Powder blue
A pale blue once made from powdered cobalt glass, now a standard paint and web colour
Powder blue is a soft, pale blue. The name first referred to powdered smalt, a deep blue cobalt glass used in laundry and dyeing in the 1600s. Today, powder blue describes a gentle blue shade, with its exact look varying between paint standards and web colours. It is widely used in paints and design.
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- First meant powdered smalt, a cobalt glass pigment, in the 1600s
- Now a pale blue in British and Australian paint standards
- Web colour 'powderblue' is a pale cyan, not a true blue
- Crayola introduced a powder blue crayon in 2022
What colour is Powder blue?
Powder blue is a light, soft blue. Its exact look can shift depending on the standard or product, but it is always a gentle, pale blue. Some versions lean slightly towards grey or cyan, but all are less intense than cobalt blue or sky blue. It stands out for its subtlety and is often chosen for its calm, understated appearance.
Where does Powder blue come from?
The name 'powder blue' began in the 1600s, when it described powdered smalt, a blue pigment made from cobalt glass. This powder was used in laundry and dyeing. By the late 1800s, the term started to mean a pale blue colour, and its use as a colour name in English dates to at least 1894. Earlier, in 1774, it was used for a blue-grey or dark blue, but the exact shade is unclear.
How Powder blue is defined
Originally, powder blue was made from powdered smalt, which is deep blue cobalt glass ground into a fine powder. Today, the colour is defined by paint standards and digital codes rather than a specific material. In web design, it is set by its RGB values, while paint companies and standards bodies each have their own version.
Where Powder blue is used
Powder blue is found in textiles, paints, and digital design. It is a standard colour in British and Australian paint systems and appears in crayon sets. On the web, it is a named colour, though its use in stylesheets is now discouraged. Its soft tone makes it popular for gentle backgrounds and clothing.
Blue around the world
What the blue family means from country to country.
Lapis 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: BurqaThe blue band of the flag stands for the wish of the Armenian people to live under peaceful skies. The red above it is for the highlands and the struggle to survive.
Politics and protestHopeSource: Flag of ArmeniaThe flag is sky blue, white and sky blue, created by Manuel Belgrano in 1812. National teams are called the Albiceleste, the white and sky blue.
Politics and protestPrideSource: Flag of ArgentinaBoca Juniors play in blue and gold. The club's story is that in 1907 it took the colours of the flag of the next ship into port, which was Swedish.
Festival and celebrationPrideSource: Boca JuniorsTo be true blue is to be honestly and loyally Australian. The phrase is older than the country, but Australians have made it their own.
Politics and protestTrustSource: True Blue (John Williamson song)Shades and relatives of Powder blue
There is no single powder blue. Paint standards, crayon makers, and digital systems each define it a bit differently, from pale cobalt blue to a pale cyan. Some versions are more greyish, others more saturated. The web colour 'powderblue' is closer to pale cyan than to traditional powder blue.
Colours that go with Powder blue
Harmonies are worked out from the value #B0E0E6. Contrast ratios follow the WCAG 2 formula.
Questions people ask about Powder blue
What colour is powder blue?
Powder blue is a pale, soft blue. Its exact shade varies, but it is always lighter and less intense than cobalt or sky blue.
Where does the name powder blue come from?
The name comes from powdered smalt, a blue pigment made from cobalt glass, used in laundry and dyeing in the 1600s.
How is powder blue defined today?
Today, powder blue is set by paint standards and digital codes, with each system giving it a slightly different shade.
Is the web colour powderblue the same as traditional powder blue?
No, the web colour called 'powderblue' is a pale cyan, which is greener than the traditional pale blue of paint standards.
Good reading and sources
The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Powder blue", 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.
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