# Origins of blue=boy, pink=girl? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026 "2004-07-20T17:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ShortBus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@ShortBus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShortBus)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/1 "2004-07-20T17:32:06Z")
Anyone know why blue has been associated with boys while pink is synonymous with girls? In an attempt to be objective, neither color seems to be more manly or more feminine than the other. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/2 "2004-07-20T18:04:41Z")
WAG: Pink for girls is because that’s the color of roses, which has been a standard parable for female beauty. Blue for boys probably for contrast with the pink. ---
**Author:** ![kellner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c2a13f/32.png) [@kellner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kellner)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/3 "2004-07-20T18:20:33Z")
The explanation that I heard was that blue was the most expensive dye available to the general population (ignoring really exorbitant things like Tyrian Purple) in earlier centuries and was therefore reserved for the sons. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/4 "2004-07-20T18:23:01Z")
Does anyone know how old this “tradition” is, actually? I’ll swear that I once read a short story, set around WWI, that confused the heck out of me because an important point hinged on blue being for GIRLS, and pink for BOYS. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/5 "2004-07-20T18:24:27Z")
It actually used to be reversed in the US, with pink for boys and baby blue for girls. This changed by about the middle of the 20th century. I don’t whether it was universal or not, but I’ve read several books from around 1920 which preferred the reversed color scheme. ---
**Author:** ![citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@citrus\_x\_paradisi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/citrus_x_paradisi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/6 "2004-07-20T18:37:37Z")
If **kellner** ’s statement is also correct, perhaps that’s why-- the expensive dyes were reserved for the aristocrat’s daughters. In the days of yore, all the nobles dressed pretty flamboyantly, but it’s likely that even then women defined fashion. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-blue-boy-pink-girl/256026/7 "2004-07-20T18:39:36Z")
We’ve been over this before: > **[What's so girly about pink?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=32984)** > > I was in the toy store the other day. As I walked down the aisle aimed at girls I was assaulted with a barage of pink toys and boxes. It seems you can’t sell something to girls unless it’s bright pink. How did pink become a girl’s color? Are there... Yes, it was reversed with respect to our current notions at one time. Blame painters Gainsborough and Lawrence, apparently.