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What Does The Color Blue Symbolize? Here's Everything To Know About The Color
Have you ever noticed that colors describe more than aesthetics? Take the color blue, for example. A clear sky and a clean ocean are blue, but sometimes, so is your mood.
The color doesn't solely represent what we feel; blue symbolism encompasses the color's emotional and psychological meanings too.
On the surface, colors are simply visible light spectrums, shading in the objects and nature around us. But on a spiritual level, celebrity aura reader and psychic medium Megan Firester, aka "Mystic Michaela," explains that colors alert our emotional receptors. They cause energetic reactions, tugging at something deeper within us. The color blue is no exception.
What does the color blue symbolize?
According to color expert and BedHead PJs' EVP of design and merchandising, Atinch Tanriover, the color blue doesn't have one meaning; no color does. A color's symbolism is rooted in an individual's background and life experiences.
It is subjective, Tanriover says, as different colors will elicit different responses in people, "whether it's a type of emotion being evoked or a certain message being portrayed."
Ergo, the color blue can represent a myriad of things, though the most common things the color blue symbolizes are:
- Serenity and calm: This is largely due to the sky and ocean being blue, Tanriover says, as people generally feel at peace when they hear the sound of or watch ocean waves.
- Sadness and depression: If someone asks if you're "feeling blue," they're wondering if you're sad, melancholy, "down in the dumps," etc. According to Tanriover, the association between the two is debatable. Still, he says, many speculated reasons include blue flags and blue bands being used "to showcase a military officer's death" and how, in West African cultures, clothing is dyed blue "to represent suffering."
- Creativity: Light blue auras are strongly associated with creative expression. Spiritual author Shannon Kaiser previously told mbg that people with sky-blue auras, specifically, tend to be "highly talented creatives and leaders who use their skills and voice to help others."
- Loyalty: Per Color Psychology, blue represents those who value commitment and strong, deep relationships.
- Baby boys: Pink and blue have been gender signifiers for decades. As a result, pink is thought to be "girly," while blue is considered "boyish" and "masculine." Though, it's worth noting that gender norms are a societal construct and change with the times.
- Truth: Kaiser previously told mbg that, in relationships, blue symbolizes communication and the ability to be honest and open with the other person. This also aligns with the chakra colors, as the throat chakra, representative of communication and voice, is associated with the color blue.
- Self-reflection: Firester tells mbg that, spiritually, the color blue creates space for self-reflection and instills a sense of comfort in the individual, that their authentic self may be seen and heard. "It evokes the peace of the soul," Firester says, adding that blue encourages "contemplation and unity between this world and the next."
- Intuition: Color therapist Walaa Al Muhaiteeb previously told mbg that one of the spiritual meanings of blue, specifically indigo, is intuition, explaining that it's "a frequency of opening new doors to uplift the world in a different way or looking at the world in a different way."
Common shades of blue
- Sky blue
- Baby blue
- Royal blue
- Navy blue
- Indigo
- Turquoise
- Cobalt blue
- Aqua
- Cerulean
Personality traits associated with the color blue
- Honest and trustworthy: Tanriover says blue, especially in Western culture, represents reliability and dependable authority (think police officers in blue).
- Family-oriented: Firester tells mbg that people with blue auras tend to have strong family values and put their inner circle above all else. "They are concerned with getting together for meals, holidays, and in support of one another through good and bad times alike," she explains via email.
- Introverted: This goes back to the color blue being associated with self-reflection. Introverts need their alone time to recharge, assess, and regroup within themselves before reintegrating into the world around them feeling a sense of wholeness.
- Selfless: In Firester's experience, people with blue auras have a hard time receiving and prefer to be in the position of giving. "They can put themselves at the bottom of their own list and prioritize others' needs over their own," Firester says, noting that sometimes this is to their own physical, mental, and emotional detriment.
Blue meaning in other countries/cultures
In China
According to Color Psychology, blue represents immortality and wisdom in Chinese cultures. The color is also worn to ward off evil spirits.
In India
Per the Milan Art Institute, many of the colors in India have origins rooted in their Gods. Krishna, one of the major deities in India, was poisoned by a demon, and that poison turned his skin blue.
As a result, the color blue symbolizes immortality in India, as Krishna was the God of love and divinity.
In Western cultures
Blue represents calmness and tranquility and is linked with the sky and ocean, where it is predominantly found in nature.
In Japan
Unlike in Western cultures, in which colors like brown and red represent warmth and autumn, in Japan, blue is representative of the start of the fall season.
In Egypt
Similar to how the meaning of the color blue in India is deeply rooted in the story of their God, the Egyptians associate blue with Horus, the God of the sky. It represents masculinity in femininity, creation and rebirth, as well as protection and harmony.
In Central and South America
Like black in Western cultures, blue means mourning in central southern parts of the world.
The takeaway
Though color symbolism is widely subjective, the color blue is one people commonly associate with many meanings like calmness and serenity, sadness and depression, and even personality traits like honesty and introversion.
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