This chart from Data Pointed shows that, since 1903, Crayola has come up with more and more shades of blue — and the number of colors in the company's box of crayons doubles every 28 years:
When crayons were imported to Japan in 1917, schoolchildren began to more clearly distinguish green from blue than in the past. But Crayola has since become an expert on distinguishing blue from other shades of blue, coming up with at least 19 different variations on the color in its standard boxes since 1903:
- blue
- blue green
- blue violet
- cornflower
- Prussian blue (later renamed "midnight blue")
- cadet blue
- aquamarine
- navy blue
- sky blue
- ultra blue
- blizzard blue
- cerulean
- teal blue
- Pacific blue
- robin's egg blue
- denim
- blue bell
- outer space
- wild blue yonder
Color names have occasionally changed, and colors are periodically retired. "Indian Red" became "chestnut" in the 1990s, and "flesh" became "peach" in 1962.
If anything, the chart understates how many slight variations on everyday colors Crayola has come up with. An exhaustive collectors' website (there are at least two crayon collectors, one of whom has more than 50,000 individual crayons and created the website) lists every color Crayola has ever used. It also includes a 41-part history of the company's color choices. In all, the company has manufactured 331 different colors under 755 names — many for special edition boxes of crayons.
