A blue jacket can refer to different things depending on the context. Here are some possible meanings:
- Columbus Blue Jackets: This is the name of a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League based in Columbus, Ohio. The team was named after Union soldiers of the Civil War, who were referred to as "blue jackets" due to the color of their uniforms.
- Blue Jacket, the Shawnee war chief: Blue Jacket, or Weyapiersenwah, was a war chief of the Shawnee people known for his militant defense of Shawnee lands in the Ohio Country. He participated in Lord Dunmores War and the American Revolutionary War, always attempting to maintain Shawnee land rights. With the British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, the Shawnee lost valuable assistance in defending the Ohio Country. The struggle continued as white settlement in Ohio escalated, and Blue Jacket was a prominent leader of the resistance.
- Naval rating: Another meaning of blue jacket is a junior enlisted sailor in a navy.
- Sailboats: Bluejacket 23 and Bluejacket MS 23 are Canadian sailboat designs.
- Plants: Tradescantia ohiensis, a plant known by the common name "bluejacket".
In summary, a blue jacket can refer to a sports team, a Shawnee war chief, a naval rating, a sailboat design, or a plant.