蓝色
lánsè · HSK 2
blue
🟦 蓝 lán = blue + 色 sè = color; together: the color blue
蓝 originally named the indigo plant used for blue dye, then came to mean the color itself. 色 means color or hue. Many Chinese color words follow this pattern: color-name + 色.
蓝 — grass radical 艹 + 監 (jiān, phonetic)
蓝 originally referred to the indigo plant used to make blue dye. The grass radical 艹 signals a plant, while 監 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning extended from the dye plant to the color blue itself.
色 — person 人 (top) + kneeling figure 卩 (bottom)
Originally a pictograph showing one person above another, traditionally interpreted as depicting facial expressions or intimate posture between two people. The earliest meaning was 'facial expression' or 'countenance,' which extended to 'appearance' and eventually 'color' (the look of things). The 'shǎi' reading is a colloquial variant used for everyday color words.