Cornflower blue, a shade of azure, is a shade of light blue with relatively little green compared to blue. This color was one of the favorites of the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, the other being yellow.
Cornflowers (Centaurea cyanus) are among the few "blue" flowers that are truly blue, most "blue" flowers being a darker blue-purple.
The most valuable blue sapphires are those that are cornflower blue, having a medium-dark violet-blue tone.
Famous quotes containing the word blue:
“Mozart has the classic purity of light and the blue ocean; Beethoven the romantic grandeur which belongs to the storms of air and sea, and while the soul of Mozart seems to dwell on the ethereal peaks of Olympus, that of Beethoven climbs shuddering the storm-beaten sides of a Sinai. Blessed be they both! Each represents a moment of the ideal life, each does us good. Our love is due to both.”
—Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881)