View source for Midnight blue

{{Short description|Dark shade of blue}}
[[File:Düsseldorf Midnight view.jpg|alt=Midnight sky in Düsseldorf, Germany|thumb|Midnight sky in [[Place:Düsseldorf|Düsseldorf]], Germany]]
'''Midnight blue''' is a dark shade of [[Blue|blue]] named for its resemblance to the apparently blue color of a [[Astronomy:Moonlight|moonlit]] [[Astronomy:Night sky|night sky]] around a [[Astronomy:Full moon|full moon]]. Midnight blue is identifiably blue to the eye in [[Astronomy:Sunlight|sunlight]] or [[Physics:Visible light|full-spectrum light]], but can appear black under certain more limited spectra sometimes found in artificial lighting (especially early 20th-century incandescent). It is similar to [[Navy blue|navy]], which is also a dark blue.

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==Variations==

=== X11 ===
{{Infobox color
 |title=Midnight Blue
 |hex=191970
 |source=[[Web colors#X11 color names|X11]]
 |isccname=Vivid blue}}

There are two major shades of midnight blue—the X11 color and the Crayola color. This color was originally called ''midnight''. The first recorded use of ''midnight'' as a color name in [[Social:English language|English]] was in 1915.<ref>Maerz and Paul (1930). ''A Dictionary of Color''. New York: McGraw-Hill. p. 199; color sample of midnight: page 103, plate 40, color sample A8.</ref>

At right is displayed the color '''midnight blue'''. This is the ''X11 web color midnight blue''.{{Clear}}

===Dark midnight blue (Crayola)===
{{Infobox color
 |title=Midnight Blue (Crayola)
 |hex=003366
 |source=[[List of Crayola crayon colors|Crayola]]
 |isccname=Deep blue}}

At right is displayed the dark shade of midnight blue that is called ''midnight blue'' in Crayola crayons. Midnight blue became an official crayola color in 1958; before that, since having been formulated by Crayola in 1903, it was called [[Chemistry:Prussian blue|Prussian blue]].

==In culture==
=== Higher education ===
* Hatfield College, part of [[Organization:Durham University|Durham University]], uses midnight blue as its associated color<ref>{{cite book |last1=Evans |first1=Martyn |last2=Burt |first2=Tim |title=The Collegiate Way: University Education in a Collegiate Context |date=2016 |publisher=Sense Publishers |location=Rotterdam |page=87}}</ref>

=== Fashion ===
* Midnight blue is an alternative to black as a color for dinner jackets. Due to the deepness of the color, midnight blue formal clothes are often almost indistinguishable from black. The Duke of Windsor popularized the color in suits and tuxedos.

=== Military ===
* The dark blue of US Army and US Marine Corps dress blue uniform coats is called midnight blue.
* The British Army Special Reconnaissance Regiment uses midnight blue on its stable belts, as a flat color all round.

=== Sports ===
* The Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association use midnight blue and sunshine yellow as their official team colors.
* The [[Organization:University of Toledo|University of Toledo]] Rockets use midnight blue and gold as their official team colors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.utrockets.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=18000&ATCLID=1255502|title=School Colors|website=University of Toledo|language=en|access-date=2017-10-27}}</ref>
* The Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League used midnight blue as an official team color from 1996 to 2012.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nhluniforms.com/Oilers/Oilers.html|title=Edmonton Oilers|website=NHL Uniform Database|language=en|access-date=2020-11-08}}</ref>
* The New York Yankees use midnight blue and white as their official team colors.

=== Music ===
* In 1963, American jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell released the album ''Midnight Blue''.
* In 1975, Melissa Manchester released "Midnight Blue".
* In 1979, the album, ''Discovery'', released by British symphonic rock turned disco band Electric Light Orchestra, contained a song named "Midnight Blue."
* In 1987, rock vocalist Lou Gramm released a single entitled "Midnight Blue".
* In 2022, Taylor Swift began wearing midnight blue outfits as part of the promotion for her Midnights album. A year later, she sported wearing similarly colored costumes the last act of her Eras Tour.

==See also==
* List of colors

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Shades of black}}
{{Color topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Midnight Blue}}
[[Category:Shades of blue]]

{{Sourceattribution|Midnight blue}}