Sky blue.html

This article is about the color. For other uses, see Azure (disambiguation).

Azure (color wheel)

— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#007FFF
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(0, 127, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(210°, 100%, 100%)
Source		^Unsourced
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Azure is a blue color on the HSV color wheel (Hue, Saturation, Value) at 210 degrees. Azure is the hue that is halfway between blue and cyan. Its complementary color is orange.

Azure is a near synonym for the color blue. Commonly it refers to a bright blue, resembling the sky on a bright, clear day.

The term azure derives from the Persian لاژورد (lazhward), which was the name of a place in modern Turkestan known for its deposits of lapis lazuli (“stone of lazhward”). The word was adopted into Old French by the twelfth century.

From the French it was adopted into English as a near synonym for "blue". The first recorded use of azure as a color name in English was in 1374.¹

The use of the term spread through the practice of heraldry, where “azure” represents a blue color in the system of tinctures. In engravings, it is represented as a region of parallel horizontal lines, or by the abbreviation az. or b. In practice, azure has been represented by any number of shades of blue. In later heraldic practice a lighter blue, called bleu celeste (“sky blue”), is sometimes specified.

Azure also describes the color of the mineral azurite, both in its natural form and as a pigment in various paint formulations. In order to preserve its deep color, azurite was ground coarsely. Fine-ground azurite produces a lighter, washed-out color. Traditionally, the pigment was considered unstable in oil paints, and was sometimes isolated from other colors and not mixed. Modern investigation of old paintings, however, shows that the pigment is very stable unless exposed to sulfur fumes.²

In some color systems, azure is defined more specifically. In the X11 color system which became a standard for early Web colors, azure is a pale blue color.

"United Nations blue", as it's called by the United Nations,³ is the light blue color of the Flag of the United Nations and of the helmets worn by the United Nations peacekeeping forces.

In Russian, "голубой" (goluboj, azure or cyan) and "синий" (sinij, blue or navy blue) are not two shades of the same color, but distinguished in the way red and pink are distinct colors in English. A similar distinction exists between "azzurro" (azure, but used to indicate various shades of light blue) and "blu" (blue) in Italian.^{citation needed}

1 Variations of azure
2 Azure in human culture
3 References
4 See also

Variations of azure

Azure (web color)

Azure (web color)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#F0FFFF
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(240, 255, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(180°, 6%, 100%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color called azure, a pale pastel tint of cyan.

Columbia blue

Main article: Columbia blue

Columbia blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#9BDDFF
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(155, 221, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(200°, 39%, 100%)
Source		Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color Columbia blue.

Light sky blue

Light sky blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#87CEFA
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(135, 206, 250)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(203°, 46%, 98%)
Source		X11 color names
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color light sky blue.

Sky blue

Sky blue
— Commonly represents —
boys, daylight, water, air, paleness
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#87CEEB
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(135, 206, 235)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(197°, 43%, 92%)
Source		X11 color names
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the web color sky blue.

Maya blue

Main article: Maya Blue

Maya Blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#73C2FB
sRGB^B	(r, g, b)	(115, 194, 251)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(205°, 54%, 98%)
Source		Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color Maya blue.

United Nations blue

United Nations blue

— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#5B92E5
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(91, 146, 229)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(210°, 60%, 90%)
Source		Vexillological
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color United Nations blue.

Cornflower blue

Main article: Cornflower blue

Cornflower blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#6495ED
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(100, 149, 237)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(219°, 58%, 93%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the web color cornflower blue.

Dodger blue

Main article: Dodger blue

Dodger blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#1E90FF
RGB^B	(r, g, b)	(30, 144, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(210°, 88%, 100%)
Source		X11
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the color dodger blue.

Air Force blue

Main article: Air Force blue

Air Force Blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#5D8AA8
sRGB^B	(r, g, b)	(93, 138, 168)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(204°, 45%, 66%)
Source		Internet
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

At right is displayed the color Air Force blue.

Azure in human culture

Astronomy

The planet Neptune is azure.

Automobiles

The 2004 Ford Mustang Mach 1 featured a blue hue color option called Azure Blue.

Computer Games

Azure Kite is one of the main supporting characters in .hack.

Cultural associations

The Azure Dragon is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the Azure Dragon of the East.

Geography

Azure Coast (Côte d'Azur) is a name commonly used for the French Riviera, part of France's southeastern coast on the Mediterranean.

Panelology

Azure Blue is a fictional character who was created by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company.

Vexillology

Azure is one of two colors that make up the flag of Phi Delta Theta

Video Games

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on SEGA Genesis, one of the 2-player stages is called Azure Lake.

References

^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190
^ Rutherford J. Gettens and George L. Stout (1942) Painting Materials: A Short Encyclopedia, New York: Van Nostrand
^ (January 1967.) "The United Nations flag code and regulations" United Nations website. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.