Cobalt blue

This box shows the colour cobalt blue.

Cobalt blue is a cool blue colour. Louis Jacques Thénard discovered this color in 1802. People make it using cobalt salts. That is why it is called cobalt blue.

Many artists use cobalt blue. Many pieces of glassware have this colour. Glassware that has this colour is called cobalt glass.

Cobalt blue in popular media

• John Varley said that cobalt blue should be used to paint skies. Before this, most artists used ultramarine blue.
• Maxfield Parrish was a famous painter who painted the sky. People liked the bright colors that he used in his paintings. Commonly, he used cobalt blue. Because he was so popular, cobalt blue is also called Parrish blue.
• The Chinese used cobalt blue to make blue and white porcelain. They used it as the main blue pigment because it was easy to make. The first used it during the late 1700s and early 1800s. It was very good and they used it for a long time afterwards.

Tones of cobalt blue colour comparison chart

Name	Color	HEX Code	Red	Green	Blue	Hue	Sat	Lum	Source
Cobalt blue		#0047AB	0	71	171	215°	100%	34%
Zaffre		#0014AB	0	20	171	233°	100%	34%
Smalt		#003399	0	51	63	220°	100%	30%	(Dark Powder Blue)
Spanish Cobalt Blue		#00438A	0	67	138	211°	100%	27%	Cobalt Blue (Gallego & Sanz)
Thenard Blue		#333C87	51	60	135	234°	45%	36%	Gallego & Sanz

Cobalt Blue Media

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  An example of cobalt blue hue (not pure cobalt blue)

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  Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Boating on the Seine (La Yole), c. 1879

Related pages

• List of colors