Navy blue is a dark shade of blue that originated from the distinctive color worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and later adopted by other navies worldwide. Named after the traditional uniforms of sailors, the term navy blue initially emerged as marine blue in the early 19th century before the name changed. The color was first recorded as navy blue in English in 1840, although the Oxford English Dictionary cites usage as early as 1813, reflecting its long-standing significance in maritime tradition and color nomenclature.
Variations
Indigo dye
Main article: Indigo § Indigo dye
Indigo dye is the color which is called Añil (the Spanish word for "indigo dye") in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.
Indigo dye is the basis for all the historical navy blue colors, since in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, almost every navy uniform was made by dyeing them with various shades of indigo dye.
Navy blue (Crayola)
The Crayola color named "navy blue" is not as dark a shade as the blues actually used by navies.
This tone of navy blue was formulated as a Crayola color in 1958.
Peacoat
The source of this color is the Pantone textile cotton extended color list, color #19-3920 TCX—peacoat.
Persian indigo
Main article: Persian blue § Persian indigo
The color Persian indigo is displayed on the right. Another name for this color is regimental because in the 19th century, it was commonly used by many nations for navy uniforms, though it is rarely used in modern times.
Persian indigo is named for an association with a product from Persia: Persian cloth dyed with indigo.
The first recorded use of regimental (the original name for the color now called Persian indigo) as a color name in English was in 1912.3
Space cadet
Main article: Cadet grey § Space cadet
Space cadet is one of the colors on the Resene Color List,4 a color list widely popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color was formulated in 2007.
This color is apparently a formulation of an impression of the color that cadets in space navy training would wear.
In culture
Computers
- The color navy was one of the original 16 HTML/CSS colors initially formulated for standardized computer display in the late 1980s.
Military
- In many world navies, including the United States Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, uniforms which are called "navy blue" are, in actuality, colored black, as the uniforms became progressively darker over time to counter fading of the dye, although modern dyes are fade resistant. The Canadian Forces dress instructions specify that "'navy blue' is a tone of black".5 (See also uniforms of the United States Navy and uniforms of the Canadian Forces.)
Music
- Navy Blue is an album by Diane Renay (all the songs are about sailors).6
Sports
Navy blue is used by numerous professional and collegiate sports teams:
See also
External links
- Media related to Navy blue at Wikimedia Commons
References
Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York: 1930 McGraw-Hill Page 168 Discussion of color navy blue ↩
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 ↩
Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 203 (It is also stated under the entry on Persian Blue on page 201 that the color on Plate 47 Color Sample C10 (regimental) is a [darker] tone of Persian Blue.); color sample of Regimental: Page 117 Plate 47 Color Sample C10 ↩
"Resene Color List". Archived from the original on 11 July 2024. Retrieved 24 July 2024. https://www.resene.co.nz/swatches/preview.php?chart=Resene%20Multi-finish%20range%20%282016%29&brand=Resene&name=Space%20Cadet ↩
"Canadian Forces Dress Instructions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 March 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090326174038/http://www.army.gc.ca/lf/Downloads/cfp265.pdf ↩
"Diane Renay". Archived from the original on 4 April 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20070404022114/http://www.dianerenay.com/ ↩