Sky blue

Sky blue is a colour that resembles the colour of the unclouded sky at noon (azure) reflecting off a metallic surface. The entry for "sky-blue" in Murray's New English Dictionary (1919) reports a first sighting of the term in the article on "silver" in Ephraim Chambers's Cyclopaedia of 1728. However, many writers had used the term "sky blue" to name a colour before Chambers. For example, we find "sky blue" in A Collection of Voyages and Travels (London: Awnsham and John Churchill, 1704), vol. 2, p. 322, where John Nieuhoff describes certain flowers: "they are of a lovely sky blue colour, and yellow in the middle". The sense of this colour may have been first used in 1585 in a book by Nicolas de Nicolay where he stated "the tulbant of the merchant must be skie coloured".[1]

Bright blue sky with clouds

Sky blue
 
Common connotations
boys, daylight, water, air, paleness
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#87CEEB
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(135, 206, 235)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(43, 12, 0, 8)
HSV       (h, s, v)(197°, 43%, 92%)
SourceX11 color names
ISCC–NBS descriptorVery light greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Displayed at right is the web colour sky blue.

Variations

Celeste
Celeste
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#B2FFFF
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(178, 255, 255)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(30, 0, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)(180°, 30%, 100%)
SourceS.Fantetti e C.Petracchi (2001).
Il dizionario dei colori:
nomi e valori in quadricromia.
Zanichelli. ISBN 8808079953.
ISCC–NBS descriptorVery light bluish green
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Celeste (Spanish: [θeˈleste, se-], Italian: [tʃeˈlɛste], English: /sɪˈlɛst/) is the colloquial name for the pale turquoise blue colour associated with Italian bicycle manufacturer Bianchi S.p.A and sometimes known as Bianchi Green. In Italian, as the name indicates (Celestial), it is an attempt to reproduce the colour of clear skies. In English, this colour may also be referred to as Italian sky blue. The Japanese equivalent is known as sora iro or mizudori, referring to the color of the sky or its reflection on the sea.[2]

Bleu celeste ("sky blue") is a rarely occurring 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 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.[3]

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.[4]

colournameCMYKRGBHEX
 celeste (sky blue, heavenly blue) 030000000000178255255B2FFFF
 celeste polvere (dusty) 010000000000230255255E6FFFF
 celeste pallido (pale) 016000003000204255255CCFFFF
 celeste velato (veiled / overcast) 020010010000204230230CCE6E6
 celeste opaco (opaque) 05002002000012820420480CCCC

Bianchi bicycles

Bianchi bicycles are traditionally painted celeste, also known as Bianchi Green (and sometimes, incorrectly Tiffany Blue). Contradictory myths say celeste is the colour of the Milan sky; the eye colour of a former queen for whom Edoardo Bianchi made a bicycle; and that it was a mixture of surplus military paint.

The exact shade of turquoise used by the company has varied over time, but has always been described as Celeste.[5] In Anglophone countries Celeste is sometimes reported as Pantone -#332 (Seafoam green [6]) (or #333), and with various other shades.

Light sky blue
Light sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#87CEFA
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(135, 206, 250)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(46, 18, 0, 2)
HSV       (h, s, v)(203°, 46%, 98%)
SourceX11 color names
ISCC–NBS descriptorBrilliant greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Displayed at right is the web colour light sky blue. It is close in shade to baby blue.

Medium sky blue
Medium sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#80DAEB
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(128, 218, 235)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(46, 7, 0, 8)
HSV       (h, s, v)(190°, 46%, 92[7]%)
SourceCrayola
ISCC–NBS descriptorVery light greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Displayed at right is the colour medium sky blue. This is the colour that is called sky blue in Crayola 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
Vivid sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#00CCFF
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(0, 204, 255)
HSV       (h, s, v)(192°, 100%, 100[8]%)
SourceCrayola C.P.
ISCC–NBS descriptorBrilliant greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the colour vivid sky blue.

Deep sky blue
Deep sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#00BFFF
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(0, 191, 255)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(100, 25, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)(195°, 100%, 100%)
SourceX11
ISCC–NBS descriptorBrilliant greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Deep sky blue is an azure-cyan colour associated with deep shade of sky blue.

Deep sky blue is a web colour.

This colour is the colour on the colour wheel (RGB/HSV colour wheel) halfway between azure and cyan.

The traditional name for this colour is Capri.[9]

The first use of Capri as a colour name in English was in 1920.[10]

The colour Capri in general is named for the azure-cyan colour of the Mediterranean Sea around the island of Capri off Italy, the site of several villas belonging to the Roman Emperor Tiberius, including his Imperial residence in his later years, the Villa Jovis. Specifically, the colour Capri is named after the colour of the Blue Grotto on the island of Capri.[11] as it appears on a bright sunny day. Today the island of Capri is a resort island popular with tourists.

The colour name deep sky blue for this colour did not come into use until the promulgation of the X11 colour list in 1987.

Sky-blue waters of the Blue Grotto in Capri

The name Capri is still used for this colour as well as the name deep sky blue.

French sky blue
French sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#77B5FE
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(119, 181, 254)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(53, 29, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)(212°, 53%, 100[12]%)
SourcePourpre.com
ISCC–NBS descriptorBrilliant blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

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.

Spanish sky blue
Spanish sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#00AAE4
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(0, 178, 228)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(85, 5, 0, 0)
HSV       (h, s, v)(195°, 100%, 89%)
SourceGallego and Sanz[13]
ISCC–NBS descriptorBrilliant greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Spanish sky blue is the colour that is called celeste (the Spanish 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 realm.

Dark sky blue
Dark sky blue
 
    Colour coordinates
Hex triplet#8CBED6
sRGBB  (r, g, b)(140, 190, 214)
CMYKH   (c, m, y, k)(35, 11, 0, 16)
HSV       (h, s, v)(199°, 35%, 84[14]%)
SourcePantone TPX[15]
ISCC–NBS descriptorLight greenish blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)
H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

Displayed at right is the colour dark sky blue.

This is the colour called sky blue in Pantone.

The source of this colour is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" colour list, color #14-4318 TPX—Sky Blue.[16]

In culture
Sports
  • Argentina: Following the colors of the Flag of Argentina, in which sky blue (celeste in Spanish, ) is the predominant color, many Argentine sport teams feature the color, including Racing Club de Avellaneda, Belgrano de Córdoba, Racing de Córdoba, Club Atlético Temperley, Atlético Rafaela, Villa San Carlos, Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy, Gimnasia y Tiro de Salta, and Gimnasia y Esgrima de Concepción del Uruguay. In addition, the Argentina national football team is known as the albicelestes due to the white-and-sky blue striping on their jerseys. This color scheme is featured in other prominent national squads in popular sports such as rugby, field hockey, polo or volleyball, to name a few.
  • Uruguay: The Uruguay national football team 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, Club Atlético Torque, Club Oriental de Football, and Rocha F.C..
  • Australia: Sky blue is the main color of the Australian rugby league team, New South Wales Blues, as it is the official color of the state they represent.

See also
  • Azure
  • Bleu celeste (in heraldry)
  • List of colours
  • Marian blue
  • Shades of blue

References
  1. Cited as 1585 in Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 204; Color Sample of Sky Blue: Page 89 Plate 33 Color Sample E6; the quote is from the English translation of Nicolay's Navigations, peregrinations...faicts en la Turcquie (1577).
  2. Japanese colours
  3. Scott-Giles, C. W. (1958). Boutell's Heraldry (rev. ed.). London & New York: Frederick Warne & Co.
  4. S.Fantetti e C.Petracchi (2001). Il dizionario dei colori: nomi e valori in quadricromia. Zanichelli. ISBN 8808079953.
  5. Design Classics, Cycling Plus, UK, December 2000
  6. Sea Foam Green
  7. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #80DAEB (Medium Sky Blue):
  8. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #00CCFF (Vivid Sky Blue):
  9. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Color Sample of Capri: Page 93 Plate 35 Color Sample L7; The color Capri is shown as lying halfway between Cyan and Azure.
  10. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 191
  11. Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 152 Discussion of the color Capri
  12. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of color #77B5FE (French Sky Blue):
  13. Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guía de coloraciones (Gallego, Rosa; Sanz, Juan Carlos (2005). Guide to Colorations) Madrid: H. Blume. ISBN 84-89840-31-8
  14. web.forret.com Color Conversion Tool set to hex code of colour #8CBED6 (Dark Sky Blue):
  15. Type the words "Sky Blue" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the colour will appear.
  16. Pantone TPX Pantone Color Finder—Type the words "Sky Blue" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the colour will appear:
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