Navy blue

Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with white) worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color name, taken from the usual color of the uniforms of sailors, originally came into use in the early 19th century, it was initially called marine blue, but the name of the color soon changed to navy blue.

An early use of navy blue as a color name in English was in 1840 though the Oxford English Dictionary has a citation from 1813.

In practice, actual blue uniforms of the United States Navy and other navies have become outright black in color, in order to combat fading.

Bright navy blue
At right is displayed the color bright navy blue. This is the bright tone called "navy blue" by Crayola.

This tone of navy blue was formulated as a Crayola color in 1958.

Indigo dye
Indigo dye is the color that is called Añil (the Spanish word for "indigo dye") in the Guía de coloraciones (Guide to colorations) by Rosa Gallego and Juan Carlos Sanz, a color dictionary published in 2005 that is widely popular in the Hispanophone realm.

Indigo dye is the basis for all the historical navy blue colors, since in the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, almost all navy uniforms were made by dyeing them with various shades of indigo dye.

Peacoat
Displayed at the right is the color Peacoat, a dark shade of navy blue.

The source of this color is the "Pantone Textile Cotton eXtended (TCX)" color list, color #19-3920 TCX—Peacoat.

Purple navy
At right is displayed the color purple navy.

Purple navy is a color that has been used by some navies. "Purple navy" in this color terminology usage is regarded as a shade of indigo, a color which can be regarded as a tone of purple when using the common English definition of purple, i.e., a color between blue and red.

The first recorded use of purple navy as a color name in English was in 1926.

The source of this color is Dictionary of Color Names (1955).

Persian indigo
The color Persian indigo is displayed at right. Another name for this color (seldom used nowadays) is regimental, because in the 19th century it was commonly used by many nations for navy uniforms.

The first recorded use of regimental (the original name for the color now called Persian indigo) as a color name in English was in 1912.

Space cadet
Displayed at right is the color space cadet.

Space cadet is one of the colors on the Resene Color List, a color list widely popular in Australia and New Zealand. The color was formulated in 2007.

This color is apparently a formulation of an impression of the color that cadets in space navy training would wear.

Computers

 * The color navy was one of the original 16 HTML/CSS colors initially formulated for standardized computer display in the late 1980s.

Military

 * In many world navies, including the United States Navy and the Royal Canadian Navy, uniforms which are called navy blue are, in actuality, colored black, as the uniforms became darker to combat fading. The Canadian Forces Dress Instructions specify that navy blue' is a tone of black". (See also Uniforms of the United States Navy and Uniforms of the Canadian Forces).

Music

 * Navy Blue is the name of an album by Diane Renay (all the songs on the CD are about sailors).
 * NAVY BLUE is the title of a single by Rina Aiuchi which was released on October 3, 2001.

Sports
Navy blue is used by numerous professional and collegiate sports teams:


 * Association football
 * Scottish national team
 * United States men's and women's national teams
 * Falkirk F.C.
 * Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
 * West Bromwich Albion F.C.
 * Genoa C.F.C.
 * Melbourne Victory
 * FC Girondins de Bordeaux
 * Fenerbahçe S.K.
 * Paris Saint-Germain F.C.
 * Chicago Fire Soccer Club
 * Los Angeles Galaxy
 * New England Revolution
 * New York City F.C.
 * Philadelphia Union
 * Sporting Kansas City
 * Vancouver Whitecaps


 * Australian Football League
 * Adelaide Crows
 * Carlton Blues
 * Geelong Cats
 * Melbourne Demons
 * West Coast Eagles


 * Major League Baseball
 * Atlanta Braves
 * Boston Red Sox
 * Cleveland Indians
 * Detroit Tigers
 * Milwaukee Brewers
 * Minnesota Twins
 * New York Yankees
 * St. Louis Cardinals
 * San Diego Padres
 * Seattle Mariners
 * Tampa Bay Rays
 * Washington Nationals


 * National Basketball Association
 * Cleveland Cavaliers
 * Dallas Mavericks
 * Denver Nuggets
 * Indiana Pacers
 * Memphis Grizzlies
 * Minnesota Timberwolves
 * New Orleans Pelicans
 * Oklahoma City Thunder
 * Utah Jazz
 * Washington Wizards


 * National Football League
 * Chicago Bears
 * Dallas Cowboys
 * Denver Broncos
 * Houston Texans
 * Los Angeles Rams
 * New England Patriots
 * San Diego Chargers
 * Seattle Seahawks
 * Tennessee Titans


 * National Hockey League
 * Buffalo Sabres
 * Columbus Blue Jackets
 * Edmonton Oilers
 * Florida Panthers
 * Nashville Predators
 * St. Louis Blues
 * Washington Capitals
 * Winnipeg Jets


 * National Rugby League
 * Melbourne Storm
 * North Queensland Cowboys
 * Sydney Roosters


 * Collegiate Teams
 * University of Arizona
 * University of California, Berkeley
 * University of Pittsburgh
 * Auburn University
 * Adamson University
 * Florida Atlantic University
 * Florida International University
 * Georgetown University
 * Georgia Institute of Technology
 * University of Illinois
 * University of Notre Dame
 * University of Maine
 * University of Michigan
 * University of Mississippi
 * University of Nevada, Reno
 * University of Virginia
 * Palm Beach Atlantic University
 * Pennsylvania State University
 * University of Rhode Island
 * Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
 * Syracuse University
 * West Virginia University
 * United States Naval Academy
 * Xavier University
 * Colegio de San Juan de Letran
 * Catawba College
 * University of Connecticut