Blue colours

The blue family in numbers

• 22 catalogue colours, from CIELAB lightness 13 to 88 (median 42).
• Most saturated: Blue; least: Duck Egg Blue. Median chroma 59.
• 0 lean warm, 22 lean cool, 0 sit neutral.
• 15 of 22 are dark enough to use as body text on white (4.5:1).
• 7 of 22 fall within, or at the edge of, what premium coated offset print can reach.

The history of blue: names, pigments and meanings

What is documented about blue

True of the family in the stated context, not of every shade in it and not everywhere. See methodology.

• Common association

  Blue is often considered calming and is widely used in corporate branding, particularly in finance and technology, to convey trust and stability.

• Cultural meaning · Christian, Europe, Medieval to Renaissance

  Blue, and ultramarine in particular, is traditionally associated with the Virgin Mary in Christian art, historically used for her robes in Renaissance and medieval European painting.