Navy blue (or simply navy blue) is a color between blue and black. Navy blue takes its name from the dark blue (as opposed to navy white) worn by officers of the Royal Navy since 1748 and subsequently adopted by other navies around the world. When this color name, taken from the common color of sailors’ uniforms, came into use in the early 19th century, it was initially called navy blue, but the color name soon changed to navy blue. An early use of navy blue as a color name in English dates from 1840, although the Oxford English Dictionary includes a citation from 1813.