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Cerulean

#2A52BE

Cerulean is commonly given as the hex color #2A52BE, with RGB values 42, 82, 190. It is not a CSS keyword, so the value is a widely used convention rather than a standard.

BlueCommon convention

Palette image

Every swatch on this page, as one image you can save or share.

Shades of Cerulean: Cerulean #2A52BE, Blue #0000FF, Navy #000080, Royal blue #4169E1, Sky blue #87CEEB, Baby blue #89CFF0, Cobalt #0047AB, Indigo #4B0082, Periwinkle #CCCCFF, Powder blue #B0E0E6, ...

Cerulean color codes

Every value for #2A52BE, ready to paste. Click any code to copy it.

Channel values for #2A52BE in each number base
ChannelDecimalShareHexOctalBinary
Red4216.47%2A5200101010
Green8232.16%5212201010010
Blue19074.51%BE27610111110

The nearest web-safe color is #3366CC, from the 216-color palette browsers agreed on before displays could be trusted with more.

Shades, tints and tones

Every step is generated from #2A52BE. Click a swatch to copy its hex.

Shades of cerulean

A shade is the base color with black mixed in. Shades read as deeper and more dramatic, and they are what you reach for when a color needs to recede or carry weight.

Tints of cerulean

A tint is the base color with white mixed in. Tints turn pastel as they lighten, which makes them useful for backgrounds and for anything that has to sit behind text.

Tones of cerulean

A tone is the base color with gray mixed in. Tones lose the shout without losing the hue, and they are usually what separates a considered palette from a loud one.

The cerulean scale

The same color as the 50 to 950 ladder every CSS framework uses, with #2A52BE at 500. Click a step to copy its hex, or take the whole scale as variables for a design system.

The blue family

Cerulean sits in the blue family. Every named blue in the library, with cerulean first.

SwatchNameHexRGBHSL
Cerulean is the color on this page#2A52BE42, 82, 190224, 64%, 45%
Blue is a CSS keyword#0000FF0, 0, 255240, 100%, 50%
Navy is a CSS keyword#0000800, 0, 128240, 100%, 25%
Royal blue is a CSS keyword#4169E165, 105, 225225, 73%, 57%
Sky blue is a CSS keyword#87CEEB135, 206, 235197, 71%, 73%
Baby blue#89CFF0137, 207, 240199, 77%, 74%
Cobalt#0047AB0, 71, 171215, 100%, 34%
Indigo is a CSS keyword#4B008275, 0, 130275, 100%, 25%
Periwinkle#CCCCFF204, 204, 255240, 100%, 90%
Powder blue is a CSS keyword#B0E0E6176, 224, 230187, 52%, 80%
Steel blue is a CSS keyword#4682B470, 130, 180207, 44%, 49%
Midnight blue is a CSS keyword#19197025, 25, 112240, 64%, 27%
Denim#1560BD21, 96, 189213, 80%, 41%
Dodger blue is a CSS keyword#1E90FF30, 144, 255210, 100%, 56%
Prussian blue#0031530, 49, 83205, 100%, 16%
Dark blue is a CSS keyword#00008B0, 0, 139240, 100%, 27%
Light blue is a CSS keyword#ADD8E6173, 216, 230195, 53%, 79%
Cornflower blue is a CSS keyword#6495ED100, 149, 237219, 79%, 66%
Deep sky blue is a CSS keyword#00BFFF0, 191, 255195, 100%, 50%
Light sky blue is a CSS keyword#87CEFA135, 206, 250203, 92%, 75%
Slate blue is a CSS keyword#6A5ACD106, 90, 205248, 53%, 58%
Medium slate blue is a CSS keyword#7B68EE123, 104, 238249, 80%, 67%
Dark slate blue is a CSS keyword#483D8B72, 61, 139248, 39%, 39%

Color schemes built on cerulean

Harmonies are positions on the color wheel rather than matters of taste, which is why they keep working across very different designs.

Complementary

Two colors from opposite sides of the wheel. They make each other look more vivid, which is why the pairing is used for anything that needs to stand out.

Analogous

Three neighbors on the wheel. Nothing competes, so the result reads calm and settled, closer to how color behaves in nature.

Split complementary

The base plus the two colors either side of its complement. It keeps most of the contrast while being much easier to balance.

Triadic

Three colors spaced evenly around the wheel. Strong and lively, and usually best with one dominant color and two accents.

Tetradic

Two complementary pairs, forming a rectangle on the wheel. The richest scheme available, and the hardest to keep from shouting.

Monochromatic

One hue at different lightness levels. Effortlessly cohesive, and the safest way to build a palette around a brand color.

Colors close to #2A52BE

Near neighbors, for when this color is almost right. Each one shifts hue, saturation or lightness by a small step.

Cerulean color palettes

Five-color palettes built around #2A52BE, each following a different scheme. Click any swatch to copy it, or open the generator to build your own.

Analogous

Complementary

Triadic

Monochromatic

Open the palette generator to lock the colors you like and regenerate the rest.

Blue gradients

5 ready-made blue gradients, each with every stop written as a hex you can edit.

See the blue gradients

Contrast and readability

Whether cerulean works as text, and what to put on top of it when it is the background. Ratios follow WCAG 2.1, where 4.5 is the bar for body text and 3 for large text.

Cerulean text on white background

6.89:1 · Good

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

  • Body AA
  • Body AAA
  • Large AA
  • Large AAA

Cerulean text on black background

3.05:1 · Large text only

Large text at 24 pixels

Body text at 16 pixels. A flat field of color removes every variable, which is what makes it useful for judging a display.

  • Body AA
  • Body AAA
  • Large AA
  • Large AAA

Used the other way round, #2A52BE as a background takes #FFFFFF text. That is the higher-contrast of the two, and it is what the tool picks automatically for any chrome sitting on your color.

Cerulean reads better on a white background of the two. Contrast is a property of the pair, not of one color, so a color that fails here can still be perfectly usable against a different partner.

About cerulean

From the Latin for sky. A pigment blue rather than an atmospheric one, and considerably more saturated than any sky actually is.

Family
Blue, 15th lightest of 23 blues
Web-safe
is the nearest
Closest keyword
royalblue, at #4169E1
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