Why did the colours pink and blue.......?

Question

.......end up being used to symbolise male or female? Why those colours?

Answer 1

This is the most interesting question I have ever read on here. Sorry, I cant answer it for you, but I cant wait to learn the correct reason.

Answer 2

Assigning color to gender is mostly a 20th century trait. At one point pink was considered more of a boy's color, as a watered-down red, which is a fierce color) and blue was more for girls. The associate of pink with bold, dramatic red appears to heavy affected its use for boys. We have noted the following fashion preferences to pink in clothing catalogs and fashion magazines as well as various other references.
Blue at times has been widely worn by girls. Some considered it more suitable for girls as it is a softer, more subdued color. Blue is also the color most associated with the Virgin Mary. In the Middles Ages, blue was often associated with true lovers and faithful servants. At the turn of the 19th Cenntury, blue was the preferred color for girls' waistbands on white
A woman's magazine in 1918 informed mothers, "There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is pertier for the girl." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918] The current pink for girls and blue for boys wasn't uniform until the 1950's. At this time pink became associated with females because pink symbolizes love, fidelity, friendship, honor, harmony, compassion and faithfulness. At one time these were tributes to be admired among males, but now became the priority of females. Blue, now a male color, is considered to be the second most powerful color after red and blue is the color of constancy and faith.
There seems to be no specific reasoning for the change, nor a particular time frame, except from evidence found in catalogs of clothing circulated in the 1950's.

Answer 3

The idea of associating blue with male babies may stem back to ancient times when having a boy was good luck. Blue, the color of the sky where gods and fates lived, held powers to ward off evil, so baby boys where dressed in blue. In Greece a blue eye is still thought to have powers to ward off evil. The idea of pink for girls might come from the European legend that baby girls were born inside delicate pink roses.

Answer 4

According to the website "Gender Specific Colors," it would seem that
assigning color to gender is mostly a 20th century trait. It would
also seem that at one time, the color associations were reversed when
color first came into use as a gender identifier.

In fact, this reversal of what we consider "normal" was considered
conventional, even in the early 20th century.

"At one point pink was considered more of a boy's color, (as a
watered-down red, which is a fierce color) and blue was more for
girls. The associate of pink with bold, dramatic red clearly affected
its use for boys. An American newspaper in 1914 advised mothers, "If
you like the color note on the little one's garments, use pink for the
boy and blue for the girl, if you are a follower of convention." [The
Sunday Sentinal, March 29, 1914.]

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the
generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The
reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger color is more
suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty,
is prettier for the girl." [Ladies Home Journal, June, 1918]
http://histclo.hispeed.com/gender/color.html - "Gender Specific
Colors"

According to Jo B. Paoletti and Carol Kregloh, "The Children's
Department," in Claudia Brush Kidwell and Valerie Steele, ed., Men and
Women: Dressing the Part, (Smithsonian Institution Press, 1989). -
In the United States: "The current pink for girls and blue for boys
wasn't uniform until the 1950's.

It would also seem that Nazi Germany had something to do with the
association of pink with femininity:

"Catholic traditions in Germany and neighboring countries reverse the
current color coding, because of the strong association of blue with
the Virgin Mary...the NAZIs in their concentration camps use a pink
triangle to identify homosexuals. (The yellow star of David is the
best known symbol, used of course to identify Jews. The German system
was quite complicated, using various symbols an colors to identify
criminals, political prisinors, an a whole range of other groups). The
NAZI's choice of pink suggests that it by the 1930s was a color that
in Germany had become associate with girls." - "Gender Specific
Colors"

Here is another site backing the same color history.

"The preferred color to dress young boys in was pink! Blue was
reserved for girls as it was considered the paler, more dainty of the
two colors, and pink was thought to be the stronger (akin to red). It
was not until WWII that the colors were reversed and pink was used for
girls and blue for boys..." - Quote from Dress Maker Magazine
http://www.dressmaker.com/ezine0200.shtml

"Jo B. Paoletti concludes that the effect of color-coded gender
differences (pink for girls, blue for boys) existed oppositely
initially..." - Quote from book review "The Material Culture of
Gender, the Gender of Material Culture" - Winterthur, Del.: Henry
Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1997 - From the Journal of American
History - Please note that this is a cached page as the current page
is different:
http://tinyurl.com/iy31

While there are also myths and legends supporting both or either color
for gender identification, those resources dealing with straight
history date the identification of pink with femininity to the period
of World War II or later.

Answer 5

I am pretty sure pink symbolises the vulva. Blue is often associated with monarchs and armies which are pretty masculine.
I think that's pretty much it.

Answer 6

check out web site colormatters.com, interesting answers
not always is blue for boys, in Belgium boys are in pink girls in blue

Answer 7

Some more answers you can find here:
http://www.trivia-library.com/a/why-is-the-color-blue-used-for-boys-and-pink-for-girls.htm
http://www.sdreader.com/php/ma_show.php?id=449
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=238733
http://www.larissameek.com/pink-vs-blue/