The blue paint alludes to the woad used by Celtic warriors, but the Blue Man himself has come to act as the elder rather than the warrior archetype in Edinburgh's Beltane Fire and Samhuinn Festivals.

 

The Blue Man's role is both practical and spiritual. Summer and Winter Kings come and go but the Blue Man is constant. He keeps the collected wisdom of the Court, the knowledge of the ritual, and maintains the order required by nature.