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Cobalt Ink Faint
Color detail

Cobalt Ink Faint

Blue · Hue 220
Metrics
S 10% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white15.8:1AAon black1.3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Cobalt Ink Faint (#202327) belongs to the blue family — hue 220°, 10% 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-cobalt-ink-faint: #202327;
  --colorarchive-cobalt-ink-faint-hsl: hsl(220, 10%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-cobalt-ink-faint-rgb: rgb(32, 35, 39);
}

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 dim, atmospheric reading — closer to a colored shadow than a stated hue. Excellent as a near-black on dark UI or as a moody background.

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: The low saturation pulls this color toward earthen, vintage, or editorial palettes. It reads as confident and grown-up rather than playful, and it tolerates being used in large blocks without becoming visually noisy.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #202327.

  • Meituan 美团neutral
    Slate Black · #222222
    →
  • Webflowneutral
    Charcoal · #1D1F26
    →
  • Supabaseneutral
    Background Black · #1F1F1F
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #202327.

  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • China (Traditional)Ink Wash Black (墨)
    #1C1C1C · Pine-soot ink stick (mò)
    →
  • IcelandBasalt Black
    #1A1B1F · Reynisfjara basalt columns
    →

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 BlueColor TheoryColor in Typography: How to Use Color in Text Without Losing Legibility

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
Cobalt Nocturne Faint
#2E3138 · hsl(220, 10%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Apricot Ink Faint
#272520 · hsl(40, 10%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Amethyst Ink Faint
#212027 · hsl(245, 10%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Azure Ink Faint
#202527 · hsl(200, 10%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Garnet Ink Faint
#272023 · hsl(340, 10%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Moss Ink Faint
#232720 · hsl(100, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Ruby Ink Faint
#272120 · hsl(10, 10%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Honey Ink Faint
#262720 · hsl(70, 10%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Cobalt Ink Faint #202327
Lighter companion: Cobalt Nocturne Faint #2E3138
Complementary counterpoint: Apricot Ink Faint #272520
Analogous lead: Amethyst Ink Faint #212027
Analogous echo: Azure Ink Faint #202527
Triadic +120°: Garnet Ink Faint #272023
Triadic +240°: Moss Ink Faint #232720
Split-comp +150°: Ruby Ink Faint #272120
Split-comp +210°: Honey Ink Faint #262720

Compare

See how Cobalt Ink Faint compares side by side with related colors.

vsCobalt Nocturne FaintvsApricot Ink FaintvsAmethyst Ink FaintvsAzure Ink FaintvsGarnet Ink FaintvsMoss Ink Faint

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Cobalt Ink Muted
#1D222A · hsl(220, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Nocturne Faint
#2E3138 · hsl(220, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Ink Dust
#1A212D · hsl(220, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Nocturne Muted
#2A303C · hsl(220, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Shadow Faint
#40454F · hsl(220, 10%, 28%)
Nearby match
Cobalt Ink Soft
#182030 · hsl(220, 34%, 14%)

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
AAA15.1:1
Apricot Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA15.1:1
Apricot Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA15.1:1
Apricot Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA15.2:1
Apricot Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA15.3:1
Apricot Veil Clear
#FDFBF7
AAA15.3:1
Apricot Veil Vivid
#FEFBF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#212126
Protanopia
#212126
Tritanopia
#202525
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cobalt Ink Faint#202327 · hsl(220, 10%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Muted#1D222A · hsl(220, 18%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Dust#1A212D · hsl(220, 26%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Soft#182030 · hsl(220, 34%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Clear#101D37 · hsl(220, 54%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Vivid#091B3E · hsl(220, 74%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Bright#061A42 · hsl(220, 84%, 14%)Cobalt Ink Pure#031945 · hsl(220, 92%, 14%)
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