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Blue
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The term blue may refer to any of a number of similar colours. The sensation of blue is made by light having a spectrum dominated by energy in the wavelength range of about 440–490 nm.

Blue is considered to be one of the three primary additive colours in the RGB system; blue light has the shortest wavelength range of the three additive primary colours. The English language commonly uses "blue" to refer to any colour from navy blue to cyan.

The complementary colour of blue in colour science is yellow (on the HSV colour wheel), while in art the complementary colour to blue is considered to be orange (based on the Munsell colour wheel).

Etymology of blue in English

The modern English word ''blue'' (German:blau) comes from the Middle English, ''bleu'' or ''blwe'', which came from an Old French word ''bleu'' of Germanic origin (Frankish or possibly Old High German ''blao'', "shining"). ''Bleu'' replaced Old English ''blaw''. The root of these variations was the Proto-Germanic ''blæwaz'', which was also the root of the Old Norse world ''bla'' and the modern Icelandic ''blár'', and the Scandinavian word ''blå''. It can also be green or orange occasionally(blue). A Scots and Scottish English word for "blue-grey" is ''blae'', from the Middle English ''bla'' ("dark blue," from the Old English ''blæd''). Ancient Greek lacked the word for colour blue and Homer called the colour of the sea "wine dark", except that the word ''kyanos'' was used for dark blue enamel.

As a curiosity, ''blue'' is thought to be cognate with ''blond'' and ''black'' through the Germanic word. Through a Proto-Indo-European root, it is also linked with Latin ''flavus'' ("yellow"; see ''flavescent'' and ''flavine''), with Greek phalos (white), French blanc (white) (loaned from Old Frankish), and with Russian белый, ''belyi'' ("white," see ''beluga''), and Welsh blawr (grey) all of which derive (according to the ''American Heritage Dictionary'') from the Proto-Indo-European root

''bhel-'' meaning "to shine, flash or burn", (more specifically the word bhle-was, which meant light coloured, blue, blond, or yellow), from whence came the names of various bright colours, and that of colour black from a derivation meaning "burnt" (other words derived from the root bhel- include ''bleach'', ''bleak'', ''blind'', ''blink'', ''blank'', ''blush'', ''blaze'', ''flame'', ''fulminate'', ''flagrant'' and ''phlegm'').

In the English language, blue may also refer to the feeling of sadness. "He was feeling blue". This is because blue was related to rain, or storms, and in Greek mythology, the god Zeus would make rain when he was sad (crying), and a storm when he was angry. ''Kyanos'' was a name used in Ancient Greek to refer to ''dark blue tile'' (in English it means blue-green).''Merriam-Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary'' Springfield, Mass.:1984--Merriam-Webster Page 319

National colours

Blue and yellow are the national colours of Sweden, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, and along with green, of Brazil, and along with red, of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Chad, Romania, and Moldova.

Blue and white are the national colours of Somalia, Finland, Greece, Israel, Scotland, San Marino, and Honduras.

Red and blue are the national colours of Liechtenstein and Haiti, and along with white, The United States, the United Kingdom, France, Luxembourg, Norway, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Costa Rica, Serbia, Croatia, Paraguay, Iceland, Panama, Russia, Cuba, Chile, Thailand, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Liberia, Nepal, Slovenia.

Azure (''azzuro''), a light blue, is the national colour of Italy (from the livery colour of the former reigning family, the House of Savoy).

Mysticism

In the metaphysics of the ''New Age Prophetess'', Alice A. Bailey, in her system called the Seven Rays which classifies humans into seven different metaphysical personality types, the ''first ray'' of ''will-power'' is represented by the color ''blue''. People who have this metaphysical personality type are said to be ''on the Blue Ray''.* The color blue or azure is used to symbolically represent the fifth (Vishuddha) chakra.* Psychics who claim to be able to observe the aura with their third eye report that someone with a blue aura is a person who is oriented toward spirituality. Swami Panchadasi ''The Human Aura: Astral Colors and Thought Forms'' Des Plaines, Illinois, USA:1912--Yogi Publications Society Page 36 People with blue auras are said to be in interested in social service work and to be in occupations such as social worker, counselor, teacher, writer, and psychologist. Oslie, Pamalie ''Life Colors: What the Colors in Your Aura Reveal'' Novato, California:2000--New World Library Blue Auras: Pages 117-130

Politics

Blue has been associated with a variety of political positions, often differentiated from communist red or anarchist black. During the revolt in the Vendée against the French revolution, blue stood for the revolutionary forces, and white for the counter-revolutionaries. Later movements like the Breton blues used the colour to signify allegiance to the ideals of the revolution.

In the United Kingdom blue is the colour of the Conservative Party. In the United States, however, it has become fashionable since the 2000 Presidential Election to refer to the Democratic Party as "blue" and the Republican Party as "red", particularly as in reference to "red states and blue states".

The Blue Dog Democrats are a group of conservative Democrats in the United States House of Representatives.

Religion

Blue plays a symbolic role in a number of world religions. Because blue is the colour of the sky and sea, it has often symbolized divinity,as well as height and depth. It can also represent equilibrium, since its hue suggests a shade midway between white and black, day and night. To the ancient Egyptians, blue was the colour of truth.*Blue in Christianity: The inside of the open dome in Eastern Christian Churches is painted blue to give the impression of looking up into the heavens. Blue is also the colour Mary wears in iconography. During the European Renaissance, artists began painting Hell and specifically the Devil blue to convey the coldness of being distant from God. This is possibly inspired by Dante's Hell in the Divine Comedy, in which Satan is depicted as living in eternal ice at the centre of Earth. Blue also represents the deadly sin of Lust.*Blue in Hinduism: In the Hindu faith, persons of a transcendental, or divine nature are displayed as being blue in colour to indicate their dark complexion. The deity Krishna is probably the most famous of this type of depiction within Hindu art. Lord Shiva's neck has blue colour to show that the poison he took to save the world from destruction is still staying in his throat.*Blue in Judaism: In the Torah, the Israelites were commanded to put fringes, ''tzitzit'', on the corners of their garments, and to weave within these fringes a "twisted thread of blue (''tekhelet'')". Numbers 15:38. In ancient days, this blue thread was made from a dye extracted from a Mediterranean snail called the ''hilazon''. Maimonides claimed that this blue was the colour of “the clear noonday sky”; Rashi, the colour of the evening sky. ''Mishneh Torah'', ''Tzitzit'' 2:1; Commentary on Numbers 15:38. According to several rabbinic sages, blue is the colour of God’s Glory. ''Numbers Rabbah'' 14:3; ''Hullin'' 89a. Staring at this colour aids in mediation, bringing us a glimpse of the “pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity”, which is a likeness of the Throne of God. Exodus 24:10; Ezekiel 1:26; ''Hullin'' 89a. (The Hebrew word for glory. Many items in the ''Mishkan'', the portable sanctuary in the wilderness, such as the ''menorah'', many of the vessels, and the Ark of the Covenant, were covered with blue cloth when transported from place to place. Numbers 4:6-12.

Sociology

Blue may denote the working class, derived from the traditional colour of factory uniforms. Blue-collar workers are industrial workers and are often contrasted with white-collar office workers. However, in contrast to "blue collar", the phrase "blue blood" is used to mean "from an aristocratic background", because pale, untanned skin – historically, a sign of nobility – allows blue-tinged veins to show through.*In many South Pacific countries, the color blue was often associated with scabies. In the early 1800s, as a result of the rural nature in such countries many wearing the color blue were often eaten to cleanse the gene pool from the infected. Now, more recently, wearing blue is considered a mark of shame in such poor communities because of its scabies associated heritage.*Several vocations are associated with blue. Law enforcement, and uniformed police, often wear blue uniforms and have become associated with the colour, as seen in phrases such as "boys in blue", "thin blue line", "blue meanie", "blue wall" and NYPD Blue.

Symbolism

Blue often denotes injury, such as in the phrase "black and blue", since it is the colour of a bruise. Blue is also used as a word to denote a sad or melancholy state, as in depression, or simply a state of deep contemplation.However, the phrase "blue skies", referring to sunny weather, implies cheerfulness. Symbolically, blue is associated with that state, such as the term blue period to describe Pablo Picasso's work from 1901 to 1904.* Blue is associated with water; on coloured maps, oceans, lakes, and streams usually appear blue.* Light blue is often associated with the cold. When with white, blue is associated with ice and snow; and by extension, winter.* Blue can be associated with France, Quebec and the French Language. The term Les Bleus is often used in a sporting context. In all but motor sports, the Italian colour is light blue, and Italian athletes are called ''Azzurri''.* Gradients of Blue and other smooth, relaxing visual techniques incorporating Blue are considered calming and soothing.* Blue is often a colour used to symbolize honesty and trustworthiness. Connected to this, blue traditionally is associated with the Christian virtue faith. Hence, it may also mean naivité, being "blue-eyed". In Scandinavia this expression is used for people who are easily tricked or cheated, and in Japanese the word "aoi", meaning "blue", also indicates innocence and inexperience. The German word for blue is used for "drunk" e.g. "Ich bin blau" – "I'm drunk".* Blue is associated with the eastern direction in traditional East Asian cosmology.* In Thailand, Blue is associated with Friday on the Thai solar calendar. Anyone may wear blue on Fridays and anyone born on a Friday may adopt blue as their colour. The Thai language, however, is one that has had trouble distinguishing blue from green. The default word for Blue was recently สีน้ำเงิน literally, the colour of silver, a poetical reference to the silvery sheen of the deep blue sea. It now means Navy Blue, and the default word is now สีฟ้า literally, the colour of the sky.http://www.thai-language.com/dict/