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Cerulean Ink Bright
Color detail

Cerulean Ink Bright

Blue · Hue 190
Metrics
S 84% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white12.7:1AAon black1.7:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cerulean Ink Bright (#063842) belongs to the blue family — hue 190°, 84% saturation, 14% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-cerulean-ink-bright: #063842;
  --colorarchive-cerulean-ink-bright-hsl: hsl(190, 84%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-cerulean-ink-bright-rgb: rgb(6, 56, 66);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

AuthoritativeIntellectualLuxurious
Common in

Defense · Aviation · Higher Education

Pairs well with

Gold for prestige, white for sharp readability, electric blue for energy

Design tip

Perfect for dark mode backgrounds and headers. Navy is softer than black and adds character. Pair with bright accents for contrast.

Cultural context ▶

Navy and midnight blue symbolize authority, intelligence, and tradition. The color of uniforms, institutions, and power.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is one of the hardest colors for nature to make with pigment — and, historically, one of the most expensive to paint with. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined in Afghanistan, could cost as much as gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer used it lavishly. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) quickly gave painters a cheap alternative to ultramarine; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized blue.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for centuries. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In America, IBM's blue logo helped earn it the nickname 'Big Blue'; in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — in one ten-country survey it led every other color by 8 to 18 points.

In the wild

Mark Zuckerberg has said Facebook is blue because he is red-green colorblind. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for years before the 2023 rebrand to X scrapped it. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue tends to recede — the eye focuses blue light slightly in front of the retina, which can make blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

A jewel tone — saturated and dark at once. This is the register of velvet, deep enamel, and old-world luxury.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: At this saturation the color is doing work. It reads as a brand statement, a sport accessory, or a UI signal. It should be used in small, deliberate doses against quieter neighbors; large fields at this saturation will exhaust the eye.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #063842.

  • Stripeneutral
    Slate Navy · #0A2540
    →
  • Patagonianeutral
    Forest Black · #0F1F2E
    →
  • Supabaseneutral
    Surface · #2A2A2A
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #063842.

  • England (London)Royal Navy
    #0A2351 · Royal Navy uniform
    →
  • AustraliaSouthern Sky Navy
    #0C1E3F · Outback night sky
    →
  • JapanIndigo (ai-iro 藍色)
    #22366E · Persicaria tinctoria fermentation dye
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

Color PsychologyBlue Color Psychology in Branding: Why Every Bank and Tech Giant Chooses BlueHistoryIndigo: The Color That Built Trade Routes and Made Blue CheapColor PsychologyColor Memory and Brand Recognition: How Brands Own Colors Over Time

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Cerulean Nocturne Bright
#08505E · hsl(190, 84%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Ruby Ink Bright
#421006 · hsl(10, 84%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Sapphire Ink Bright
#062442 · hsl(210, 84%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Lagoon Ink Bright
#064238 · hsl(170, 84%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Peony Ink Bright
#420638 · hsl(310, 84%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Honey Ink Bright
#384206 · hsl(70, 84%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Garnet Ink Bright
#42061A · hsl(340, 84%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Apricot Ink Bright
#422E06 · hsl(40, 84%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Cerulean Ink Bright #063842
Lighter companion: Cerulean Nocturne Bright #08505E
Complementary counterpoint: Ruby Ink Bright #421006
Analogous lead: Sapphire Ink Bright #062442
Analogous echo: Lagoon Ink Bright #064238
Triadic +120°: Peony Ink Bright #420638
Triadic +240°: Honey Ink Bright #384206
Split-comp +150°: Garnet Ink Bright #42061A
Split-comp +210°: Apricot Ink Bright #422E06

Compare

See how Cerulean Ink Bright compares side by side with related colors.

vsCerulean Nocturne BrightvsRuby Ink BrightvsSapphire Ink BrightvsLagoon Ink BrightvsPeony Ink BrightvsHoney Ink Bright

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cerulean Ink Pure
#033A45 · hsl(190, 92%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Nocturne Bright
#08505E · hsl(190, 84%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Ink Vivid
#09353E · hsl(190, 74%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Nocturne Pure
#045262 · hsl(190, 92%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Nocturne Vivid
#0D4C59 · hsl(190, 74%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Shadow Bright
#0B6F83 · hsl(190, 84%, 28%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA12.2:1
Ruby Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA12.1:1
Ruby Veil Muted
#FBF9F9
AAA12.1:1
Ruby Veil Dust
#FBF9F9
AAA12.1:1
Ruby Veil Soft
#FCF9F8
AAA12.1:1
Ruby Veil Clear
#FDF8F7
AAA12:1
Ruby Veil Vivid
#FEF7F6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#221E3F
Protanopia
#252540
Tritanopia
#0C3E3D
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cerulean Ink Faint#202627 · hsl(190, 10%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Muted#1D282A · hsl(190, 18%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Dust#1A2A2D · hsl(190, 26%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Soft#182C30 · hsl(190, 34%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Clear#103137 · hsl(190, 54%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Vivid#09353E · hsl(190, 74%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Bright#063842 · hsl(190, 84%, 14%)Cerulean Ink Pure#033A45 · hsl(190, 92%, 14%)
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