Why is a blue ribbon first place ?

"Blue ribbon" is a term used to describe something of high quality, such as a blue-ribbon panel or a blue-ribbon commission. This comes from the practice of awarding blue ribbons for first place in competitions. The Blue Riband was a notional prize conferred since the 1860s to the ship that made the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing. The first ship actually to fly a blue pennant from her masthead upon winning this was the French liner Normandie in 1936.

It comes from the Blue Riband award that has been given for transatlantic crossing records since back when steam ships were new. It may seem a little odd now, but in those days it was glamorous, cutting edge stuff.

Some background: http://web.bryant.edu/~ehu/h364proj/fall_98/stroeh...

List of winners: http://www.greatships.net/riband.html

At Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Riband (redundant information, but it has some sources for further reading.)