What color is blood?

Everyone keeps hearing/saying that blood is blue before it hits the air (or before it is oxygenated). My mother told me this when I was little and obviously I believed her until I learned the truth about blood. It's never blue!

So, I was wondering.. who else has heard this? Were you told that blood is blue?
Additional Details
For those of you being negative: I know that blood is blue. You apparently can't read.

J	Venus blood thats lost all the oxygen is almost black but will turn a little brighter red once it hits air... arterial blood is bright red, as well as capillary blood

Donna B	Sorry to say that your mother is right, the color of your blood is blue, look at the veins on your arm, what is running thorough them is blood the color of them is blue, when you cut yourself and bleed the blood is oxygenated and that is why it turns red

primusfan87	oxygenated = red not oxygenated = blue

rock star	mines the same color as lager

Link B	i'm a doctor and i have operated quite afew times... blood is red although it seem blue.... hope i helped, have health man

:)	Blood is blue while its in your body, thats why your veins are blue. Once the blood hits the air, it gets oxygen, so it turns red. Hope I helped! -Matt.

aprilfacee™	actually it's blue to the first guy. then it turns red once it hits oxygen.... so don't call this person a dumb * when you weren't even right you stupid *!!!!

Gina Green	i heard that too also that blood was purple. but i think blood is actually red it just looks blue or purple because it is all together like anything else! when i get my period and cells stuck together come out it looks black to me its because its all compressed all together.

Granny	I was told in school that Blood is blue when it goes through your heart and lungs, in which it is re-oxygenated and turns back to red. I have seen bluish blood.

Elf Princess	COME ON PEOPLE.SPEAK LIKE YOU'VE WENT TO SCHOOL. WHERE IN THE WORLD IT SAYS BLOOD IS BLUE? BLOOD IS RED.IN YOUR BODY OR OUT OF IT.

Evilest_Wendy	Non oxygenated blood is blueish (very dark red). Looks blue when veiwed through our skin. Bright red blood carries oxygen to you body. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/bio99/bio99312.htm

Gothic Chick - x	Blood cannot be blue, dont fall for it. The only colour blood is, is red. Unless you are some mutated creature and your colour is blue haha.

CHEROKEESQUAW	YES !! BLOOD IS BLUE..........WHEN OXGEYN HITS IT, IT TURNS RED

pinksodaa	that is a silly question. it's red, the viens are blue.

Ryan	ok ok i change my answer blood is always red. it depends on how much oxygen is put into it. And the more carbon monoxide it has the redder it gets and thats how you can tell its poisoned. blood in the body is red but very dark red, like the color you see at hospitals. to tell you ypur answer yes i have heard it and i was told it, and i thought that until i just looked it up =]

XxX--lolli-pop-lor--XxX	red when it's filled with oxygen and blue without oxygen. heart flowing to the heart is blue and blood flowing away is red (oxygenated). this is why we never see blue blood when we cut ourselves, because as soon as the blood hits the air it becomes oxygenated and turns red.

chrisshof	your blood is red and zombies blood is green speaking of zombies go here http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?master%200

spacedmanspif	What color is blood …really ? Human blood is made up of a liquid part and a solid part. The liquid part, when it is still in the body, is called plasma. It is yellowish in color. It makes up about 50 - 60 % of our blood. The solid part is made up of cells; red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. White blood cells and platelets have no color but appear white when they are grouped together, as when blood is separated in a centrifuge. Together they make up less than 1 % of the blood. They are pictured in text books as having a variety of colors. This is because they can be stained with various dyes after they are removed from the body then placed on a glass slide. Red blood cells are always red. Since RBCs make up about 40-45% of our blood, the blood is red. Red blood cells are red because they have a protein called hemoglobin which contains iron. Iron likes to bind oxygen. Oxygen combined with iron is red. The more oxygen iron has bound to it, the redder it is. It is true that some persons have "iron poor blood". In this case their red blood cells are less red than normal, but they are still red. The iron in the hemoglobin of red blood cells is what carries oxygen to every tissue in the body. Why some people may think that blood can be blue is probably because of the color of our veins, which may be visible near the skin's surface. They appear blue because they do not get as much oxygen as the other tissues. When the red blood cells go to the lungs, the iron in them picks up oxygen. Blood then goes to the heart and then to the rest of the body through vessels called arteries. The arteries appear reddish as do many other organs, because the iron in the blood gives up its oxygen to the cells that need it as the red blood cells travel throughout the body. By the time the blood is back on its way to the heart and then to the lungs it has less than half as much oxygen as it did before. The veins, therefore, do not get as much oxygen as the other tissues and they appear bluish. The bottom line is: blood is red.

naplliny	Yes I was told that as well when I was a child. But when know better when we get older that is not true. Our veins can be blue. When the nurse takes your blood it is not hitting air. It comes out red

Katie	I have never heard of blood being blue, it's red. When I was a kid my dad told me if I put a batery in my mouth that my tounge would burn up and fall out. I think that some times peoples familys think that we won't ake it seriously, but when I was younger it used to scare me when one of little brothers would put a batery into their mouths. I would freak out about it because I used to think that their tounges would burn up and fall out!!!!

Love!!	Thats allll i've been hearing when i was little!!!...Lol i thought i was the only one!!

Nidz	bllod is red

gortholomew	Blood is red it only appears blue when you look at your veins this is because your skin does not let in enough light to make you see it is red

you dont need to know my name.	uhm...like a redish color i guess? sometimes it can look purpleish. but for the most part i guess red. but when it dries it gets all nasty and turns brown.

Ashley	Yes. I have heard that before. The "Red = oxygenated Blue = deoxygenated" is a very old misconception. For some of the answers on here, it seems the people just read a circulatory chart SHOWING blood circulation whose colors were just used to designate between veins and arteries. First thing: Blood is never blue. Blood is described as dark red (venous) or bright red (arterial). Our veins look blue because we are looking at them through our skin. The blood inside them is dark red and it doesn't reflect light very well. The blood you see when you get hurt is usually venous blood. Arterial blood comes out in spurts. It spurts every time the heart beats. I hope you never see that.

Master Sarcasto	No, one of the main components of blood is "Red Blood Cells". They are not called that because they are blue.

MJT	I was told this as a child too, and I believed it. But now I Know blood is made up of white blood cells and red blood cells, I'd have to say it's red.

Grey Man	It is true...well sort of. It's a very dark puplish maroon until it's been oxygenated then it turns a vibrant bright red.

Mr. Tights	Yeah... It does get much brighter red than it is in your veins however. The reason why people think blood is blue is because veins appear to be blue. By that logic my blood would be green before it was exposed to oxygen.Hehe

Belvoir Phoenix	Yup, blood is always red. Your veins are blue. EDIT: Human blood is NEVER blue. EVER. While inside your body, blood is bright red. BLOOD ALREADY CONTAINS OXYGEN, SO EXPOSURE TO OXYGEN DOES NOT AFFECT ITS COLOR. EDIT: Yes, that's a very common misconception. It's spread around a lot because it offers a reasonable, simple explanation. Many people think it is fact because it makes sense when you're uninformed. But I'm sure people learn in elementary school that the main function of blood is to carry oxygen to other parts of the body. Since blood is already carrying oxygen, how would being exposed to oxygen change it? Even so, consider a pale person's arm, or so. Their veins appear blue, so they assume that their blood is blue. BUT, if you cut the surface of their arm, where there is NOT a vein, where you can NOT see blueness, why does red blood emerge? Because healthy, normal human blood never was and isn't blue. "Deoxygenated blood is a darker shade of red; this is present in veins, and can be seen during blood donation and when venous blood samples are taken." - Blood that does not carry oxygen is red. There is no blue human blood. "First thing: Blood is never blue. Blood is described as dark red (venous) or bright red (arterial). Our veins look blue because we are looking at them through our skin. The blood inside them is dark red and it doesn't reflect light very well. The blood you see when you get hurt is usually venous blood. Arterial blood comes out in spurts. It spurts every time the heart beats. I hope you never see that. " BLOOD. IS. NEVER. BLUE!

Gary D	I've also heard that story from many people. Most people think this because if you look at the backs of your hands, the veins appear bluish. They do, but you're looking at color from the combined deep dark red blood and the bluer-colored veins through the skin surface. If you were to open a vein, you would see very dark red blood, but it would turn redder as it's exposed to air and acquires oxygen.