Midnight blue

Midnight blue is a dark shade of blue named for its resemblance to the apparently blue color of a moonlit night sky around full moon. Midnight blue is the color of a vat full of indigo dye; therefore, midnight blue may also be considered a dark shade of indigo. Midnight blue is identifiably blue to the eye in sunlight or full-spectrum light, but can appear black under certain more limited spectra sometimes found in artificial lighting (especially early 20th-century incandescent). It is similar to navy, which is also a dark blue.

Crucifixion (c. 1515) by Matthias Grünewald, showing a midnight blue sky

Midnight sky in Dusseldorf, Germany

Variations

X11

Midnight Blue
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#191970
HSV       (h, s, v)	(240°, 78%, 44%)
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(25, 25, 112)
Source	X11
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Vivid blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

There are two major shades of midnight blue—the X11 color and the Crayola color. This color was originally called midnight. The first recorded use of midnight as a color name in English was in 1915.[1]

At right is displayed the color midnight blue.

This is the X11 web color midnight blue.

Dark midnight blue (Crayola)

Midnight Blue (Crayola)
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#003366
HSV       (h, s, v)	(210°, 100%, 40%)
sRGB^B  (r, g, b)	(0, 51, 102)
Source	Crayola
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Deep blue
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)

At right is displayed the dark shade of midnight blue that is called midnight blue in Crayola crayons.

Midnight blue became an official crayola color in 1958; before that, since having been formulated by Crayola in 1903, it was called Prussian blue.

In culture

Higher Education

• Hatfield College, part of Durham University, uses Midnight Blue as its associated color[2]

Comic books

• There is a comic-book character called Midnight Blue.[3]

Fashion

• Midnight blue is an alternative to black as a color for dinner jackets. Due to the deepness of the color, midnight blue formal clothes are often almost indistinguishable from black. The Duke of Windsor popularized the color in suits and tuxedos.

Military

• The dark blue of US Army and US Marine Corps dress blue uniform coats is called midnight blue.
• The Special Reconnaissance Regiment uses midnight blue on its stable belts, as a flat color all round.

Sports

• The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association use midnight blue and sunshine yellow as their official team colors.
• The University of Toledo Rockets use midnight blue and gold as their official team colors.[4]
• The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League used midnight blue as an official team color from 1996 to 2012. [5]

Music

• In 1963, the album, Midnight Blue, released by American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell.
• In 1979, the album, Discovery, released by British symphonic rock turned disco band Electric Light Orchestra, contained a song named "Midnight Blue."
• In 1987, rock vocalist Lou Gramm released a single entitled "Midnight Blue".

Television

• The British channel ITV3 uses this color for its current logo.

See also

• List of colors

References

1. Maerz and Paul (1930). A Dictionary of Color. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 199; color sample of midnight: page 103, plate 40, color sample A8.
2. Evans, Martyn; Burt, Tim (2016). The Collegiate Way: University Education in a Collegiate Context. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. p. 87.
3. "Midnight Blue (Character) – Comic Vine". Comic Vine. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
4. "School Colors". University of Toledo. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
5. "Edmonton Oilers". NHL Uniform Database. Retrieved 2020-11-08.