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Cerulean Nocturne Pure
Color detail

Cerulean Nocturne Pure

Blue · Hue 190
Metrics
S 92% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white8.8:1AAon black2.4:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cerulean Nocturne Pure (#045262) belongs to the blue family — hue 190°, 92% saturation, 20% 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-nocturne-pure: #045262;
  --colorarchive-cerulean-nocturne-pure-hsl: hsl(190, 92%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-cerulean-nocturne-pure-rgb: rgb(4, 82, 98);
}

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 #045262.

  • Starbucksprimary
    Starbucks Green · #006241
    →
  • PlayStationprimary
    PlayStation Blue · #003791
    →
  • Patagoniaprimary
    Patagonia Sky Blue · #0061AC
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #045262.

  • IndiaMughal Blue
    #1B4F72 · Indo-Persian miniature paintings
    →
  • China (Traditional)Indigo Blue (青)
    #1A4378 · Persicaria tinctoria — Han textile dye
    →
  • EgyptLapis Lazuli
    #1F4287 · Lapis lazuli from Badakhshan (Afghanistan), jewelry and inlay
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

Brand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemColor PsychologyBlue Color Psychology in Branding: Why Every Bank and Tech Giant Chooses BlueAccessibilityColor in Wayfinding: How to Design Color-Coded Navigation Systems

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 Shadow Pure
#067389 · hsl(190, 92%, 28%)
Darker companion
Cerulean Ink Pure
#033A45 · hsl(190, 92%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Ruby Nocturne Pure
#621404 · hsl(10, 92%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Sapphire Nocturne Pure
#043362 · hsl(210, 92%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Lagoon Nocturne Pure
#046252 · hsl(170, 92%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Peony Nocturne Pure
#620452 · hsl(310, 92%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Honey Nocturne Pure
#526204 · hsl(70, 92%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Garnet Nocturne Pure
#620423 · hsl(340, 92%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Apricot Nocturne Pure
#624304 · hsl(40, 92%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Cerulean Nocturne Pure #045262
Lighter companion: Cerulean Shadow Pure #067389
Darker companion: Cerulean Ink Pure #033A45
Complementary counterpoint: Ruby Nocturne Pure #621404
Analogous lead: Sapphire Nocturne Pure #043362
Analogous echo: Lagoon Nocturne Pure #046252
Triadic +120°: Peony Nocturne Pure #620452
Triadic +240°: Honey Nocturne Pure #526204
Split-comp +150°: Garnet Nocturne Pure #620423
Split-comp +210°: Apricot Nocturne Pure #624304

Compare

See how Cerulean Nocturne Pure compares side by side with related colors.

vsCerulean Shadow PurevsCerulean Ink PurevsRuby Nocturne PurevsSapphire Nocturne PurevsLagoon Nocturne PurevsPeony Nocturne Pure

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cerulean Nocturne Bright
#08505E · hsl(190, 84%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Ink Pure
#033A45 · hsl(190, 92%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Shadow Pure
#067389 · hsl(190, 92%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cerulean Ink Bright
#063842 · hsl(190, 84%, 14%)
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
AAA8.4:1
Ruby Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA8.4:1
Ruby Veil Muted
#FBF9F9
AAA8.4:1
Ruby Veil Dust
#FBF9F9
AAA8.4:1
Ruby Veil Soft
#FCF9F8
AAA8.4:1
Ruby Veil Clear
#FDF8F7
AAA8.3:1
Ruby Veil Vivid
#FEF7F6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#322D5E
Protanopia
#36375E
Tritanopia
#105B5B
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cerulean Nocturne Faint#2E3638 · hsl(190, 10%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Muted#2A393C · hsl(190, 18%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Dust#263C40 · hsl(190, 26%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Soft#223F44 · hsl(190, 34%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Clear#17454F · hsl(190, 54%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Vivid#0D4C59 · hsl(190, 74%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Bright#08505E · hsl(190, 84%, 20%)Cerulean Nocturne Pure#045262 · hsl(190, 92%, 20%)
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