Since ancient times the woad plant has been cultivated and used to make blue dyestuff in many European countries. It was already known in Egypt, possibly as far back as 1000 B.C.
In 1498 Vasco da Gama brought the Indian indigo to Europe. The woad industry was such a cash crop for Europeans, and the early indigo traders certainly had a rough time establishing their product. It actually became illegal to dye fabrics with this new dyestuff. In parts of 17th Century France and Saxony the use of indigo was threatened with the death penalty. The German government called it a pernicious, deceitful and corrosive substance – the devil’s dye.
But on its better properties the Indian indigo slowly prevailed over woad based dye and was finally legalized in the mid 1700s. The devil’s dye became the king of colours.
Nowadays the vast majority of indigo used to dye garments is synthetically produced. But thanks to an enthusiastic community of people in Marche, Italy, the traditional way to produce indigo from woad, or guado as they call it, has been revived.