Carolina blue is the shade of blue

Blue

Blue is a colour, the perception of which is evoked by light having a spectrum dominated by energy with a wavelength of roughly 440–490 nm. It is considered one of the additive primary colours. On the HSV Colour Wheel, the complement of blue is yellow; that is, a colour corresponding to an equal...

 used as one of the official school colors of the University of North Carolina

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...

. The name is derived from the popular usage of "Carolina" to refer to the university. For clarity in branding and marketing, the University Licensing Office has defined the color as Pantone

Pantone

Pantone Inc. is a corporation headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey, USA. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System , a proprietary color space...

 278.

Use of the light blue color at UNC dates from 1795 when the Dialectic (blue) and Philanthropic (white) Societies of the university chose representative colors. Society members would wear a blue or white ribbon at university functions, and blue or white ribbons were attached to the diplomas of graduates. When football became a popular collegiate sport in the 1880s, the UNC football

North Carolina Tar Heels football

The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in collegiate level football. In Carolina’s first 121 seasons of football competition, the Tar Heels have compiled a record of 646–488–54, a winning percentage of .566...

team adopted the light blue and white of the Di-Phi Societies as the school colors.