Bavarian 'Cornflower Blue'

[Chrisr]

Attached is a photo of three Bavarian uniforms which give some indication of 'Cornflower Blue'.

 

[Nap]

Thanks for posting this

Variations on all 3

A good reference

Nap

 

[Jaybo]

This is a topic near & dear to my heart, especially for the period 1700-1815. My opinion is that artists tend to make it ‘ sky blue’ which it was not. There is a wonderful book published by the Bavarian Army Museum at Ingolstadt called ‘Napoleon und Bayern’. It is a gold mine on this topic.

 

[Martin64]

The "Sky blue" was a result of wear as the dyes of the uniforms bleached out - especially when worn in the field. That lead to the misconception that this was the original color of the"cornflower blue" Bavarian uniforms.

 

[Jaybo]

I think that you are correct. In the book that I referenced above, there is a reproduction Bavarian infantryman’s uniform that is much darker than is often depicted. I wish that someone from the Ingolstadt museum could explain how this uniform Kornblumenblau shade was achieved.

 

[Chrisr]

I use a mix of French Ultramarine Blue and Cerulean Blue to achieve different shades of Cornflower Blue.
Cheers
Chris

 

[Martin64]

Here is an example of a Bavarian Jäger how he should have looked in the field displaying the lighter tones of the uniform blue when worn in the field.