Hermes and Blue: Random Thoughts
Something I've been thinking about recently is Hermes and the color blue.
Traditionally, Hermes has no color association with [light] blue--his chlamys is usually depicted as red, gold, or orange, and those tend to be his "traditional" colors.
But in modern practice, especially among people who aren't big nerds about traditional depictions, light blue is consistently a color association we see. The reasons for this are pretty obvious: Hermes is associated with speed and travel, which gives him an air affiliation, and in the west, air is associated with light blue because it's the color of the sky. I've attached a couple of depictions by mby_52025 and saniodigitalart off instagram where Hermes has a blue Chlamys.
Light blue has been a fairly common air color association for awhile now, and it made me think--with Hermes' affiliations, zipping around in the sky and bothering both gods and mortals, it's surprising we don't see the light blue affiliation sooner. But then I thought--or is it? The Ancient Greeks didn't have a word for blue. (Source.) it makes me wonder if one reason why Hermes' didn't have a blue affiliation sooner is because it simply wasn't a color Greeks could easily source, especially prior to having regular trade with Egypt (one of the first places with a reliable supply of blue pigment.)