Since at least the 19th century, the colours pink and blue have been used to indicate gender, particularly for babies and young children. The current tradition in the United States (and an unknown number of other countries) is "pink for girls, blue for boys".
Prior to 1940, two conflicting traditions coexisted in the U.S., the current tradition, and its opposite, i.e., "blue for girls, pink for boys". This was noted by Paoletti (1987, 1997, 2012).
Since the 1980s, Paoletti's research has been misinterpreted and has evolved into an urban legend: that there was a full reversal in 1940, prior to which the only tradition observed was the opposite of the current one. Quoting the concluding lines of this study: "In conclusion, there are strong reasons to doubt the validity of the standard PBR [pink-blue reversal] account; if anything, gender-color associations seem to be much more stable than currently believed"
Key to tables
Year = year of publicationLocation = place to which text pertainsComments = brief quote from original text
Pink for girls, blue for boys
19th century Year Location Comments 1823 NetherlandsHaarlem La Cour de Hollande sous le règne de Louis Bonaparte, by Athanase Garnier, 1823
L'accouchement des dames, me dit-elle, s'annonce de cette manière, et quand la pelotte est fond rose, c'est le signe de l'avènement en ce monde d'une petite fille, tandis que la pelotte fond bleu annonce que c'est un garçon.... Ladies Childbirth, she said, is announced in this manner, and when the pincushion is pink background, this is a sign of the coming into this world a little girl, while the blue background pelotte announces that it is a boy. 1834 FranceParis Manuel complet de la maitresse de maison et de la parfaite ménagère, by Élisabeth-Félicie Bayle-MouillardChapitre XXIII, Des soins à donner aux enfans / Care to give to children, De la layette / Baby clothes Assez communément, dans ce dernier cas, ou doublé de satin rose s'il s'agit d'une petite fille, et de satin bleu s‘il s'agit d'un garçon. Quite commonly, in the latter case [of using muslin], or double [ruffles], pink satin is used in the case of a little girl, and blue satin if it is a little boy. 1842 RussiaSt. Petersburg Russia: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkoff, Riga, Odessa, the German Provinces.... by Johann Georg Kohl On the front of many shops you see inscribed, in gilt letters, "Coffins sold here;" and within you find hundreds of those narrow houses, piled upon and beside one another, for all religions, for all ranks, for all ages; black, with golden crosses for the , brown and light colours for Russians of the Greek church, rose-coloured ones with white lace, for young girls; azure blue for boys. 1844 RussiaSt. Petersburg Commercial statistics: A digest of the productive resources, commercial legislation, customs tariffs, navigation, port, and quarantine laws, and charges, shipping, imports and exports, and the monies, weights, and measures of all nation. Including all British Commercial Treaties with Foreign States. In three volumes by John MacGregor In all the upholsterers' shops, except the one alluded to, there are piles of coffins ready for all ages, sexes, ranks, and religions. Brown, purple, and light coloured ones for the Greco-Russians; black with gold ornaments for Protestants; rose-coloured ones decked with white laces for young girls; bright blue for boys. 1849 FranceParis François le Champi: Comédie en 3 actes et en prose. Par George Sand (Elle aperçoit le bouquet.) Ah ! par exemple, voilà un bouquet qui s’est planté là tout seul, car je n’ai vu personne. C’est pour moi, bien sûr. (Examinant les rubans.) Du rose ! c’est une fille à marier;… du bleu ! un garçon qui veut épouser;… un ruban noir ! c’est pour dire qu’on plaint mon deuil; ...
(She sees the bouquet.) Oh, my! Here is a bouquet that just planted itself, because I did not see a soul. It is for me, of course. (Examining the ribbons.) Pink! it's a girl to be married;... blue! a boy who wants to marry;... a black ribbon! it says they're sorry for my grief; ... 1856 FranceParis The Illustrated London News - volume 19 - page 298 THE IMPERIAL LAYETTE. As everything connected with the birth of the heir of the French throne... But as blue is the colour appropriated to male children, as rose or pink is to those of the opposite sex....
Godey's Magazine, volumes 52-53 edited by Louis Antoine Godey, Sarah Josepha Buell Hale But as blue is the color appropriated to male children, as rose or pink to those of the opposite sex.... Putnam's Monthly - volume 7 - page 558 The World of New York: A layette (that is, baby clothes) must be prepared. Shall it be a layette of pink, for girl, or a layette of blue, for a boy? 1856 USAPhiladelphia Peterson's Magazine, vol. XXIX, Philadelphia, March 1856, No. 3. page 261 FASHIONS FOR MARCH. Fig. XI.--Cap for Christening.--The crown is made of Valenciennes.... On the left side of the cap, in the plaits of the band, is a pretty rosette of No. 4 blue ribbon, if for a boy, pink for a girl. 1856 FranceParis Manuel géométrique du Tapissier, etc., by Jules Verdellet - page 218 Assez souvent on garnit l'intérieur de la capote en soie bleue pour les petits garçons, et en soie rose pour les petites filles, cette soie qui est toujours ouatée et piquée, forme transparent sous les fronces en mousseline des fuseaux de la capote. Quite often, the inside of the bonnet is lined with blue silk for boys and pink silk for girls. This silk, always padded and quilted, is visible through muslin gathers of the bonnet's spindles. 1857 NetherlandsHaarlem Revue de Paris, 1857, volume 39, page 389, article by Théophile Gautier, Maxime Du Camp, editor En Hollande—Lettres a un ami - ...j’aperçus sur une porte une sorte de large pelotte ensoie rose enrichie de dentelles.
...I saw on the door a kind of large bundle of pink silk decorated with lace. I quickly sought information and learned that, when a woman has just given birth, they inform passers-by putting this item on the door whose Dutch name impossible to remember, pronounce and even write, but means: proof of birth. It is pink for girls and blue for boys. This bizarre practice was introduced here, they say, during the time of the Spaniards. 1858 FranceParis Journal des demoiselles - page 157 ...terminé par une garniture assortie aux revers du corsage; au-dessus de la manche, tu placeras un nœud en ruban de taffetas, bleu pour un garçon, rose pour une fille... ...finished with a trim matching the lapels of the bodice; place a bow of taffeta ribbon above the neck, blue for a boy, pink for a girl... 1859 FranceParis La science du Monde, politesse, usages - bien-être, by Anaïs Lebrun Bassanville, page 149 Du Baptême - Ces bonnets peuvent être entièrement blancs. Sinon la couleur rose est d'obligation pour une fille et le bleu pour un garçon. The Baptism - These caps can be completely white. Otherwise, pink is a must for a girl and blue for a boy. 1861 UKLondon London Lady's Newspaper And Pictorial Times, November 16, 1861, page 308, col. 2 Fig. 5. (Baptismal Robe.)—A broad sarsnet ribbon passed across one shoulder is fixed in a bow on the opposite side of the waist; the long ends flowing over the skirt of the robe. For a boy this ribbon should be blue, and for a girl pink. 1861 Russia The monthly packet of evening readings for younger members of the English church, July, 1861, part 127 Sketches of the offices of the Greco-Russian Church Little babies have their christening shirt put on... A little boy's wrapper is bound round the waist and confined at the wrists by blue ribbons, and an amber, wooden, or stone cross—no matter, so that it be not silver or gold—is put round his neck by a blue ribbon. A little girl's dress is the same, but with pink ribbons. 1862 USANYC Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. CXLIII-April, 1862-Vol. XXIV-No. 143, page 720 Fashion for April - Furnished by Mr. G. Brodie, 300 Canal Street, New York, and drawn by Voigt from actual articles of Costume. The Infant's Robe is specially designed for baptismal use. It is composed of fine nansouk and insertion. If the child is a boy, the ribbon sash is blue; if a girl, it is of pink taffeta. 1862 UKLondon The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, volume 5, Issue 25 - volume 6, issue 36, page 142 For very tiny mites, there is nothing prettier than French merino or mousseline-de-laine in blue or pink; the former for a boy, the latter for a girl. 1862 FranceParis La Mode illustrée: journal de la famille, June 23, 1862 DEVIS DE LAYETTE - Une robe de baptême.... ...rose pour une petite fille, - bleu pour un petit garçon. QUOTE LAYETTE - A christening gown .... pink for a little girl - blue for a boy. 1863 FranceParis La Mode illustrée: journal de la famille, March 16, 1863 Robe de baptême - Selon la coutume de Paris, on met sous cette robe une robe rose pour une petite fille, bleue pour un petit garçon. According to the custom of Paris, under the baptisme robe is a pink dress for a little girl, blue for a little boy. 1864 FranceParis La Mode illustrée: journal de la famille - page 185, June 12, 1864 Berceau orne - Le berceau est habillé avec de la percaline rose pour une petite fille, bleue pour un petit garçon, si l'on veut suivre la coutume de Paris.... Ornamented cradle - The cradle is dressed with pink calico for a little girl, blue for a little boy, if we want to follow the custom of Paris.... 1868 Russia Sketches of the Rites and Customs of the Greco-Russian Church, H. C. Romanoff,page 66 - On the Feast of the Annunciation the christening was to come off.... The godfather provides a gold cross (we are speaking of a noble's family...) about an inch and a half in length, to hang round the child's neck, if a boy by a blue ribbon, if a girl a pink one. He also pays the Priest's fee. page 236 - A little boy's wrapper is bound round the waist and confined at the wrists by blue ribbons; and an amber, wooden, or stone cross—no matter, so that it not be silver or gold—is hung round his neck by a blue ribbon. A little girl's dress is the same, but with pink ribbons. 1868 FranceParis La Mode illustrée: journal de la famille - Page 122, April 19, 1868 Bonnet de baptême - Le bonnet est garni de ruban rose (s'il est destiné à une petite fille) ou bleu (pour un petit garçon).... Baptism bonnet - The hat is trimmed with pink ribbon (if it is intended at a girl) or blue (for a boy).... 1869 USA Good Health: A Popular Annual on the Laws of Correct Living, as Developed by Medical Science, Etc.; Bottle Babies, by Kate Gannett Wells, Boston Of course my baby was to be a bottle baby.... I was radical, progressive, hated restraint and conventionalism, and duty.... ...little wagons,—pink for girls, blue for boys,—containing shelves...holding the necks of baby bottles.... 1869 USA Little Women, part II, Good Wives by Louisa May Alcott "Are they boys? What are you going to name them?" "Boy and girl, aren't they beauties?" ... "Amy put a blue ribbon on the boy and a pink on the girl, French fashion, so you can always tell." 1869 FranceParis La Mode illustrée: journal de la famille, December 5, 1869, page 385 Robe de baptême - ORNÉE DE GUIPURE SUR FILET ...rose pour une petite fille, bleu pour un petit garçon. Christening dress - DECORATED ON NET OF GUIPURE - pink for a girl, blue for a boy. 1870 FranceParis Revue des deux Mondes, year XL, period 2, volume LXXXIX, September 1, 1870, page 88 Les hospices a Paris, by Maxime Du Camp Tous les jours, la préfecture de police et les hôpitaux....