Baby blue, also known as light blue, is a tint of azure, which is one of the pastel colors.[2]
The first recorded use of baby blue as a color name in English was in 1892.[3]
Variations of baby blue
Beau blue
Beau blue is a light tone of baby blue. "Beau" means "beautiful" in French.
The source of this color is the color that is called beau blue in the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[4]
Baby blue eyes
Baby blue eyes is a rich tone of baby blue.
The source of this color is the color that is called baby blue eyes in the Plochere Color System, a color system formulated in 1948 that is widely used by interior designers.[4]
Little boy blue
Little boy blue is a deep tone of baby blue.[6]
The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Paper eXtended (TPX)" color list, color #16-4132 TPX—Little Boy Blue.[7]
Baby blue in human culture
In Western culture, the color baby blue is often associated with baby boys (and baby pink for baby girls), particularly in clothing and linen and shoes.
In the late 1960s, philosopher Alan Watts, who lived in Sausalito, a suburb of San Francisco, suggested that police cars be painted baby blue and white instead of black and white. This proposal was implemented in San Francisco in the late 1970s,[8] until the late 1980s. Watts also suggested that the police should wear baby blue uniforms because, he asserted, this would make them less likely to commit acts of police brutality than if they were wearing the usual dark blue uniforms. This proposal was never implemented.
Baby blue is an official color used in the flag of Argentina.
See also
- Light sky blue – a similar shade, named in the X11/html color family
- Baby pink
- List of colors
- Pinkstinks
References
- ^ The color displayed in the color box above matches the color called baby blue in the 1930 book by Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill; the color baby blue is displayed on page 93, Plate 35, Color Sample E2.
- ^ Foster, John C. "Retsof online version of ISCC-NBS Dictionary of Colo(u)r Names - Ba through Bz". tx4.us. Archived from the original on 2016-06-27. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ^ Maerz and Paul A Dictionary of Color New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190; Color Sample of Baby Blue: Page 93 Plate 35 Color Sample E2
- ^ a b Plochere Color System: Archived 2010-08-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Type the words "Little Boy Blue" into the indicated window on the Pantone Color Finder and the color will appear.
- ^ "Baby Name".
- ^ PANTONE. "Search - Find a PANTONE Color". www.pantone.com.
- ^ "Photo: Line-up of Nova's, San Francisco, CA, Police - Tony Sollecito album - copcar dot com - Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy". public.fotki.com.