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.

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.

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, 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.

Variations of azure

Azure (web color)

Columbia blue

Light sky blue

Sky blue

Maya blue

United Nations blue

Cornflower blue

Dodger blue

Air Force blue

Azure in human culture

• The planet Neptune is azure.

Automobiles

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

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 game Quake, a level is titled "Azure Agony", and features a blue color scheme.
• In the Heroes of Might and Magic III: Armageddon's Blade turn-based strategy game, the Azure Dragon is the strongest creature the player could possibly recruit, it's power surpassing that of regular creatures by far.
• In World of WarCraft, players will sometimes find a giant Blue Dragon named Azuregos walking around Azshara. He can be defeated by players. He also plays a small role in the opening of Ahn'Qiraj event. His name is an obvious take on the color Azure.

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.

Food

• Berry Blue Jell-O is a bright azure color.

Geography

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

Horticulture

• After 13 years of joint research by an Australian company Florigene, and Japanese company Suntory, a blue rose was created in 2004 using genetic engineering. The actual color of this rose is azure.

Literature

• In Poetry, azure is often used to represent or refer to the sky or Heaven.

'''New Age Philosophy

• The fifth (vishuddha) chakra is represented by the color azure or blue.

Oceanography

• Azure is often used in France to describe the Mediterranean Sea.

Panelology

• Azure Blue is a fictional character who was created by Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company. He first appeared as an evil miser in The Golden Helmet in Donald Duck Four Color #308.

Vexillology

• Nations which use shades of Azure in their flags include Argentina, Azerbaijan, Guatemala, Kazakhstan, Namibia, Palau, San Marino, Somalia, Sweden, and Ukraine.
• The flag of the United Nations is a shade of azure called "United Nations blue".
• The Bisexual pride flag uses a shade of azure, Pantone Blue #286.

Video Games

• In the first .hack// game series on PlayStation 2, 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 .hack//G.U. games, there is also a character whose name is Azure Flame Kite, for he is surrounded by blue flames.
• In the fighting game series Soul Calibur, the character Nightmare is nicknamed the Azure Knight.
• Azelf from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl is named for the color azure and the mythological creature, the elf.
• In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on Sega Genesis, one of the 2-player stages is called Azure Lake.

References

See also

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

Sky Blue redirects here. For the animated film, see Wonderful Days; for the alcoholic beverage, see SKYY vodka

Cornflower blue

Sometimes confused with Corn flour, a homophone. Corn flour actually refers to a different, light yellow color (although there is also light cornflower blue colored corn flour made from blue maize, the grain that is called corn in the Americas).

Light cornflower blue

Light cornflower blue is the color called cornflower blue in Crayola crayons.

Pale cornflower blue

Displayed at right is the color pale cornflower blue.

Tints and shades of cornflower blue color comparison chart

• Pale Cornflower Blue (Hex:ABCDEF) (RGB: 171, 205, 239)
• Light Cornflower Blue (Hex:93CCEA) (RGB: 147, 204, 234)
• CORNFLOWER BLUE (Hex: 6495ED) (RGB:100, 149, 237)

Cornflower blue in human culture

Film

• Fight Club, based on Palahniuk's book of the same name, contains a scene where the narrator's boss asks if a computer icon can be remade in cornflower blue. The narrator also implies that his boss always wears a cornflower blue tie on Tuesdays.

Game Design

• Cornflower blue is the default clear-screen background color in Microsoft XNA, a program for computer game design; possibly it is a reference to the movie Fight Club (this reference is denied by the XNA team who just thinks that cornflower blue is a pretty color).

Literature

• The novelist Chuck Palahniuk has claimed that the color cornflower blue appears at least once in each of his books.
• Jason, a main character in Douglas Coupland's novel Hey Nostradamus! says that cornflower blue is his favorite color.
• Francis Crawford, the main character of Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles series, has cornflower blue eyes.

Religion

• In some Amerindian religions, blue cornmeal, which is colored pale cornflower blue, is used instead of ordinary yellow cornmeal to bake special breads and cakes for special ritual occasions.

See also

• List of colors