Blue is one of the most important and one of the most common colours. Blue comes in a great many shades and hues. In non-German heraldry, it is also known as azur or azure.
In the Middle Ages, blue was used for painting as a pure, unmixed, mineral-based colour derived from cobalt blue or ultramarine. Various dye plants were used for dyeing textiles. However, the shade of blue varied depending on which dye plant was used. These could include: bluewood, woad (for a medium blue), and later also indigo, elderberries (for red-violet), delphinium flowers, red cabbage (for turquoise), alkanna and bluewood (for violet). With the emergence of flags as symbols of a nation during the Napoleonic era, many national flags were created that also featured blue. Flags from this period are often depicted in dark blue, suggesting that it was no longer just the usual indigo that was used as a dye, but Thénard’s blue (cobalt blue), a dye developed during this period based on chemical processes.
The differences in colour between painted and dyed colours are particularly striking in the case of blue. It becomes clear that, before the age of industrialisation – with its chemical possibilities – it was virtually impossible to achieve any kind of standard, and it is easy to see why so many different shades of blue emerged.
In black-and-white depictions of coats of arms or three-dimensional representations of coats of arms carved in stone, the colour blue is represented by fine horizontal lines. The colour blue is associated with the planet Jupiter and the gemstone sapphire, and it symbolises loyalty and steadfastness.
Today, the colour blue – particularly on flags – is associated with loyalty, steadfastness, the sky, hope and the future. It is often linked with water, rivers, lakes and the sea. In European culture – and in the wider world shaped by it – blue is the royal, majestic colour, particularly in France and Great Britain. In some countries, particularly those of the former Eastern Bloc, blue is the colour of peace. Light blue is the traditional colour of the Mongols, which has been passed down via the Tatars to some of today’s Turkic peoples.
In colour psychology, blue is not thought to have any particular effect. It is regarded as passive, but is associated with stability, truth, calm, security, distance, coolness and loyalty.
Why is blue often the colour of royalty in European royal houses today, used on flags, coats of arms, uniforms, liveries, capes and ribbons of orders? William, Duke of Normandy (later known as the Conqueror), had laid claim to the throne of England, which was ruled by Anglo-Saxon kings; these claims were, naturally, rejected by the English. As was so often the case in the Middle Ages, the claims to the throne made by both parties were well-founded in legal and dynastic terms. And, as was so often the case at the time, it was assumed that BOTH parties were in the right and that God must now decide. How? By granting victory in battle to the one who was actually in the right. (Which is why, in the Middle Ages, the militarily defeated party usually accepted their defeat without further resistance; after all, God was against them because they were in the wrong).
Before landing in England (the Battle of Hastings, 1066), William wanted to play it safe and accused the Anglo-Saxon King of England of no longer being a Christian, but of having fallen away from the faith – in other words, of being a heretic. He, William, intended to wage a Christian crusade to restore England’s faith in God and Christianity. The Holy Father in Rome, who – as usual, thanks to extensive building projects – was short of the necessary funds, listened willingly to this declaration of a crusade, accepted ‘some gold and silver’ as a token of respect, approved this Norman crusade, and sent William a precious relic: a piece of cloth from the blue cloak of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. (She was, and is, very often depicted in a blue cloak, less frequently in a white cloak or the gold-embroidered red ceremonial robe).
William, now a crusader, was delighted by this token of favour from God’s representative on earth and had his oblong standard – his personal command flag for the crusade to England – edged with blue. This can be seen on the Bayeux Tapestry. Thus, blue became the 'royal colour' following the Norman conquest of England. Other European royal houses – Anjou, Bourbon and Savoy – had chosen or been granted blue as their colour because they had been honoured 'by the Church' (not necessarily by Rome; this could also have been done by high-ranking local prelates) with fabric relics, namely pieces of cloth from the blue cloak of St Martin. Over time, this was also reinterpreted as 'Marian blue', so as to be on an equal footing with the English royal house, rather than subordinate to it in any way.
Of course, blue is also a political colour. In German-speaking countries, it is predominantly used by right-wing liberal forces.
