Editing Azure (color)

{{Short description|Bright, cyan-blue colour}}
{{Redirect|Azure blue|the RAL color|Azure blue (RAL)}}
{{about|the color|the heraldic tincture|Azure (heraldry)||Azure (disambiguation)}}
{{See also|Shades of azure|Shades of blue}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2014}}
{{Infobox color 
| title=Azure
| hex=0080FF
| image={{photomontage
|photo1a= ChalcanthitefranceII.jpg
|photo1b= Alcedo azurea - Julatten (cropped) 2 (cropped).jpg
|photo1c= TfNSW T4 (cropped 2).png
|photo2a= Azulejos Parque Eduardo VII-2.jpg
|photo2b= Petr Čech, Strahov (cropped) 3.jpg
|photo3a= DE10-1109-Tobu.jpg
| size = 243
| color_border = #AAAAAA
| color =  #F9F9F9
|caption=(clockwise)Chalcanthite, Azure kingfisher, Petr Čech, DE10 1109 diesel locomotive, Panel of the Battle of Aljubarrota by Jorge Colaço
| foot_montage = }}
| source=On the [[:File:RGB color wheel.svg|RGB and CMYK color wheel]], Azure is defined as the colour halfway between [[blue]] and [[cyan]]. The colour halfway between blue and cyan on the RGB color wheel has a hex code of 0080FF.<ref>On colour plate 33 (page 89) of the 1930 book ''A Dictionary of Color'' by Maerz and Paul, the colours on the right side of colour plate 33 from top to bottom represent the most highly saturated colours on the [[color wheel]] from [[cyan]] to azure, and the colours on the bottom of colour plate 33 from right to left represent the most highly saturated colours on the colour wheel from azure to [[blue]]. The colour sample that represents azure is colour sample L12 on Plate 33 on Page 89. See reference to Azure on Page 190 in the index. See also discussion of the color azure, Page 149.</ref>
| isccname=Vivid blue|cmyk=(100, 50, 0, 0)}}
[[File:Azurblau Pigment.JPG|thumb|Azure pigment]]

'''Azure''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|æ|ʒ|ər|,_|ˈ|eɪ|ʒ|ər}} {{respell|AZH|ər|,_|AY|zhər}}, {{IPAc-en|UKalso|ˈ|æ|z|jʊər|,_|ˈ|eɪ|z|jʊər}} {{respell|AZ|ure|,_|AY|zure}})<ref>{{cite LPD|3}}</ref><ref>{{cite EPD|18}}</ref><ref name=lexico>{{Cite dictionary |url=http://www.lexico.com/definition/azure |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200204170343/https://www.lexico.com/definition/azure |url-status=dead |archive-date=2020-02-04 |title=azure |dictionary=[[Lexico]] UK English Dictionary |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref> is the color between [[cyan]] and [[blue]] on the [[visible spectrum|spectrum]] of visible [[light]]. It is often described as [[sky blue|the color]] of the [[sky]] on a clear day.<ref name=lexico/><ref>{{cite Merriam-Webster|azure|access-date=4 January 2019}}</ref>

On the [[:File:RGB color wheel.svg|RGB color wheel]], "azure" ([[Web colors#Hex triplet|hexadecimal]] #0080FF) is defined as the color at 210 degrees, i.e., the [[hue]] halfway between [[Shades of blue#Blue (RGB) (X11 blue)|blue]] and cyan. In the [[RGB color model]], used to create all the colors on a television or computer screen, azure is created by adding a 50% of green light to a 100% of blue light.

In the [[X11 color names|X11 color system]], which became a model for early [[web colors]], azure is depicted as a pale cyan or white cyan.

==Etymology and history==
[[File:Lapis lazuli block.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.68|A polished slab of [[lapis lazuli]], the [[gemstone|semiprecious rock]] from which azure took its name]]

The color azure ultimately takes its name from the vivid-blue [[gemstone]] [[lapis lazuli]], a [[metamorphic rock]]. ''{{lang|la|Lapis}}'' is the [[Latin]] word for "stone" and ''{{lang|la|lāzulī}}'' is the [[genitive]] form of the [[Medieval Latin]] ''{{lang|la|lāzulum}}'', which is taken from the [[Arabic]] {{lang|ar|لازورد}} ''lāzaward''  {{IPA|[laːzwrd]}} ({{pronunciation|Q373058-ar.ogg|listen|help=no}}), itself from the [[Persian language|Persian]] {{lang|fa|لاژورد}} {{Transliteration|fa|lāžaward}}, which is the name of the stone in Persian<ref>''Oxford English Dictionary''</ref> and also of a place where lapis lazuli was mined.<ref>{{cite book |chapter=lapis lazuli (lazurite) |title=Elsevier's Dictionary of Chemoetymology |last=Senning |first=Alexander |year=2007 |publisher=Elsevier |location=Amsterdam |isbn=978-0-444-52239-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn/page/n232 224] |url=https://archive.org/details/elseviersdiction00senn|url-access=limited }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |chapter=azure |title=An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English |last=Weekley |first=Ernest |year=1967 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week/page/n50 97] |url=https://archive.org/details/etymologicaldict00week|url-access=registration }}</ref>

The name of the stone came to be associated with its color. The [[French language|French]] ''{{lang|fr|azur}}'', the [[Italian language|Italian]] ''{{lang|it|azzurro}}'', the [[Polish language|Polish]] ''{{lang|pl|lazur}}'', [[Romanian language|Romanian]] ''{{lang|ro|azur}}'' and ''{{lang|ro|azuriu}}'', the [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] and [[Spanish language|Spanish]] ''{{lang|es|azul}}'', [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]] ''{{lang|it|azúr}}'', and the [[Catalan language|Catalan]] ''atzur'', all come from the name and color of lapis lazuli. The dropping of the initial ''l'' in Romance languages may be a case of the linguistic phenomenon known as [[rebracketing]], i.e. Romance speakers may have perceived the sound as the initial phoneme of the definitive article in their respective language.

The word was adopted into English from the French, and the first recorded use of it as a color name in English was in 1374 in [[Geoffrey Chaucer]]'s work ''[[Troilus and Criseyde]]'', where he refers to "a broche, gold and ''asure''" (a brooch, gold and azure).<ref>{{cite web|title=azure, n. and adj.|url=https://www.oed.com/Entry/14152|work=Oxford English Dictionary|publisher=OUP|access-date=21 April 2011}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Chaucer|first=Geoffrey|title=The Project Gutenberg EBook of Troilus and Criseyde|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/files/257/257-h/257-h.htm|work=Troilus and Criseyde|publisher=Project Gutenberg|access-date=21 April 2011}}</ref><ref>Maerz and Paul ''A Dictionary of Color'' New York:1930 McGraw-Hill Page 190. Also [http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/azure Azure @ Dictionary.Reference.com]. Also [http://www.cnrtl.fr/etymologie/azur Azur @ CNRTL.fr (in french)].</ref>

Some languages, such as [[Italian language|Italian]], generally consider azure to be a basic colour, separate and distinct from blue. Some sources even go to the point of defining blue as a darker shade of azure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gabrielli|first=Aldo|title=Grande Dizionario Italiano|url=http://dizionari.hoepli.it/Dizionario_Italiano/parola/blu.aspx?idD=1&Query=blu|access-date=2011-07-09}}</ref>

Azure also describes the color of the mineral [[azurite]], both in its natural form and as a pigment in various paint formulations. In order to preserve its deep color, azurite was ground coarsely. Fine-ground azurite produces a lighter, washed-out color. Traditionally, the pigment was considered unstable in oil paints, and was sometimes isolated from other colors and not mixed.

The use of the term spread through the practice of [[heraldry]], where "[[azure (heraldry)|azure]]" represents a blue color in the system of [[tincture (heraldry)|tinctures]]. In [[engraving]]s, it is represented as a region of parallel horizontal lines, or by the abbreviation ''az.'' or ''b.'' In practice, azure has been represented by any number of shades of blue. In later heraldic practice a lighter blue, called [[bleu celeste]] ("sky blue"), is sometimes specified.

==Distinction among indigo, azure, and cyan==
{{Disputed section|date=September 2021}}
According to the logic of the [[:File:RGB color wheel.svg|RGB color wheel]], [[indigo]] colors are those colors with hue codes between 255 and 225 (degrees), azure colors are those colors with hue codes between 195 and 225, and cyan colors are those colors with hue codes between 165 and 195. Another way of describing it could be that cyan is a mixture of blue and green light, azure is a mixture of blue and cyan light, and indigo is a mixture of blue and violet light.

All of the colors shown below in the section ''shades of azure'' are referenced as having a [[HSV color space|hue]] between 195 and 225 degrees, with the exception of the very pale [[X11 color names|X11]] web color azure – RGB (240, 255, 255) – which, with a hue of 180 degrees, is a tone of [[cyan]], but follows the artistic meaning of azure as sky blue.

==In nature==
[[File:European Roller - Coracias garrulus.jpg|thumb|[[European roller]]]]
'''Insects'''
* [[Enallagma aspersum|Azure bluet]] (''Enallagma aspersum''), damselfly found in North America
* [[Azure damselfly]] (''Coenagrion puella''), damselfly found in Europe
* [[Azure hawker]] (''Aeshna caerulea''), dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae

'''Birds'''
* [[Azure gallinule]] (''Porphyrio flavirostris''), bird in the rail family, Rallidae
* [[File:Azure-hooded Jay (Cyanolyca cucullata) in tree, Costa Rica.jpg|alt=Azure-hooded jay in a tree|thumb|[[Azure-hooded jay]] in a tree]] [[Azure jay]] (''Cyanocorax caeruleus'') bird in the crow family, Corvidae
* [[Azure kingfisher]] (''Alcedo azurea''), bird in the river kingfisher family, Alcedinidae
* [[File:Azure Tit - Cyanistes cyanus.jpg|alt=Azure tit|thumb|[[Azure tit]]]] [[Azure tit]] (''Cyanistes cyanus''), bird in the tit family, Paridae
* [[Azure-crowned hummingbird]] (''Amazilia cyanocephala''), a hummingbird in the family Trochilidae
* [[Azure-hooded jay]] (''Cyanolyca cucullata''), bird in the crow family, Corvidae
* [[Azure-naped jay]] (''Cyanocorax heilprini''), bird in the crow family, Corvidae
* [[Azure-rumped tanager]] (''Tangara cabanisi''), bird in the family Thraupidae
* [[Azure-shouldered tanager]] (''Thraupis cyanoptera''), bird in the family Thraupidae
* [[Azure-winged magpie]] (''Cyanopica cyana''), bird in the crow family, Corvidae
* [[European roller]] (''Coracias garrulus'')

'''Plants'''
* [[Houstonia caerulea|Azure bluet]] (''Houstonia caerulea''), flower found in the eastern [[United States]]

==In culture==
*''[[Côte d'Azur]]'' ("Azure Coast") is a name commonly used for the [[French Riviera]], part of France's southeastern coast on the Mediterranean.
* In [[Chinese mythology]], the [[Azure Dragon]] is one of the [[Four Symbols (Chinese constellation)|Four Symbols]] of the [[Chinese constellation]]s. It is sometimes called the ''Azure Dragon of the East'' ({{lang-zh|t=東方青龍|s=东方青龙|p=Dōngfāng Qīnglóng|first=t}}). Known as ''Seiryū'' ({{lang|ja|青竜}}) in Japan and ''Cheongryong'' ({{lang|ko|청룡}}／{{script|Hani|青龍}}) in Korea, it represents the east and the spring season.
* [[Savoy azure]] (''azzurro Savoia'') is a traditional national color for [[Italy]], taken from the traditional colors of the [[House of Savoy]], the ruling house of the [[Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia]] that established the [[Kingdom of Italy|first modern united Italian state]]. The association between azure and [[Italian nationalism]] led in the [[Italy national football team]] donning azure jerseys, giving them the nickname ''gli Azzurri'' ("the Azures"). It is also the color of the Italian state police (''[[Polizia di Stato]]'').
* Portuguese and Spanish tilework known as [[azulejo]] has the same etymology due to the color blue (''azul'') being used in its design.
[[File:Israel-flag01.jpg|thumb|Shades of azure, [[Tekhelet]] and [[blue]] are seen in this photo, depicting the [[Flag of Israel]] on the background of the [[sea]].]]
* In [[Hebrew]] the azure color is called [[Tekhelet]] ({{Lang|he|תכלת}}). Tekhelet and [[white]] are sacred colors for the [[Jewish people]]. In the [[Torah]] there is a [[mitzva]] to put a Tekhelet thread in the [[tzitzit]]. The colors Tekhelet and white are the [[National colors of Israel]] and appear in the [[flag of Israel]] (where the Tekhelet resembles [[blue]]).

==Astronomy==
The true color of the exoplanet [[HD 189733b]] determined by astronomers is azure blue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/resources/137/blue-and-bizarre/|title = Blue and bizarre}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[RAL 5009 Azure blue]]
* [[Shades of azure]]
* [[Lists of colors]]

==References==
{{reflist|33em}}
{{Color topics}}
{{Shades of blue|Azure}}
{{Shades of cyan|Azure}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azure}}
[[Category:Tertiary colors]]
[[Category:Shades of blue]]
[[Category:Bird colours]]