Azure (color wheel)
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#007FFF
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(0, 127, 255)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(210°, 100%, 100[1]%)
Source		[Unsourced]
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Azure is a blue-cyan color on the HSV color wheel (Hue, Saturation, Value) at 210 degrees. Azure is the hue that is halfway between blue and cyan. Azure is one of the tertiary colors on the HSV color wheel. Its complementary color is orange.^[2]

The word 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.^[3]

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.^[4]

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,^[5] 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]}

Contents 1 Variations of azure 1.1 Azure mist (web color azure) 1.2 Columbia blue 1.3 Light sky blue 1.4 Sky blue 1.5 Maya blue 1.6 United Nations blue 1.7 Cornflower blue 1.8 Dodger blue 1.9 Celestial blue 1.10 Wild blue yonder 1.11 Air Force blue 2 Azure in nature 3 Azure in human culture 4 References 5 See also

[edit] Variations of azure

[edit] Azure mist (web color azure)

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

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

In an artistic context, this color would be called azure mist.

[edit] Columbia blue

Columbia blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#9BDDFF
RGBB	(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.

[edit] Light sky blue

Light sky blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#87CEFA
RGBB	(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.

[edit] Sky blue

Sky blue
— Common connotations —
boys, daylight, water, air, paleness
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#87CEEB
RGBB	(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.

The first recorded use of sky blue as a colour name in English was in 1728; before that, since 1586, the color had been called simply sky. ^[7]

[edit] Maya blue

Maya Blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#73C2FB
sRGBB	(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.

[edit] United Nations blue

United Nations blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#5B92E5
RGBB	(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.

[edit] Cornflower blue

Cornflower blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#6495ED
RGBB	(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.

[edit] Dodger blue

Dodger blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#1E90FF
RGBB	(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.

[edit] Celestial blue

Celestial blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#4997D0
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(73, 151, 208)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(205°, 65%, 81[8]%)
Source		Plochere
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color celestial blue.

The first recorded use of celestial blue as a color name in English was in 1535. ^[9]

The source of this color is the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers. ^[10]

[edit] Wild blue yonder

Wild Blue Yonder
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#A2ADD0
RGBB	(r, g, b)	(162, 173, 208)
HSV	(h, s, v)	(226°, 22%, 81[11]%)
Source		Crayola
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

Displayed at right is the color wild blue yonder.

This Crayola color was formulated in 2003. Apparently, it represents the color of the sky on a cloudy, stormy day.

[edit] Air Force blue

Air Force Blue
— Color coordinates —
Hex triplet		#5D8AA8
sRGBB	(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.

[edit] Azure in nature

Insects

• Appalachian Azure (Celastrina neglectamajor), butterfly in the gossamer wings family, Lycaenidae
• Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella), damselfly found in Europe
• Azure Hawker (Aeshna caerulea), dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae

Birds

• Azure Gallinule (Porphyrio flavirostris), bird in the rail family, Rallidae
• Azure Jay (Cyanocorax caeruleus) bird in the crow family, Corvidae
• Azure Kingfisher (Alcedo azurea), bird in the river kingfisher family, Alcedinidae
• Azure Tit (Cyanistes cyanus), bird in the tit family, Paridae
• Azure-crowned Hummingbird (Amazilia cyanocephala), hummingbird in the Trochilidae family
• Azure-hooded Jay (Cyanolyca cucullata), bird in the crow family, Corvidae
• Azure-naped Jay (Cyanocorax heilprini), bird in the crow family, Corvidae
• Azure-rumped Tanager (Tangara cabanisi), bird in the Thraupidae family
• Azure-shouldered Tanager (Thraupis cyanoptera), bird in the Thraupidae family
• Azure-winged Magpie (Cyanopica cyana), bird in the crow family, Corvidae

[edit] Azure in human culture

Astronomy

• The planet Neptune is colored azure because of the prevalence of methane in the Neptunian atmosphere.

Automobiles

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

Cloud Computing

• Microsoft Corporation announced on 17 November 2009 it will launch its Windows Azure cloud computing system on 1 January 2010. ^[12]

Computer Games

• In the computer game Diablo using an eldritch shrine will give you the message "Crimson and Azure becomes as the sun"
• In the classic first person shooter Quake, a level is titled "Azure Agony", and features a blue color scheme.
• Azure Kite is one of the main supporting characters in .hack.
• In the first .hack// game series on PS2, two of the friends of the main character, Kite, are known by special names. They are Orca of the Azure Sea and Balmung of the Azure Sky.
• In the fighting game series Soul Calibur, the character Nightmare is nicknamed the Azure Knight.

Geography

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

Music

• Azure Ray was an American dream pop duo, consisting of musicians Maria Taylor and Orenda Fink, that was active primarily from 2001 to 2004.

Mythology

• In Chinese mythology, the Azure Dragon is one of the Four Symbols of the Chinese constellations. It is sometimes called the Azure Dragon of the East (simplified Chinese: 东方青龙; traditional Chinese: 東方青龍; pinyin: Dōng Fāng Qīng Lóng), and it is known as Seiryuu in Japan and Cheongryong in Korea. It represents the east and the spring season.

Panelology

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

Religion

• In the teachings of the UFO religion the Unarius Academy of Science, the capital of Venus, which, like the Venusians themselves, is said to exist on a higher vibratory plane, is called Azure. ^[13]

Sports

• Some professional teams use the color sky blue:
  • England: Manchester City F.C., Coventry City F.C.
  • Japan: Júbilo Iwata, Yokohama F.C., Sagan Tosu

Vexillology

• Azure is one of the national colors of Italy on its Coat of Arms.
• Nations which use shades of Azure in their flags include Argentina, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Palau, San Marino, Somalia, Sweden, and Ukraine.
• The flag of the United Nations is a shade of azure called "United Nations Azure" or "United Nations Blue".
• The Bisexual pride flag uses a shade of azure, Pantone Blue #286.
• Azure is one of two colors that make up the flag of Phi Delta Theta
• Sky blue (Pantone Blue #291) is the official color of the Australian state of New South Wales^[14].

Video Games

• In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on Sega Genesis, one of the 2-player stages is called Azure Lake.
• One of the maps on the third episode of Heretic is called The Azure Fortress.
• In Monster Hunter there is a wyvern called Azure Rathalos, named for its azure scales.

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Azure (color used in heraldry)
• St. Patrick's Blue
• List of colors

v • d • e Shades of blue
Air Force blue	Alice blue	Azure	Baby blue	Blue	Bondi blue	Brandeis blue	Cambridge Blue	Carolina blue	Ceil
Cerulean	Cobalt blue	Columbia blue	Cornflower blue	Cyan	Dark blue	Deep sky blue	Denim	Dodger blue	Duke blue
Egyptian blue	Electric blue	Eton blue	Federal Blue	Glaucous	Han blue	Iceberg	Indigo	International Klein Blue	Iris
Light blue	Majorelle blue	Maya blue	Midnight blue	Navy blue	Non-photo blue	Palatinate blue	Periwinkle	Persian blue	Powder blue
Prussian blue	Royal blue	Sapphire	Sky blue	St. Patrick's blue	Steel blue	Teal	Tiffany Blue	Ultramarine	Yale Blue
The samples shown above are representative only.