When exploring the beauty of traditional Maltese facades, you’ll soon notice that the stunning blue is one of the most commonly used colours.

But did you know the interesting story behind the colour blue and why it is has quite the high standing?

For those of us that did not know, blue is extremely difficult to produce naturally as dark blue, indigo and cobalt could only be found and collected in only certain parts of the world. It was quite rare.

This is why whenever we see a figure of the Virgin Mary she is dressed in blue, as painters mainly used this rare colour on her to emphasise her importance.

In fact, throughout history, if you wore blue clothing, it showed and emphasised how incredibly wealthy you were since the colour was so incredibly rare.

In Early Modern Europe, blue was made from the Mediterranean plant woad, and its cultivation made many rich. It was very expensive to produce however, and the colour continued to be associated with nobility, hence where the term royal blue was coined.

Therefore, when you see a blue façade on a Maltese house or building, it truly makes it that extra special.