The Color Blue: What Does It Mean And Symbolize?

Several studies showed blue is by far the most popular color in the world. This simple fact is independent of gender, nationality or political view. Yes, even Republican voters prefer blue to red (it is favorite of 33 % Democrats and 29 % Republicans)!

Here are some additional tidbits:

• Men like it more than women (approximately 35 against 30 percent worldwide or 40 against 25 in Western world, where purple and pink are strongest contenders among ladies)
• 53 percents of world flags contain color blue. It's only the third color (after red and white) by percent of flags, but second by area (after red again).
• In 1950 around 35 percent of Americans had blue eyes. In 2000 this share is only around 17 percent.
• There are 55 major shades of blue used in web design.
• Blue, however, is not the most popular in all age groups: younger than 20 prefer green and older than 70 color red!

While new names of colors show up virtually every single day, we still need to start somewhere:

How many shades of blue can you recognize?

The reason of its popularity are meanings, associated with blue. Confidence, faith, loyalty, truth and wisdom are only few of them.

While we tend to think about abundance of color blue around us, it is actually pretty rare in living nature. Sure, we can say sky and water are blue colored, but until around 4500 years ago there was no word blue in any language in the world. Ancient civilizations in Greece, China, India, Japan and Latin America managed to flourish and collapse without this word. The only exception were Egyptians, who were also the only one  who knew how to produce blue dye. But their blue pigment was very expensive and available for special purposes only.

One of these was definitely painting of god Amon (name literally meaning 'hidden'), who was represented as invisible - in the color of the sky.

Thanks to its rarity and expensiveness, blue was for many centuries reserved for clothes of aristocracy (in many cases royalty) only. Artists were very limited with usage of blue as well. In most cases it was reserved for noble subjects, like robe of Virgin Mary.

In 12th century blue dye, made of woad, became widely available. Only few decades later the situation changed almost diametrically - blue became so common, Pope Pius V even excluded this color from the appropriate ones for church decor. The process didn't contribute to the reputation of the dye - woad had to be soaked in human urine for days and than left on the sun until the liquid evaporated. It was believed urine of men, who had drunk a lot of alcohol, worked as best solvent (we'll got back to that later).

Eventually blue was accepted as the color of all kinds of overalls used by workers in various industries, where dirt was part of the job. Grease and mud are not easily seen on blue canvass and this is how the term 'blue collar' originated.

In 16th century new trade routes brought indigo from India, which threatened to destroy pastel industry in Europe. Indigo gave the same color as woad, but much concentrated. Virtually all major countries in Europe immediately banned indigo just to be forced allowing it for purely economic reasons. Being so cheap and stable, it was only natural to use it for dying the uniforms.

Today blue is still by far the most used color in services, where authority and trust are main characteristics. For same reasons blue is today official color in corporate world.

What the phrase 'feeling blue' means? It came from old custom among sailors who displayed blue flags at return to the port, if the captain died during the shipping. While feeling blue is unique for English language, this color is associated with sadness in many parts of the world. In parts of India, Iran and Mexico it's the color of mourning. Several countries of the East also connect it with immortality.

On the other hand a phrase 'being blue' (blue sein) means being drunk in German speaking countries. This meaning comes from the association of drinking with urinating and is connected with above already mentioned usage of urine of drunk men in production of blue dye.

Why is blues music called "the blues"? The name of this great American music probably originated with the 17th-century English expression "the blue devils," for the intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal. Shortened over time to "the blues," it came to mean a state of agitation or depression. "Blue" was slang for "drunk" by the 1800s. The link between "blue" and drinking is also indicated by "blue laws" that still prohibit Sunday alcohol sales in some states of the USA today.

And what is blue Monday? Well, if you are not directly aiming at the popular song by New Order, it's a phrase with similar origins as 'feeling blue' and 'blues'. It describes a depressive feeling characteristic for Mondays, when workers need to return to work, but are (thanks to excessive drinking throughout the weekend - often starting on Saturday evening only) not really ready to. For this reason many workers didn't even show at their workplace on Mondays. Hangover was just too heavy for them!

Blue symbolizes purity, like we are used from old paintings of Virgin Mary. Her gown is a link between heaven and earth, representing love, modesty and fidelity. Sixpence is of course symbol of wealth.

Talking about old proverbs, sayings, songs and superstitions, we can't skip fairy tales, where color blue plays important role. We should mention at least Bluebeard with unusual color of his beard, what suggests he is not of this world, Little Mermaid, where color blue also represents other worlds (water with mermaids and similar creatures without soul and heaven, where Little Mermaid aims at) , and Blue Light, one of less known stories by brothers Grimm, where mysterious light of blue color links life and afterlife.

Today the most popular color for wedding dresses is white (with all white off tones) in Europe and North America and red in Asia, but due mix of influences we can find almost all colors everywhere. It's interesting to note white became popular only after Queen Victoria's wedding to Albert in 1840. Before that women simply wore their best dresses and it looks blue was the most popular color for centuries.

This well known phrase comes from spanish 'sangre azul', literary meaning 'blue blood'. Why? It was coined in time when the Moors controlled large part of Iberian peninsula. Interracial marriages were inevitable. Because Moors were of dark and Castiles of fair complexion, some Spanish aristocrats, who didn't marry with Moors, managed to keep their skin so white, blue veins were visible, so they could say for themselves they still have blue blood.

Blue blood phrase have two meanings. On one hand it is related with purity (not mixed with blood of conquerors), on the other with nobility (only aristocracy could afford to stay indoors, never exposed to sunlight, letting the plebeians do all the work. This expression was eventually adopted to other countries and is till closely connected with nobility and prestige.

Did you know blood of certain animals (arctic octopus, for instance) is really of blue color! The reason is copper's ion instead of iron's, which is more common in hemoglobin (protein, carrying oxygen through cells).

Blue ribbon is in 20th century still a synonym of high quality and is typically given to winners of different competitions, for instance in sport, but also in culinary or at certain fairs. Did you know the most prestigious colleges like Oxford and Cambridge are sometimes called blue brick universities? Yes, blue is official color for Oxford and Cambridge!

And what is the meaning of Blue Moon (or once in a Blue Moon)?

There are two definitions of phrase Blue Moon and both denote something rare or extraordinary. The original expression comes from old ecclesiastical calendar which typically has 12 full moons. Each one of them has its own name, but from time to time a year with 13 full moons (they occur every 29 days and a half) happens and this extra moon needed its name too - it is a blue moon. To make things a bit more complicated, this moon is by definition a third moon in a season with four full moons, what sounds too much for some people and newer definition was coined: blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month.

You can expect next 'old' blue moons (third in a season) on May 21, 2016, May 18, 2019, August 22, 2021 and August 19, 2024. As you can notice, only few months (February, May, August and November) can qualify for a blue moon by this criteria.

Next 'new' blue moons (second in a month) will be on January 31, 2018, March, 31, 2018 and October, 31, 2020. It's logical this kind of moon can happen only on the last days in the month and there is no chance to have two full moons in February because it's just too short.

There are also even rarer occasion when a Moon actually looks blue. The reason for this are dust particles, which came into atmosphere thanks to volcanic eruptions.

Blue has a calming effect on human body, but stimulates creativity, what makes it an ideal choice for study rooms and offices. It's called the most productive color of all. It lowers blood pressure and slows down heart rate and respiration. If used in too much concentration, it can look too cold and should be used in clever combination with warmer colors.

If you are thinking about blue colors in your house, try to focus on light and more lively hues of blue.