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blue · cool

#203b6a

a dark, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Dark Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Forest Sapphire

RGB
32, 59, 106
HSL
218°, 54%, 27%
CMYK
70, 44, 0, 58
Luminance
0.0448

#203b6a is a dark vivid blue, 218° on the wheel and 95/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (11.08:1). As text it scores 11.08:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(218 54% 27%)rgb(32 59 106)Base step 900AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #203b6a is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#203b6a
Hue
218°
blue
Saturation
54%
vivid
Lightness
27%
dark
Brightness
42%
HSV value
Perceived
24%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0448
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
11.08:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Blue
ΔE2000 9.7
Chroma
31.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.357
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 20.8
Web-safe
#333366
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue218° of 360°
Saturation54%
Lightness27%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #203b6a.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red7%
Green70%
Blue23%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#203b6a
HEX (8-digit)#203b6aff
RGBrgb(32, 59, 106)
RGBArgba(32, 59, 106, 1)
HSLhsl(218, 54%, 27%)
HSV / HSBhsv(218, 70%, 42%)
HWBhwb(218 13% 58%)
CMYKcmyk(70%, 44%, 0%, 58%)
LABlab(25.2 6.8 -30.5)
LCHlch(25.2 31.3 282.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.357 0.088 260.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(4.76, 4.48, 14.25)
Decimal2112362
Display P3color(display-p3 0.125 0.231 0.416)
Web-safe#333366

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #203b6a;
background-color: #203b6a;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #203b6a;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#203b6a] bg-[#203b6a]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #203b6a;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.125, green: 0.231, blue: 0.416)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.125, green: 0.231, blue: 0.416, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#203B6A</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF203B6A)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF203B6A)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(106, 59, 32)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(32, 59, 106)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(32, 59, 106)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 32, 59, 106)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1255f, 0.2314f, 0.4157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{32,59,106}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #203b6a 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #203b6a 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1E3762, #D3DDEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #203b6a h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F4F6FB;
  --brand-100: #E9EEF6;
  --brand-200: #CEDAED;
  --brand-300: #A9BFE5;
  --brand-400: #7E9FD8;
  --brand-500: #537FCB;
  --brand-600: #3969BC;
  --brand-700: #2F579D;
  --brand-800: #26467D;
  --brand-900: #203b6a;
  --brand-950: #132139;
  --brand: #203b6a;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D0EC;
  --brand-hover: #182C4F;
  --brand-pressed: #0F1D33;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D3DDEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F6FB',
        100: '#E9EEF6',
        200: '#CEDAED',
        300: '#A9BFE5',
        400: '#7E9FD8',
        500: '#537FCB',
        600: '#3969BC',
        700: '#2F579D',
        800: '#26467D',
        900: '#203b6a',
        950: '#132139',
        DEFAULT: '#203b6a',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F6FB,
  '100': #E9EEF6,
  '200': #CEDAED,
  '300': #A9BFE5,
  '400': #7E9FD8,
  '500': #537FCB,
  '600': #3969BC,
  '700': #2F579D,
  '800': #26467D,
  '900': #203b6a,
  '950': #132139,
);
$brand-base: #203b6a;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F6FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9EEF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEDAED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A9BFE5", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7E9FD8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#537FCB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3969BC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2F579D", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#26467D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#203b6a", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#132139", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#ffffff on #203b6a · 11.08:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 11.08:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #203b6a as text scores 11.08:1 on white and 1.90:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EBF0F9 at 9.69:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#203b6a · 11.08:1
AA on whitealready passes
#203b6a
The quick fox
#203b6a · 11.08:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#203b6a
The quick fox
#4373C6 · 4.51:1
AA on black+25% L
#4373C6
The quick fox
#7296D5 · 7.04:1
AAA on black+37% L
#7296D5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #203B6A is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#203b6a on white: 11.08:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#203b6a on black: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #203b6a as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #203b6a.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White11.08:1AaAa
Slate 5010.59:1AaAa
Slate 10010.11:1AaAa
Slate 2008.99:1AaAa
Slate 3007.46:1AaAa
Slate 4004.32:1AaAa
Slate 5002.33:1AaAa
Slate 6001.46:1AaAa
Slate 7001.07:1AaAa
Slate 8001.32:1AaAa
Slate 9001.61:1AaAa
Black1.90:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #253F6C
deuteranopia · #1A3969
tritanopia · #00464D

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #203b6a is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F4F6FB
#E9EEF6
#CEDAED
#A9BFE5
#7E9FD8
#537FCB
#3969BC
#2F579D
#26467D
#203b6a
#132139
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F4F6FBDarkest = 950 · #132139Text step on white = 600
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.022 260.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.035 260.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.053 260.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.069 260.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.081 260.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.088 260.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.088 260.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.083 260.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.074 260.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.062 260.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.049 260.7);
}

Colors that work with #203b6a

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D0EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B689B
Captions on the surface
Accent#6D3C1D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1E3762
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF0F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#182C4F
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0F1D33
Two steps down
Disabled#627699
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#1D4282
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #203b6a

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight73/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#6A4F20
Analogous left#20606A
Analogous right#2A206A
Split-complement 1#6A2A20
Split-complement 2#606A20
Triadic 1#6A203B
Triadic 2#3B6A20
Tetradic#6A2060
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°218°

#203b6a sits at 218°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red12.5%
Green23.1%
Blue41.6%
R · 0–255
32
0x20
G · 0–255
59
0x3b
B · 0–255
106
0x6a

CMYK percentages

Cyan69.8%
Magenta44.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)58.4%

Total ink coverage is 173%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#203b6a text on a black background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

#203b6a text on a white background

contrast 11.08:1

Card sample

#203b6a on grey

10.11:1

#203b6a on its own surface

10.31:1

#203b6a on its dark surface

1.58:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #203b6a;
Background color
Panel with #203b6a background
background-color: #203b6a;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #203b6a;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(32, 59, 106, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(32, 59, 106, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #203b6a;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #203b6a, #36206A);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #203b6a, #49206A);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #203b6a;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #203b6a;
caret-color: #203b6a;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #203b6a;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF0F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #203b6a;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#203b6a 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #203b6a over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(32, 59, 106, 0.5)
rgb(32 59 106 / 50%)
#203b6a80
hsl(218 54% 27% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #203b6a 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#203b6a1a#E9EBF0
20%#203b6a33#D2D8E1
40%#203b6a66#A6B1C3
60%#203b6a99#7989A6
80%#203b6acc#4D6288

Gradients from #203b6a

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2E5599, #203b6a 45%, #1E3762);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #203b6a, #2F1953);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #203b6a, #6A4F20);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #3562B1 0%, #203b6a 45%, #1E3762 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #2C8C91 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #3B2782 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1E3762 0%, transparent 65%), #203b6a;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #203b6a

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#203b6a in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

On screens

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.90:1 — lift it to #4373C6 for body text, or reserve it for fills.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#203b6a, answered

What color is #203b6a?

#203b6a is a dark vivid blue, closest to Dark Slate Blue (ΔE2000 9.7). It sits at 218° on the hue wheel with 54% saturation and 27% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #203b6a?

rgb(32, 59, 106) — 32 red, 59 green and 106 blue out of 255, or 12.5% / 23.1% / 41.6% by channel.

What is #203b6a in HSL and HSV?

hsl(218, 54%, 27%) and hsv(218, 70%, 42%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #203b6a a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0448 and perceived brightness is 24%, so white text on it reaches 11.08:1.

Should I use black or white text on #203b6a?

White. It scores 11.08:1 against #203b6a, versus 1.90:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #203b6a accessible on a white background?

#203b6a on white scores 11.08:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #203b6a?

#6A4F20 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #6A2A20 and #606A20, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #203b6a?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D0EC for borders, #4B689B for secondary text, #6D3C1D as an accent and #1E3762 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #20606A and #2A206A stays calm, while #6A4F20 is the loudest partner.

What is #203b6a in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(70%, 44%, 0%, 58%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #203b6a warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #20206A; nudged cooler, #193558.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #203b6a?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 20.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #203b6a as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #203b6a in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#203b6a] or text-[#203b6a], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #203b6a with 50% opacity?

rgba(32, 59, 106, 0.5), or #203b6a80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #909DB5; over black, #101E35.

Is #203b6a a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333366, ΔE2000 6.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #203b6a mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #203b6a?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #2E5599, #203b6a 45%, #1E3762). For more colour, a short hue run to #2F1953 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #203b6a in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #203b6a at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.