Blue (university sport)

A University Sporting Blue is an award earned by sportsmen and sportswomen at Cambridge, Oxford, and some other universities for competing at the highest level of university sport.

Origins

The first ever sporting match between Oxford and Cambridge was at cricket, held on 4 June 1827. There is no record of any "colour" being worn on that occasion. In the first boat race, on 10 June 1829 at Henley, the Cambridge crew wore white, with a scarlet or pink sash (accounts vary), honouring their Captain W. Snow from St. John's. The second, 1836, boat race is the event associated with the origin of the Blue. Just before the race, it is said that R.N. Phipps, of Eton and Christ's, thinking that the Cambridge boat should have a colour at its bows, called at a haberdashers and asked for a piece of ribbon or silk. The colour of the ribbon was light blue, perhaps because it was Eton's colour, or Gonville & Caius' colour (there were three Caians in the boat), or simply because it was the colour of the nearest bit of ribbon to hand!

Awarding process

The criteria for awarding blues are different for men and women. Awards are made the discretion of the men's and women's Blues Committees. The Men's Blues Committee is formed from one representative of each of the Full Blue sports, and the Women's from one representative of each of the Full Blue and Half Blue sports. Each committee meets frequently to discuss issues relating to Cambridge sport.

The Committees spend most of their time sitting in judgment on requests for Full or Half Blues. They initially determine an appropriate status for each sport, ranking it as Full Blue, Discretionary Full Blue, Half Blue or non Blue, according to its perceived popularity or importance.

• Once a sport is judged Full Blue, its Captain is given responsibility for making awards to his/her team, on behalf of the appropriate Blues Committee, and within any constraints or restrictions that the Committee has laid down. In some Full Blue sports, all members of the varsity match team against Oxford receive Full Blues, whereas in others only some of the team receive Full Blues and the others receive Half Blues; the Captain is trusted to make all the decisions. In some sports with Full Blue status, the varsity match second team is awarded Second Team Colours.

• When a sport is judged to be of Discretionary Full Blue status, its Captain is empowered to make the Half Blue awards to his/her team, and may request the appropriate Blues Committee, with some expectation of success, to grant one or more Full Blues to some of its members; thus the Committee, rather than the Captain, has the discretion that is in the title.

• The Captain of a Half Blue sport is empowered only to grant Half Blues (subject to any sport-specific restrictions), on behalf of the appropriate Committee. However, a recent (1990) rule allows the Committee, on rare occasions, to grant an Extraordinary Full Blue in a sport that otherwise only holds Half Blue status.

• No Full or Half Blue can be awarded in a sport that holds non Blue status. In spite of claims by the Cambridge University Tiddlywinks Club, there is officially no such thing as a 'quarter blue'.

• The awarding of a Full Blue often requires a person to fulfil a number of requirements in the same academic year, particularly in sports with Discretionary Full Blue status. If, for whatever reason, an exceptional sportsman or woman is of or above Full Blue standard but does not fulfil all the requirements for the 'automatic' award of a Full Blue in any given year, the committee then has the authority to grant an Extraordinary Full Blue to that person subject to scrutiny of the particular case. The individual's case must be presented to the Blues Committee in person and must be backed up by substantial evidence and references. The award is unlikely to be made unless the person is of world-class or at least international standard.

Each sport has specific criteria for each award (in such a way that the four categories above are slightly simplistic); details of the individual criteria for women's sports can be found here, and are summarised below.

The Blues Committees are steeped in tradition, and somewhat conservative in their thinking, but by no means unwilling to move with the times. New sports frequently arise, petition for, and receive status; but, to show evidence of permanence, they must have held at least five successive Varsity matches. Sports have recently lost status, and have been required to improve their organisation before regaining it.

Categorisation of men's sports

Full Blue - whole team
Cricket, Field Hockey, Football, Golf, Lawn Tennis, Rowing, Rugby Union, Squash
Full Blue (some) / Half Blue (rest)
Athletics, Boxing, Cross Country, Swimming
Discretionary Full Blue
Badminton, Basketball, Canoeing, Cycling, Fencing, Judo, Karate, Lacrosse, Modern Pentathlon, Orienteering, Rifle Shooting (full-bore), Rugby league, Sailing, Skiing, Water Polo
Half Blue
Archery, Eton and Rugby Fives, Gymnastics, Ice Hockey, Korfball, Lightweight Rowing, Pistol Shooting, Polo, Rackets, Real Tennis, Riding, Rifle Shooting (small-bore), Table Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting
Currently undecided / under review
Mixed lacrosse, Gaelic Football

Categorisation of women's sports

Full Blue - whole team
Fencing, Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, Lawn tennis, Netball, Rowing, Squash
Full Blue (some) / Half Blue (rest)
Athletics, Modern pentathlon, Swimming
Discretionary Full Blue
Cross-country, Cycling, Gymnastics, Judo, Karate, Orienteering, Rifle shooting (full-bore), Rugby union, Sailing, Skiing, Volleyball
Half Blue
Archery, Badminton, Basketball, Canoeing, Cricket, Dancesport, Golf, Ice hockey, Korfball, Lifesaving, Lightweights rowing, Pistol shooting, Real tennis, Riding, Rifle shooting (small-bore), Taekwondo, Trampolining, Triathlon, Ultimate, Waterpolo
Currently undecided / under review
Mixed lacrosse, Table tennis, Windsurfing

University of Cambridge

Sportsmen and women at the University of Cambridge may be awarded a Full Blue (or simply a Blue), Half Blue or Second Team Colours for competing at the highest level of university sport, which must include being in a Varsity match or race against the University of Oxford. A Full Blue is the highest honour that may be bestowed on a Cambridge sportsman or woman, and is a much-coveted and prestigious prize. In general, the Full Blue standard is approximately that of being successful at a national level of student competition, and the Half Blue standard is that of being successful at county or regional level.

Regalia

Cambridge University Half Blue blazer and bow tie.

The winner of a Blue or Half Blue is entitled to wear a blues blazer, which is one of the most recognisable and distinctive garments associated with Cambridge University. Full Blue blazers are completely coloured Cambridge blue. Often it is remarked that Cambridge blue is really a green; the best representation of the colour in HTML is shown below ^[1].

Half Blue blazers have a number of different designs, depending on the wearer's sport; a typical design is an off-white blazer with Cambridge blue lapels and trimmings. There is a variety of other Blue and Half Blue paraphernalia, including scarves, ties, pullovers, bow ties, caps and squares. Such items are worn with pride, often by blues who have long since passed their physical prime.

Hawks' Club / Ospreys

Men holding Blues, Half Blues or Second Team Colours in a Full Blue sport are eligible to join the Hawks' Club. Women holding any of these awards are eligible to join the Ospreys.

University of Oxford

Oxford University Half Blue blazer and tie.

At Oxford University the committees for awarding Blues and Half Blues works on much the same principles as the Cambridge committees. See here for more information on committees.

The colour of an Oxford Full Blue blazer is dark blue. The Oxford Half Blue blazer can be one of two designs. Either it is composed of thick vertical stripes of dark blue and off-white, similar in style to the Newcastle United football strip - see the image to the right. Or it can be dark blue, as the Full Blue blazer, with two white stripes above the club badge on the left breast.

The club for Oxford Blues is Vincent's Club, although it is not restricted to Blues. Atalantas is a club for sportswomen at Oxford, and also is not restricted to Blues.

University of Durham

The University of Durham awards 'Palatinates' and 'Half Palatinates' to students who have demonstrated three, or two, respectively, of the following qualities - 'Ability of a High Standard' (international representation), 'Service to a Club' and 'Attitude and Commitment'.

University of Dublin

The University of Dublin awards Pinks to students at Trinity College who compete at international level, as well as with their college club. A captains' committee, consisting of the captain of each club currently affiliated to the university's Central Athletic Club, meets biannually to elect new Pinks. There are no half-Colours awarded.

The Pinks scarf is plain light-pink, and the tie is navy-blue with a pattern of pink crowned harps.

Election to Pink status is extremely difficult, as participation on a first team is not sufficient; one must also compete at international level.

Sporting clubs for elite sportsmen and women also exist at the University of Dublin: the Dublin University Knights of the Campanile for men, and the Dublin University Heraeans for women. However, membership of these social clubs is by no means restricted to holders of the Pink.

University of London

The University of London awards Purples and Half Purples for competition at the highest level of university sport, in a similar way to Oxford and Cambridge Blues. These are taken to be the equivalent of Blues at other universities.

It is interesting to note that as the pool of students the University of London has to choose from for its sports teams is much larger than either Oxford or Cambridge (some 80,000 compared to 25,000), it can be argued that it is more difficult to obtain a Purple than it is to obtain an Oxford or Cambridge Blue. Furthermore, it is unusual for the entirety of a team to be awarded Purples in any given year, as is the case with some Oxbridge teams; usually only a handful are awarded.

Other 'Blues' awards

At some universities a Blue is an award given to an individual by the Sports Union or Association of the university for outstanding achievement at a national or international level. Typically the recipient must have achieved a medal winning performance at national or international university competition level or must have won a Gold medal at a regional level.

Australian National University

The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia awards Blues and Half Blues in this way.

University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide in Adelaide, South Australia awards Blues, Half Blues and Club Letters in a similar fashion.

See also

• The Hawks' Club A social club for men holding a Cambridge Full Blue, Half Blue or Second Team Colours.
• The University Match A history of the Oxford v Cambridge cricket match.

Notes

1. ^ The actual colour is between 12 B 17 and 12 B 19 on British Standard BS5252. See here.

External links

Cambridge University:

• Blues Committees
• Cambridge University Rugby Football Club
• A history of the Cambridge Blue
• Cambridge University Hawks' Club website
• The Ospreys website (the female equivalent of the Hawks' Club)

Oxford University:

• Oxford University Sport
• Oxford University Vincent's Club website

Other universities:

• The Atalantas website (the female equivalent of the Vincent's Club)
• Criteria for election to Pinks (University of Dublin)