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Sapphire Nocturne Muted
Color detail

Sapphire Nocturne Muted

Blue · Hue 210
Metrics
S 18% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white12.8:1AAon black1.6:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Sapphire Nocturne Muted (#2A333C) belongs to the blue family — hue 210°, 18% 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-sapphire-nocturne-muted: #2A333C;
  --colorarchive-sapphire-nocturne-muted-hsl: hsl(210, 18%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-sapphire-nocturne-muted-rgb: rgb(42, 51, 60);
}

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 #2A333C.

  • Xiaohongshu 小红书neutral
    Slate Text · #333333
    →
  • JD.com 京东neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →
  • Taobao 淘宝neutral
    Slate · #333333
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #2A333C.

  • JapanIndigo (ai-iro 藍色)
    #22366E · Persicaria tinctoria fermentation dye
    →
  • Korea (Obangsaek)Obangsaek Black (흑 / heuk)
    #1F1F1F · North — water element, ink and lacquer
    →
  • BrazilAçaí Purple
    #3D1F4D · Euterpe oleracea berry
    →

Color guides

Go deeper on using blue and color in design.

HistoryIndigo: The Color That Built Trade Routes and Made Blue CheapBrand & MarketingTechnology Brand Color Design: Trust, Intelligence, and the Blue ProblemColor TheoryMonochromatic Color Palettes: How to Build Depth from a Single Hue

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
Sapphire Shadow Muted
#3B4754 · hsl(210, 18%, 28%)
Darker companion
Sapphire Ink Muted
#1D242A · hsl(210, 18%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Coral Nocturne Muted
#3C332A · hsl(30, 18%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Indigo Nocturne Muted
#2A2D3C · hsl(230, 18%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Cerulean Nocturne Muted
#2A393C · hsl(190, 18%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Blush Nocturne Muted
#3C2A33 · hsl(330, 18%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Lime Nocturne Muted
#333C2A · hsl(90, 18%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Crimson Nocturne Muted
#3C2A2A · hsl(0, 18%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Citrine Nocturne Muted
#3C3C2A · hsl(60, 18%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Sapphire Nocturne Muted #2A333C
Lighter companion: Sapphire Shadow Muted #3B4754
Darker companion: Sapphire Ink Muted #1D242A
Complementary counterpoint: Coral Nocturne Muted #3C332A
Analogous lead: Indigo Nocturne Muted #2A2D3C
Analogous echo: Cerulean Nocturne Muted #2A393C
Triadic +120°: Blush Nocturne Muted #3C2A33
Triadic +240°: Lime Nocturne Muted #333C2A
Split-comp +150°: Crimson Nocturne Muted #3C2A2A
Split-comp +210°: Citrine Nocturne Muted #3C3C2A

Compare

See how Sapphire Nocturne Muted compares side by side with related colors.

vsSapphire Shadow MutedvsSapphire Ink MutedvsCoral Nocturne MutedvsIndigo Nocturne MutedvsCerulean Nocturne MutedvsBlush Nocturne Muted

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Faint
#2E3338 · hsl(210, 10%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Dust
#263340 · hsl(210, 26%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Ink Muted
#1D242A · hsl(210, 18%, 14%)
Nearby match
Cool Gray Nocturne
#303336 · hsl(210, 6%, 20%)
Nearby match
Steel Nocturne Muted
#2A353C · hsl(205, 18%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Shadow Muted
#3B4754 · hsl(210, 18%, 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
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Clear
#FDFAF7
AAA12.3:1
Coral Veil Vivid
#FEFAF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#2E2D39
Protanopia
#2E2E3A
Tritanopia
#2A3838
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Saturation ladder

Same hue and lightness, from gray to pure

Search
Cool Gray Nocturne#303336 · hsl(210, 6%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Faint#2E3338 · hsl(210, 10%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Muted#2A333C · hsl(210, 18%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Dust#263340 · hsl(210, 26%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Soft#223344 · hsl(210, 34%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Clear#17334F · hsl(210, 54%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Vivid#0D3359 · hsl(210, 74%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Bright#08335E · hsl(210, 84%, 20%)Sapphire Nocturne Pure#043362 · hsl(210, 92%, 20%)
More from Blue →
Appears in collections
Cerulean Depth