Why are the people belonging to royal families termed as "blue blooded"?

Question

what's so special with blue clolour...why not green or red or perhaps yellow which is a symbol of power

Answer 1

This expression is said to have originated in Spain to differentiate people with very pale skin (i.e., European) from those with Moorish or Jewish ancestory. For people with pale complexions, blood vessels appear to have a blue tint.
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It also denotes an aristocratic or royal background; in early times it was fashionable to have a pale skin. If you had a tan, it meant that you probably worked outside. Nobles wanted to show that they didn't need to demean themselves with work! In medieval times, ladies would trace their veins with a blue pencil, particularly on the forehead, to reinforce the idea that they were noble and wealthy enough not to work. If you look at your skin where the sun rarely touches it, and where it is thin and delicate - like on your wrist - you can see the "blue" veins.

The fashion for appearing pale lasted a long time. It's only fairly recently that we've associated a tan with health and wealth enough to sit in the sun!

Answer 2

You mention tourism, so why dose France get more tourist? And Graham m. 60p per person might not seem a lot, but if I took a penny off everyone in the country just the once. You wouldn't like that, even though it only a penny! It would be the fact of me having £700,000. Lets make it voluntary, if you like being a surf then you can pay for them. And why when they are such large land owners. With large incomes from the rents, do they also need our money? They are getting richer by the day and only pay £1 income tax a year. Alright I don't know that for sure, but I'm more likely right than wrong. They wont let anyone see their taxes. The Duchy of Cornwall chooses it's tax rate. Far below what any other property company's pay, ie. no capital gains tax. An unfair if you are a competitor. And it doesn't make us special, we not the only Monarchy in Europe!

Answer 3

It’s a direct translation of the Spanish sangre azul. Many of the oldest and proudest families of Castile used to boast that they were pure bred, having no link with the Moors who had for so long controlled the country, or indeed any other group. As a mark of this, they pointed to their veins, which seemed bluer in colour than those of such foreigners. This was simply because their blue-tinted veins showed up more prominently in their lighter skin, but they took it to be a mark of their pure breeding.

So the phrase blue blood came to refer to the blood which flowed in the veins of the oldest and most aristocratic families. The phrase was taken over into English in the 1830s. By the time Anthony Trollope used it in The Duke's Children in 1880, it had become common:

It is a point of conscience among the — perhaps not ten thousand, but say one thousand of bluest blood, — that everybody should know who everybody is. Our Duke, though he had not given his mind much to the pursuit, had nevertheless learned his lesson. It is a knowledge which the possession of the blue blood itself produces. There are countries with bluer blood than our own in which to be without such knowledge is a crime.

Answer 4

Blue Blooded among the royal families means "A good upbringing in a wealthy, old money family". I found this out when I visited London 5 years ago. There are those who are wealthy in Europe. But, they do not have the respect or the prestige of the old money families.

Answer 5

Blue Blood is a term used in genetics saying that a person has been bred from blood lines of their ancestors and there has no crossing of bloodlines.Blue in many countrys is the royal color.Blue blood I think is said to be blue while it is still in our veins and it does not turn red until oxygen hits it

Answer 6

Royalty worldwide have been called 'blue blooded' due to the large amount of silver in their blood stream. They ate & drank from silver plates, cups & cutlery (hence born with a silver spoon in their mouths). They also ingested silver powders and salts for medicinal reasons, as silver is proven to be effective against pathogens. High silver content can cause the skin to show a grey/blue colour, the medical term is 'Argyria'.

Answer 7

Blue is a cool color. Maybe it is supposed to symbolize their attitude towards the not so well to do.

Green symbolizes nature, life, growth.*

Red symbolizes martyrdom and suffering.

Yellow symbolizes happiness and joy. Just think of a sunny day!
It also symbolizes cowardness, and deceit.

Answer 8

Blue blooded is just a term used to coin royalty or other aristocrats.

Answer 9

They had to sit for paintings
That meant that they had to hold their breath and not move
Holding your breath means turning blue.

Answer 10

blue is could blooded animals
like retiles etc
so it is believed that their roots stem from a reptile alien race