Azure
A clear sky blue, halfway between blue and cyan on the colour wheel
Azure is the colour between blue and cyan, often described as the shade of a clear daytime sky. Its name comes from lapis lazuli, a blue gemstone, and it has been used in art, heraldry, and national symbols, especially in Italy and Israel.
Share on WhatsAppOpen in the lab
- Azure is the colour of a clear daytime sky.
- Its name comes from lapis lazuli, a blue gemstone.
- Azure is a national colour of Italy and Israel.
- In heraldry, azure stands for blue.
- On the RGB wheel, azure sits halfway between blue and cyan.
What colour is Azure?
Azure is a colour found between blue and cyan on the colour wheel. It is often compared to the sky on a clear day. On screens, it appears as a vivid blue with a hint of green, and in some systems, it can look like a pale cyan. Azure stands out from blue by being lighter and more greenish, while it is deeper than most shades called 'sky blue'.
Where does Azure come from?
The word 'azure' comes from lapis lazuli, a blue stone prized for its colour. The name travelled through Persian, Arabic, and Latin before reaching English via French. It first appeared in English in the 14th century. Many European languages have similar words for blue, all tracing back to lapis lazuli. In heraldry, azure became the term for blue, shown by horizontal lines in engravings.
How Azure is defined
On digital screens, azure is created by mixing full blue light with a smaller amount of green. In the RGB colour model, this is about 100% blue and 20% green. As a pigment, azure can refer to colours made from minerals like azurite, which was ground for use in paints, though it was considered unstable in oils.
Where Azure is used
Azure is used in many places: in painting, as a pigment from minerals; in textiles, as the colour of Italy's national football team and police uniforms; and in flags, such as Israel's, where it is called Tekhelet. It appears in the decorative tiles of Portugal and Spain, and is a key colour in heraldry.
What Azure means
In Italy, azure is a national colour, linked to the House of Savoy and worn by sports teams. In Jewish tradition, the shade called Tekhelet is sacred and appears in religious garments and the national flag of Israel. In East Asian myth, the Azure Dragon stands for the east and spring.
Blue around the world
What the blue family means from country to country.
Blue was the colour of the French kings, whose arms were gold lilies on blue. It is the first band of the tricolour, and national sports teams are called Les Bleus.
Politics and protestRoyalty and powerPrideSource: Bleu de France (colour)The flag is white with two blue stripes and a Star of David. The stripes recall the tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which is white with blue or black bands.
Sacred and holyPolitics and protestPrideSource: Flag of IsraelTekhelet is the blue dye the Torah commands for one thread of the fringes on a prayer shawl. The method was lost for centuries, and some Jews now use a dye made from sea snails.
Sacred and holyAweSource: TekheletNational sports teams play in blue and are called the Azzurri. Blue was the colour of the House of Savoy, which ruled Italy until 1946, and does not appear on the flag.
Royalty and powerFestival and celebrationPrideSource: National colours of ItalyLapis lazuli has been mined in the mountains of Badakhshan for more than six thousand years. Ground to powder it gave ultramarine, the costliest blue in European painting.
Royalty and powerSacred and holyAweSource: Lapis lazuliThe chadari is a full-length covering for women with a mesh panel over the eyes. In Kabul and the north it is most often a light blue.
Protection and healingSource: BurqaShades and relatives of Azure
Azure covers a range of shades between blue and cyan, with some systems showing it as a pale cyan. Related colours include indigo, which is deeper and more violet, and cyan, which is greener. In heraldry, a lighter blue called bleu celeste is sometimes used.
Colours that go with Azure
Harmonies are worked out from the value #007FFF. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Azure
What colour is azure?
Azure is the shade between blue and cyan, often described as the colour of a clear sky during the day. On screens, it appears as a vivid blue with a touch of green.
Where does the name 'azure' come from?
The name 'azure' comes from lapis lazuli, a blue gemstone. The word passed through Persian, Arabic, and Latin before entering English via French.
How is azure used in national symbols?
Azure is the national colour of Italy, used in sports and police uniforms, and in Israel, the shade called Tekhelet appears in the national flag and religious dress.
How is azure made for screens?
In the RGB colour model, azure is made by mixing 100% blue light with about 20% green light, giving it a hue halfway between blue and cyan.
Is azure different from blue?
Yes, azure is lighter and slightly greener than standard blue, sitting between blue and cyan on the colour wheel.
Good reading and sources
- Azure (color) on WikipediaEncyclopedia
- More pictures on Wikimedia CommonsPictures
- Wikidata recordOpen data
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Azure (color)", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). Rang rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
It may contain mistakes. The swatch is an approximation: named colours are not fixed standards, and every screen shows them a little differently. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.
More of the blue family
All of blue
#0000FF
Blue
A primary colour seen in the sky and sea, used since ancient times in art and dyeBasic colour
Blue
Lapis lazuli
A deep blue stone prized for jewellery and the source of ultramarine pigmentColour named from nature · 🇦🇫 Afghanistan +5
#6A5DFF
Indigo
A deep blue named for the dye once exported from IndiaNamed shade · 🇮🇳 India +5
Blue
Azurite
A deep blue copper mineral once prized as a pigment and gemstonePigment · 🇫🇷 France +5
Blue
Woad
A blue dye once vital to Europe's textile trade, made from the leaves of a flowering plantDye · 🇫🇷 France +3
Blue
Indigo
A deep blue dye from plants, now mostly made synthetically and known for colouring denimDye · 🇮🇳 India +5
#120A8F
Ultramarine
A deep blue pigment once made from lapis lazuli, prized for centuries in artPigment · 🇦🇫 Afghanistan +2
#003153
Prussian blue
A deep blue pigment first made in Berlin in the early 1700sPigment · 🇯🇵 Japan
More colours tied to Italy
The colours of Italy
#FF00FF
Magenta
A purplish-pink colour named after a battle and key to modern printingNamed shade · 🇫🇷 France +4
#E25822
Scarlet
A bright red with a touch of orange, long tied to power, sacrifice and sinNamed shade · 🇹🇷 Turkey +4
#87CEEB
Sky blue
A light blue named for the colour of a clear daytime skyNamed shade · 🇦🇷 Argentina +5
Purple and violet
Tyrian purple
A reddish-purple dye once worth its weight in silver, made from sea snailsDye · 🇱🇧 Lebanon +4