Home·Colour name reference

Steel blue

#4682B4

HEX#4682B4
RGB70, 130, 180
HSL207°, 44%, 49%
CMYK61%, 28%, 0%, 29%
Relative luminance0.21

Text contrast

Aa

On white

4.11:1 Below AA

Aa

On black

5.11:1 Passes AA

Colours that work with it

Complement

#B47746

Analogous

#46B4AE#464BB4

Triadic

#B44682#82B446

Shade scale

50100200300400500600700800

Seen with colour blindness

ProtanopiaDeuteranopiaTritanopia

How to read this

  • A hex code writes red, green and blue as two hexadecimal digits each. #ff0000 is red at full strength and the others at zero.
  • HSL states hue (0–360°), saturation and lightness. Nudging a colour brighter means changing one number, which is why it is easier to work with by hand.
  • Text contrast follows WCAG. Body-size text needs 4.5:1 or better, and 21:1 between white and black is the maximum possible.
  • The colour-blindness row computes how this colour appears under three types of colour vision deficiency — the reason never to encode information in colour alone.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is the hex code for Steel blue?

#4682B4. That is 70, 130, 180 in RGB, and hue 207°, saturation 44%, lightness 49% in HSL.

Q. Should text on Steel blue be white or black?

Black. Contrast against white is 4.11:1 and against black 5.11:1, so take the higher one if body-size text has to be readable.

Q. What is the complement of Steel blue?

#B47746, sitting 180° across the colour wheel. Side by side the two push against each other hardest, which makes it a good accent but tiring over large areas.

Q. Can I send these CMYK values straight to print?

The computed values are C 61% · M 28% · Y 0% · K 29%. Real printing depends on paper and ink, so check against the printer's swatch book when the colour matters.

Q. Is this colour distinguishable with colour blindness?

It appears as #6061A8 with protanopia, #5D58A5 with deuteranopia and #499E9C with tritanopia. Where those values converge with another colour, add a shape or a label instead of relying on hue.

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