Now that the Year of the Parma Ham has passed, the President of Nezúmi has proclaimed 2008 the Year of Cerulean Blue.

Although Höpfner introduced cerulean blue as early as 1821, it was not widely available until its reintroduction in 1860 by George Rowney in England. Its name was derived from the Latin word caeruleum, meaning sky or heavens. Caeruleum was used in classical times to describe various blue pigments. Like cobalt green, blue and smalt, it was made by the action of heat on cobalt oxide with other metallic bases.

This variety was a fairly true blue (not greenish or purplish) but it did not have the opacity or richness of cobalt blue. It was not recommended for use in watercolor painting because of chalkiness in washes. In oil, it kept its color better than any other blue and was particularly valuable to landscape painters for skies.

Cobalt chromate is sometimes marketed under the cerulean blue name but is darker and greener (Rex Art color index PB 36) than the cobalt stannate version (color index PB 35). The chromate makes excellent turquoise colors and is identified by Rex Art and some other manufacturers as "cobalt turquoise"

Cerulean blue is used in the Nezúmi flag.

 

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