Also, are these two colors used relatively universally or is it just a western civilization phenomena? Throughout history and the world have other cultures used different colors for the same purpose?
Hi! There's always room for more info, but check out these previous discussion on the topic:
How did blue become the "boy colour" and pink become the "girl colour"?
The change to girls in pink and boys in blue is relatively recent. Historically, you'd put infants and small children in white dresses for practicality. White is easy to bleach, and dresses give easy access to diapers. (Color-safe bleach is a 1950s thing)
As recently as the 1920s, pink was for boys, and blue was for girls. Quoting a 1918 article:
The generally accepted rule is pink for the boys, and blue for the girls. The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger color, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.
There are other answers from that time period as well, based on appearance rather than gender. The modern boy=blue girl=pink thing finally settled out in the 1940s.
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/when-did-girls-start-wearing-pink-1370097/?no-ist