Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue worn by officers in the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other naviesaround 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 many navies have become outright black in color, in order to combat fading.
Variations
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 in the Guía de coloraciones 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 " 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.
Persian indigo
The color Persian indigo is displayed at right. Another name for this color is regimental, because in the 19th century it was commonly used by many nations for navy uniforms. The first recorded use of regimental 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.
In culture
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 counter fading. The Canadian Forces Dress Instructions specify that navy blue' is a tone of black"..
