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Iris Ink Dust
Color detail

Iris Ink Dust

Blue · Hue 240
Metrics
S 26% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white17.1:1AAon black1.2:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Iris Ink Dust (#1A1A2D) belongs to the blue family — hue 240°, 26% 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-iris-ink-dust: #1A1A2D;
  --colorarchive-iris-ink-dust-hsl: hsl(240, 26%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-iris-ink-dust-rgb: rgb(26, 26, 45);
}

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 #1A1A2D.

  • Linearneutral
    Linear Gray 1 · #1C1D24
    →
  • Webflowneutral
    Charcoal · #1D1F26
    →
  • Cloudflareneutral
    Slate Black · #1D1D1F
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #1A1A2D.

  • IcelandBasalt Black
    #1A1B1F · Reynisfjara basalt columns
    →
  • China (Traditional)Ink Wash Black (墨)
    #1C1C1C · Pine-soot ink stick (mò)
    →
  • JapanSumi Black (墨)
    #1A1A1A · Pine-soot stick ink
    →

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 PsychologyColor Psychology in Marketing: How Color Drives Emotion, Trust, and Purchase Decisions

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 Nocturne Dust
#262640 · hsl(240, 26%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Citrine Ink Dust
#2D2D1A · hsl(60, 26%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Orchid Ink Dust
#211A2D · hsl(260, 26%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Cobalt Ink Dust
#1A212D · hsl(220, 26%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Crimson Ink Dust
#2D1A1A · hsl(0, 26%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Emerald Ink Dust
#1A2D1A · hsl(120, 26%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Coral Ink Dust
#2D241A · hsl(30, 26%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Lime Ink Dust
#242D1A · hsl(90, 26%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Iris Ink Dust #1A1A2D
Lighter companion: Iris Nocturne Dust #262640
Complementary counterpoint: Citrine Ink Dust #2D2D1A
Analogous lead: Orchid Ink Dust #211A2D
Analogous echo: Cobalt Ink Dust #1A212D
Triadic +120°: Crimson Ink Dust #2D1A1A
Triadic +240°: Emerald Ink Dust #1A2D1A
Split-comp +150°: Coral Ink Dust #2D241A
Split-comp +210°: Lime Ink Dust #242D1A

Compare

See how Iris Ink Dust compares side by side with related colors.

vsIris Nocturne DustvsCitrine Ink DustvsOrchid Ink DustvsCobalt Ink DustvsCrimson Ink DustvsEmerald Ink Dust

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Iris Ink Muted
#1D1D2A · hsl(240, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Iris Ink Soft
#181830 · hsl(240, 34%, 14%)
Nearby match
Iris Nocturne Dust
#262640 · hsl(240, 26%, 20%)
Nearby match
Amethyst Ink Dust
#1C1A2D · hsl(245, 26%, 14%)
Nearby match
Iris Ink Faint
#202027 · hsl(240, 10%, 14%)
Nearby match
Iris Nocturne Muted
#2A2A3C · hsl(240, 18%, 20%)

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
AAA16.4:1
Citrine Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA16.5:1
Citrine Veil Muted
#FBFBF9
AAA16.5:1
Citrine Veil Dust
#FBFBF9
AAA16.6:1
Citrine Veil Soft
#FCFCF8
AAA16.7:1
Citrine Veil Clear
#FDFDF7
AAA16.9:1
Citrine Veil Vivid
#FEFEF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#1A1A28
Protanopia
#1A1A29
Tritanopia
#1A2625
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Iris Ink Faint#202027 · hsl(240, 10%, 14%)Iris Ink Muted#1D1D2A · hsl(240, 18%, 14%)Iris Ink Dust#1A1A2D · hsl(240, 26%, 14%)Iris Ink Soft#181830 · hsl(240, 34%, 14%)Iris Ink Clear#101037 · hsl(240, 54%, 14%)Iris Ink Vivid#09093E · hsl(240, 74%, 14%)Iris Ink Bright#060642 · hsl(240, 84%, 14%)Iris Ink Pure#030345 · hsl(240, 92%, 14%)
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