Royal Blue vs French Blue

[Lewis Robinson]

I have often heard the terms "royal blue" and "french blue" used interchangeably, but could not find a source that explicitly explains these two common wool colors. French blue is often used to describe confederate officer trim, while royal blue is often used to describe the later Richmond issued blue trousers made from imported English cloth. But I have also heard the term French blue trousers. Are royal blue and French blue synonymous or are they completely separate entities? Was the Confederacy importing "French blue" colored wool from England? Is French blue used strictly as a descriptive color or is it also referring to its origin?

[brobby05]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Hey Lewis,

I've seen a description of the cuffs of the Collis Zouave jacket as being "French Blue" which was like a darker bright sky blue versus the royal blue when you think of the KC Royals in baseball. It mentions in their unit biography by Hagerty that Collis imported sufficient amounts of fabric from France for the duration. I know this isn't about the Confederacy but maybe it helps a little bit. Check with Chris Sullivan at Stonybrook Company...he's very knowledgable in things like this.

Larry Kitner
72nd PA, Co. K

[Coatsy]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Lewis and I were discussing this yesterday. One point I'd like to toss out there is the use of a period term like the "royal" blue describing the imported trousers, and modern sutler phrases that have been attached to colors, material, etc over the past 30 or more years.

[GreencoatCross]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

French blue is traditionally a rich "sky blue" shade while Royal blue is traditionally a rich medium-dark blue. At the link below French blue would be close to the CMYK example while Royal blue would be close to the RGB.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dystopos/45436681/sizes/o/in/photostream/

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Hallo!

We could also play with Saxon or Saxony Blue as well. :)

One thing to consider is that IMHO we should not always consider CW era vegetable dye colors in the same light as modern "color chip" technology. Or, as I shared, er argued, many times with the WWI community; "Feld Grau is a concept, not a color."

;) :)

As with Federal regulations calling for "dark blue" or "sky blue," IMHO both are "concepts" not standardized color chips.

Curt
Welt Farben Mess

[Jeff Dugdale]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Hallo!

One thing to consider is that IMHO we should not always consider CW era vegetable dye colors in the same light as modern "color chip" technology.

Welt Farben Mess

Surely the imported British fabrics were chemically dyed?

Jeff Dugdale

[Prodical Reb]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Jeff,
Everything is chemically dyed..It just a matter of where those chemicals come from. eg. snails, bugs, plants, minerals etc.

[jwoodli]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

Owing to the colorfastness and consistency of many surviving British goods, and the growing science and availability of synthetic chemical colorants (also in the art world) at this time (especially in Europe), the processes of dying and coloring were themselves consistent and regulated by increasingly well-understood chemistry. It is unlikely that unstable vegetable dyes would have been used to fill requests for very definable colors as different as "Royal Blue" and "French Blue" for true industrial output. :sarcastic:tounge_sm
There are and were many blues to choose from, and corresponding chemical formulas to abide by to attain them. Certainly, the Windsor&Newton range, the color palate of a leading art supply company dating to 1832 in London, maintained a strict color palate. Differences between colors in this range were as comparable then as a printer's "color chip" is today. They represent standard systems by which to regulate color consistency, and the British Empire was a leader in advances in color technology.
"Blue" is a concept; "Royal Blue" is a color.

[Jeff Dugdale]

Re: Royal Blue vs French Blue

:sarcastic

Jeff,
Everything is chemically dyed..It just a matter of where those chemicals come from. eg. snails, bugs, plants, minerals etc.

I was referring to the 'fast' superior British synthetic chemical dyes,which were far better than the inferior organic American versions.:sarcastic
Jeff Dugdale UK