything related to the Spanish language. In a cultural, rather than merely linguistic sense, the notion of "Hispanophone" goes further than the above definition. The Hispanic culture is the legacy of the vast and prolonge ...

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 an American limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, and best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color order system used in a variety of industries, notably gr ...

. 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, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

: Following the colours of the

flag of Argentina The national flag of the Argentine Republic, often referred to as the Argentine flag (), is a triband (flag), triband, composed of three equally wide horizontal bands coloured light blue and white. There are multiple interpretations on the reas ...

, in which sky blue (''celeste'' in Spanish) is the predominant colour, many Argentine sport teams feature the colour, including

Racing Club de Avellaneda Racing Club () is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Avellaneda, Argentina. They compete in the Argentine Primera División, Primera División, the top tier of Argentine football league system, Argentine f ...

, , Racing de Córdoba,

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 football ...

, Atlético de Rafaela, Villa San Carlos, ,

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 Primera Nacional, the second division of the Argentine football league system. Gimnasia y Tiro has played four seasons at the highest ...

, and

Gimnasia y Esgrima de Concepción del Uruguay Club Gimnasia y Esgrima de Concepción del Uruguay is an Argentine football club from the city of Concepción del Uruguay in Entre Ríos Province. The team currently plays in Torneo Argentino A, the regionalised third division of the Argentine f ...

. In addition, the

Argentina national football team The Argentina national football team (), nicknamed ''La Albiceleste'' (), represents Argentina in men's international Association football, football and is administered by the Argentine Football Association, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino ( ...

is known as the ' 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 (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

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 ...

. *

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

: 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. *

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

: Sky Blue is the main colour of Indian national teams of various sports including

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

and

Field Hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

. *

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

: The Benetton and its successor

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

team won the four drivers' and the constructors' World Championships of the squad with sky blue race cars, driven by

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

at Benetton in and and

Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso Díaz (; born 29 July 1981) is a Spanish racing driver who competes in Formula One for Aston Martin in Formula One, Aston Martin. Alonso has won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with ...

at Renault in and . *

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

: Celeste is the main colour of the football teams

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. *

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

: Football club

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

, the club with the most Swedish championships, adopted sky blue shirts in 1920, which have been used for more than a century. *

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

: Two professional football clubs in England traditionally wear sky blue shirts.

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

adopted sky blue as the main colour of their home jersey in 1894 and have used that ever since then. Coventry City also have had sky blue as the primary colour since the 1960s. *

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

: The

Uruguay national football team The Uruguay national football team (), nicknamed ''La Celeste'' ("The Sky Blue") and ''Los Charrúas'' ("The Charrúa, Charrúas"), have represented Uruguay in international men's Association football, football since their first international m ...

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. 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, Montevideo City Torque, Club Oriental de Football, and Rocha F.C.

References

{{Color topics Shades of azure Symbols of New South Wales