We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,446 algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesEmbed widgetConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdatesiOS app
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Iris Dusk Vivid
Color detail

Iris Dusk Vivid

Blue · Hue 240
Metrics
S 74% · L 34%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white13.1:1AAon black1.6:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Iris Dusk Vivid (#171797) belongs to the blue family — hue 240°, 74% saturation, 34% 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-iris-dusk-vivid: #171797;
  --colorarchive-iris-dusk-vivid-hsl: hsl(240, 74%, 34%);
  --colorarchive-iris-dusk-vivid-rgb: rgb(23, 23, 151);
}

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 #171797.

  • PlayStationprimary
    PlayStation Blue · #003791
    →
  • Stripeneutral
    Slate Navy · #0A2540
    →
  • Disney+primary
    Disney+ Navy · #01153E
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #171797.

  • BrazilBrazil Blue
    #002776 · Brazilian flag — celestial sphere
    →
  • France (Paris)Yves Klein Blue (IKB)
    #002FA7 · Registered by Yves Klein (Soleau envelope), 1960
    →
  • England (London)Royal Navy
    #0A2351 · Royal Navy uniform
    →

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 BlueBrand & MarketingPackaging Color Strategy: How Shelf Impact Works and How to Engineer It

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
Iris Velvet Vivid
#1C1CBA · hsl(240, 74%, 42%)
Darker companion
Iris Shadow Vivid
#13137C · hsl(240, 74%, 28%)
Complementary counterpoint
Citrine Dusk Vivid
#979717 · hsl(60, 74%, 34%)
Analogous lead
Orchid Dusk Vivid
#411797 · hsl(260, 74%, 34%)
Analogous echo
Cobalt Dusk Vivid
#174197 · hsl(220, 74%, 34%)
Triadic +120°
Crimson Dusk Vivid
#971717 · hsl(0, 74%, 34%)
Triadic +240°
Emerald Dusk Vivid
#179717 · hsl(120, 74%, 34%)
Split-comp +150°
Coral Dusk Vivid
#975717 · hsl(30, 74%, 34%)
Split-comp +210°
Lime Dusk Vivid
#579717 · hsl(90, 74%, 34%)
Export preview
Base: Iris Dusk Vivid #171797
Lighter companion: Iris Velvet Vivid #1C1CBA
Darker companion: Iris Shadow Vivid #13137C
Complementary counterpoint: Citrine Dusk Vivid #979717
Analogous lead: Orchid Dusk Vivid #411797
Analogous echo: Cobalt Dusk Vivid #174197
Triadic +120°: Crimson Dusk Vivid #971717
Triadic +240°: Emerald Dusk Vivid #179717
Split-comp +150°: Coral Dusk Vivid #975717
Split-comp +210°: Lime Dusk Vivid #579717

Compare

See how Iris Dusk Vivid compares side by side with related colors.

vsIris Velvet VividvsIris Shadow VividvsCitrine Dusk VividvsOrchid Dusk VividvsCobalt Dusk VividvsCrimson Dusk Vivid

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Iris Shadow Vivid
#13137C · hsl(240, 74%, 28%)
Nearby match
Iris Dusk Bright
#0E0EA0 · hsl(240, 84%, 34%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Dusk Vivid
#211797 · hsl(245, 74%, 34%)
Nearby match
Iris Velvet Vivid
#1C1CBA · hsl(240, 74%, 42%)
Nearby match
Iris Dusk Pure
#0707A6 · hsl(240, 92%, 34%)
Nearby match
Iris Shadow Bright
#0B0B83 · hsl(240, 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
AAA12.5:1
Citrine Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA12.6:1
Citrine Veil Muted
#FBFBF9
AAA12.6:1
Citrine Veil Dust
#FBFBF9
AAA12.7:1
Citrine Veil Soft
#FCFCF8
AAA12.8:1
Citrine Veil Clear
#FDFDF7
AAA12.9:1
Citrine Veil Vivid
#FEFEF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#171781
Protanopia
#171786
Tritanopia
#177571
Color of the Day

Like Iris Dusk Vivid? Get one like it every morning.

One hand-picked color a day — with its hex, family, and the story behind it.

Get a color every morning

One email per day. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

Copy the CSS variables and the Tailwind class free, right here. ColorArchive Pro lifts the daily export limit — 10 a day signed in, 3 without an account.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Iris Dusk Faint#4E4E5F · hsl(240, 10%, 34%)Iris Dusk Muted#474766 · hsl(240, 18%, 34%)Iris Dusk Dust#40406D · hsl(240, 26%, 34%)Iris Dusk Soft#393974 · hsl(240, 34%, 34%)Iris Dusk Clear#282886 · hsl(240, 54%, 34%)Iris Dusk Vivid#171797 · hsl(240, 74%, 34%)Iris Dusk Bright#0E0EA0 · hsl(240, 84%, 34%)Iris Dusk Pure#0707A6 · hsl(240, 92%, 34%)
More from Blue →
Appears in collections
AI Intelligence Violet