The most common color when writing with a ballpoint pen is blue, in many cases also black, while red is more often used for special statements or annotations. Today we tell you why contracts are signed in blue , something that is always the case although sometimes there are those who sign it in black.
It may seem that it does not matter to sign a contract with one color or another, but the origin of this unwritten “rule” makes a lot of sense when you know what it is.
The reason why contracts are signed in blue
At the beginning of the 20th century, blue was used in fountain pens to differentiate an original document from a copy , since black was the protagonist of the texts when using carbon paper. In addition, the blue ink began to “go viral” because it was much easier to clean than the black color.
In the second half of the 20th century, blue or black began to be used when it came to formal documents for official bodies, so much so that today there are still countries in which you are forced to use a certain color . For example, in the United States, all legal documentation must always be filled out in black ink.
Currently, blue is usually the color chosen to sign contracts, especially those that are for business. The reason? As was done in the past, to distinguish the originals from the copies, that signing in black is less noticeable if it is a signature added by computer, for example. If you add a signature in blue, it is very noticeable that it is not really signed in handwriting .
This “norm”, although it is not official, it is very widespread and it is totally recommended, since it helps to avoid fraudulent documentation, forgeries, etc.
