There are a few things that are commonly yellow and blue in color. Let’s explore some of the most popular yellow and blue items and symbols.
Sports Teams
Many professional and college sports teams feature yellow and blue as their official team colors. The most well-known examples include:
- Los Angeles Lakers – The Lakers basketball team wears purple and gold (yellow). Their uniforms, logos, and branding prominently feature these colors.
- Los Angeles Rams – The NFL’s Rams football team wears yellow and blue. Their helmets are yellow with blue horns.
- UCLA Bruins – The sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles use “True Blue” and gold as their colors.
- Michigan Wolverines – The University of Michigan’s nickname is the Wolverines and their colors are maize (yellow) and blue.
- Golden State Warriors – The NBA’s Warriors basketball team wears yellow/gold and royal blue.
So if you’re a sports fan, you’ve definitely seen yellow and blue together representing popular teams. The contrasting shades complement each other nicely in uniforms and help teams stand out.
Flags
The national flags of many countries around the world contain yellow and blue:
- Ukraine – The Ukrainian flag consists of two equal horizontal bands, blue on top and yellow on bottom.
- Sweden – Sweden’s flag design features a golden yellow cross on a field of blue.
- Kazakhstan – Kazakhstan’s flag has a gold sun with rays and a soaring gold steppe eagle, all on a light blue background.
- Bhutan – Bhutan’s flag is divided diagonally with a yellow dragon on the left and orange and yellow stripes on the right.
- Guatemala – The Guatemalan flag has two blue stripes on the sides and a white stripe between them. The coat of arms featuring the quetzal bird is on the white area.
The use of blue likely represents freedom, wisdom, or truth. Yellow often symbolizes prosperity, justice, or sovereignty. Together they make a bold, eye-catching combination.
Brands and Logos
Many major corporations utilize blue and yellow in their logos and branding:
- IKEA – The Swedish furniture company is well-known for its blue and yellow color scheme. Their logo is blue and yellow.
- National Geographic – The famous magazine has a yellow border/rectangle with “National Geographic” in blue lettering.
- Nikon – The camera brand’s iconic red slash logo sits on a yellow background.
- DHL – The logistics company DHL uses bright yellow and red in its branding, but many delivery vans and uniforms also incorporate blue.
- Caterpillar – The heavy machinery manufacturer uses vibrant yellow for most of its vehicles and equipment, along with black and grey.
- John Deere – The tractor and machinery company paints many of its vehicles green and yellow.
- Best Buy – The big box electronics retailer dresses employees in yellow shirts with black pants.
For brands, yellow captures attention while blue conveys trust and dependability. The combination helps them stand out in the marketplace.
Art
Many famous paintings throughout history have prominently featured the combination of yellow and blue:
- The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh – This iconic painting depicts a night sky swirling with blue, yellow, and white stars.
- Sunflowers series by Vincent Van Gogh – Van Gogh created many paintings of vibrant yellow sunflowers against blue backgrounds.
- The Scream by Edvard Munch – The central figure in the painting wears a blue-toned outfit against an orange-yellow sky.
- Vase with Twelve Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh – A famous still life with bright yellow sunflowers in a blue vase.
- The Yellow Christ by Paul Gauguin – A crucifixion scene with a golden yellow background.
For artists, yellow can represent emotions, energy, optimism, and imagination. Blue may create a sense of calm, sadness, or melancholy. Their combination offers contrast and mood.
Nature
There are also several examples of blue and yellow appearing together in nature:
- Blue skies and yellow sun – On a sunny day, the sky often appears as a gradient from bright yellow near the sun to pale blue higher up.
- Blue jays – These birds have predominantly blue and white plumage, with some black and yellow highlights.
- Bees – Bees are yellow and black in color, but sometimes blue orchid bees occur in nature.
- Blue tang fish – This bright neon fish has vibrant yellow fins and tail and a royal blue body.
- Blueberries – Blueberries are deep blue in color with a pale yellow waxy coating.
In nature blue and yellow complement each other to create visual contrast, enable pollination, attract mates, or warn predators. The pairing frequently occurs in flowers, insects, birds, fish, skies, and fruits.
Man-Made Objects
Yellow and blue are a popular color combination for a variety of manufactured items:
- Rubik’s cubes – The classic 3D combination puzzle has squares of yellow, blue, red, orange, green, and white.
- Porta-potties – Portable toilets are often painted blue with yellow roofs.
- Caution tape – Yellow caution tape is used to rope off hazards, often with blue text such as “Caution” or “Police Line.”
- Barrels – Oil drums and barrels are made of blue steel with yellow hazard stripes around the top and bottom.
- Taxis – The traditional taxi cab is yellow with blue branding or text.
- School buses – Most American school buses are painted school bus yellow with black, blue, or white accents.
- Hazmat suits – Protective hazmat suits designed to contain biological threats are completely yellow or yellow with blue accessories.
Manufacturers use yellow and blue for high visibility, warning signs, transportation recognition, and identification. The colors complement each other while contrasting with most environments.
Famous Characters
A number of beloved fictional characters are associated with yellow and blue:
- Pikachu – This iconic Pokémon character is bright yellow with red cheeks, black tips on its ears, and a blue/black tail.
- Buzz Lightyear – The Toy Story character is mostly white and purple, but features a yellow and blue lightsuit with matching glow.
- SpongeBob SquarePants – SpongeBob is a yellow sea sponge who wears brown pants, a white shirt, a red tie, and blue/white socks.
- Sonic the Hedgehog – Sonic is a speedy blue hedgehog with large yellow eyes and red shoes. When he runs fast, he turns into a spinning ball that is blue with yellow spikes.
- Minions – The hilarious yellow creatures from Despicable Me often wear blue overalls and goggles.
For characters, yellow can convey optimism, joy and friendship, while blue may represent loyalty and stability. The pairing makes characters more vibrant, relatable and fun.
Conclusion
In summary, yellow and blue is a highly visible, high contrast combination that occurs frequently on sports teams, flags, brands, art, nature, objects, and characters. The pairing is eye-catching, complementary, symbolic, and versatile.
So whether it’s the vibrant uniforms of the L.A. Lakers, the reliable colors of IKEA, or the fun antics of Pikachu, seeing something yellow and blue together triggers an instant recognition. It’s a beloved pairing that connects people, organizations and ideas across the globe.