Navy blue is a very dark shade of the color blue which almost appears as black. Navy blue got its name from the dark blue (contrasted with white) worn by officers in the British Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. It was also worn by the Americans during some wars.
When this color, taken from the usual color of the uniforms of sailors, originally came into use in the early 19th century, it was initially called marine blue, but the name of the color soon changed to navy blue.
The first recorded use of Navy blue as a color name in English was in 1840.
Famous quotes containing the words navy and/or blue:
“Give me the eye to see a navy in an acorn. What is there of the divine in a load of bricks? What of the divine in a barber’s shop or a privy? Much, all.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“One way to do it might be by making the scenery penetrate the automobile. A polished black sedan was a good subject, especially if parked at the intersection of a tree-bordered street and one of those heavyish spring skies whose bloated gray clouds and amoeba-shaped blotches of blue seem more physical than the reticent elms and effusive pavement. Now break the body of the car into separate curves and panels; then put it together in terms of reflections.”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)