Azure facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Azure
Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#007FFF
sRGBB  (r, g, b)	(0, 127, 255)
HSV       (h, s, v)	(210°, 100%, 100%)
Source	On the RGB 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 007FFF.
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte)

lapis lazuli with its beautiful azure color

Azure is a color that looks like the bright, clear sky on a sunny day. It's a pure color found exactly halfway between blue and cyan on the RGB color wheel. The color that goes perfectly with azure, called its complementary color, is orange.

Where the Name Comes From

The word azure has a cool history! It comes from the Persian word lazhward. This word was actually the name of a place. This place was famous for a very special, deep blue stone. Today, we call this stone "lapis lazuli". Its name means "stone of Lazhward".

The word lazhward traveled to Old French around the 1100s. The French used this word to describe colors on coats of arms, which were special designs used by knights and families. From the French, the word then came into the English. The first time azure was written down as a color name in English was in 1374.

Azure in Heraldry

A shield showing the azure color in heraldry

In heraldry, which is the study of coats of arms and symbols, the word azure simply means "blue". When you see azure on a coat of arms, it is said to represent the planet Jupiter and the precious stone sapphire.

Azure is one of the main "colors" used in heraldry. Sometimes, when old pictures of coats of arms were made using engraving (a way of carving designs), azure was shown as a pattern of horizontal lines. You might also see it shortened to az. or b.

There's also a lighter blue sometimes used in heraldry called bleu celeste, which means "sky blue." While neither azure nor bleu celeste is a super exact shade of blue, azure is always shown as a much darker blue than bleu celeste.

Azure in Nature

You can find the beautiful color azure in many places in nature, especially among insects and birds!

Insects

• Azure damselfly (Coenagrion puella): This is a type of damselfly found in Europe.
• Azure hawker (Aeshna caerulea): This is a kind of dragonfly.

Birds

• Azure gallinule (Porphyrio flavirostris): A bird that belongs to the rail family.
• Azure jay (Cyanocorax caeruleus): A bird in the crow family.
• 

  An Azure-hooded jay sitting in a tree
• Azure kingfisher (Alcedo azurea): A colorful bird from the river kingfisher family.
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  A beautiful Azure kingfisher
• Azure tit (Cyanistes cyanus): A small bird in the tit family.
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  An Azure tit with its bright blue feathers
• Azure-crowned hummingbird (Amazilia cyanocephala): A tiny, fast-flying hummingbird.
• Azure-hooded jay (Cyanolyca cucullata): Another type of jay in the crow family.
• Azure-naped jay (Cyanocorax heilprini): Yet another jay with an azure nape (back of the neck).
• Azure-rumped tanager (Tangara cabanisi): A bird in the tanager family.
• Azure-shouldered tanager (Thraupis cyanoptera): Another tanager with azure shoulders.
• Azure-winged magpie (Cyanopica cyana): A bird in the crow family, known for its azure wings.

Images for kids

• 

  The color azure is like the clear blue sky.

Related Pages

• List of colors

See Also

In Spanish: Azure para niños