List of historical sources for pink and blue as gender signifiers

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 not 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 publication Location = place to which text pertains Comments = brief quote from original text