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blue · cool

#22232b

a deep, muted blue · cool · closest name: Black

Token name suggestion: Ink Sapphire

RGB
34, 35, 43
HSL
233°, 12%, 15%
CMYK
21, 19, 0, 83
Luminance
0.0172

#22232b is a deep muted blue, 233° on the wheel and 62/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (15.63:1). As text it scores 15.63:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Black, nearest Tailwind family is zinc.

hsl(233 12% 15%)rgb(34 35 43)Base step 950AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #22232b is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#22232b
Hue
233°
blue
Saturation
12%
muted
Lightness
15%
deep
Brightness
17%
HSV value
Perceived
14%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0172
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
62/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Muted
Best ink
White
15.63:1
Closest name
Black
ΔE2000 10
Chroma
5.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.259
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
zinc
500 · ΔE 26.6
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue233° of 360°
Saturation12%
Lightness15%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #22232b.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool62% 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
Red20%
Green70%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#22232b
HEX (8-digit)#22232bff
RGBrgb(34, 35, 43)
RGBArgba(34, 35, 43, 1)
HSLhsl(233, 12%, 15%)
HSV / HSBhsv(233, 21%, 17%)
HWBhwb(233 13% 83%)
CMYKcmyk(21%, 19%, 0%, 83%)
LABlab(13.9 1.7 -5.5)
LCHlch(13.9 5.7 287.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.259 0.015 279.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(1.70, 1.72, 2.53)
Decimal2237227
Display P3color(display-p3 0.133 0.137 0.169)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #22232b;
background-color: #22232b;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #22232b;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#22232b] bg-[#22232b]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #22232b;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.133, green: 0.137, blue: 0.169)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.133, green: 0.137, blue: 0.169, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#22232B</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF22232B)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF22232B)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(43, 35, 34)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(34, 35, 43)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(34, 35, 43)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 34, 35, 43)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1333f, 0.1373f, 0.1686f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{34,35,43}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #22232b 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #22232b 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#383A47, #DDDEE4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #22232b 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: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEEFF1;
  --brand-200: #DADBE1;
  --brand-300: #C0C2CD;
  --brand-400: #A1A3B5;
  --brand-500: #82859C;
  --brand-600: #6C6F89;
  --brand-700: #5A5D72;
  --brand-800: #484A5B;
  --brand-900: #373844;
  --brand-950: #22232b;
  --brand: #22232b;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D1D2DB;
  --brand-hover: #121317;
  --brand-pressed: #020303;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #191A1F;
    --brand-ink: #DDDEE4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#EEEFF1',
        200: '#DADBE1',
        300: '#C0C2CD',
        400: '#A1A3B5',
        500: '#82859C',
        600: '#6C6F89',
        700: '#5A5D72',
        800: '#484A5B',
        900: '#373844',
        950: '#22232b',
        DEFAULT: '#22232b',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #EEEFF1,
  '200': #DADBE1,
  '300': #C0C2CD,
  '400': #A1A3B5,
  '500': #82859C,
  '600': #6C6F89,
  '700': #5A5D72,
  '800': #484A5B,
  '900': #373844,
  '950': #22232b,
);
$brand-base: #22232b;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEFF1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DADBE1", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C0C2CD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A1A3B5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#82859C", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6C6F89", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#5A5D72", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#484A5B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#373844", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#22232b", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #22232b · 15.63:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 15.63:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.34:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #22232b as text scores 15.63:1 on white and 1.34:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #F1F1F4 at 13.87:1.

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
#22232b · 15.63:1
AA on whitealready passes
#22232b
The quick fox
#22232b · 15.63:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#22232b
The quick fox
#71748F · 4.60:1
AA on black+35% L
#71748F
The quick fox
#9396AA · 7.18:1
AAA on black+47% L
#9396AA

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #22232B 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
#22232b on white: 15.63:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#22232b on black: 1.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #22232b as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #22232b.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White15.63:1AaAa
Slate 5014.94:1AaAa
Slate 10014.27:1AaAa
Slate 20012.68:1AaAa
Slate 30010.53:1AaAa
Slate 4006.10:1AaAa
Slate 5003.29:1AaAa
Slate 6002.06:1AaAa
Slate 7001.51:1AaAa
Slate 8001.07:1AaAa
Slate 9001.14:1AaAa
Black1.34:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #21242B
deuteranopia · #21232B
tritanopia · #202426

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. #22232b is pinned to step 950; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F7F7F8
#EEEFF1
#DADBE1
#C0C2CD
#A1A3B5
#82859C
#6C6F89
#5A5D72
#484A5B
#373844
#22232b
Base = 950Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #22232bText 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 0.004 279.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.006 279.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.009 279.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.012 279.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.014 279.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.015 279.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.015 279.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.014 279.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.013 279.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.010 279.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.008 279.7);
}

Colors that work with #22232b

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#F6F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D1D2DB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#656880
Captions on the surface
Accent#2D2820
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#383A47
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F1F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#191A1F
Dark-mode background
Hover#121317
One step down in lightness
Pressed#020303
Two steps down
Disabled#54566A
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#26283B
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 #22232b

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • 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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight85/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityBalanced

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#2B2A22
Analogous left#22282B
Analogous right#25222B
Split-complement 1#2B2522
Split-complement 2#282B22
Triadic 1#2B2223
Triadic 2#232B22
Tetradic#2B2228
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°233°

#22232b sits at 233°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red13.3%
Green13.7%
Blue16.9%
R · 0–255
34
0x22
G · 0–255
35
0x23
B · 0–255
43
0x2b

CMYK percentages

Cyan20.9%
Magenta18.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)83.1%

Total ink coverage is 123%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#22232b text on a black background

contrast 1.34:1

Card sample

#22232b text on a white background

contrast 15.63:1

Card sample

#22232b on grey

14.27:1

#22232b on its own surface

14.57:1

#22232b on its dark surface

1.11:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #22232b;
Background color
Panel with #22232b background
background-color: #22232b;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #22232b;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(34, 35, 43, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(34, 35, 43, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #22232b;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #22232b, #27222B);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #22232b, #29222B);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #22232b;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #22232b;
caret-color: #22232b;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #22232b;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1F1F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #22232b;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#22232b 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #22232b 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(34, 35, 43, 0.5)
rgb(34 35 43 / 50%)
#22232b80
hsl(233 12% 15% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #22232b 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#22232b1a#E9E9EA
20%#22232b33#D3D3D5
40%#22232b66#A7A7AA
60%#22232b99#7A7B80
80%#22232bcc#4E4F55

Gradients from #22232b

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, #3D3F4D, #22232b 45%, #383A47);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #22232b, #18141A);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #22232b, #2B2A22);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #4B4D5E 0%, #22232b 45%, #383A47 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #394347 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #35303C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #383A47 0%, transparent 65%), #22232b;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #22232b

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.

#22232b 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 1.34:1 — lift it to #71748F 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.

#22232b, answered

What color is #22232b?

#22232b is a deep muted blue, closest to Black (ΔE2000 10). It sits at 233° on the hue wheel with 12% saturation and 15% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #22232b?

rgb(34, 35, 43) — 34 red, 35 green and 43 blue out of 255, or 13.3% / 13.7% / 16.9% by channel.

What is #22232b in HSL and HSV?

hsl(233, 12%, 15%) and hsv(233, 21%, 17%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #22232b a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0172 and perceived brightness is 14%, so white text on it reaches 15.63:1.

Should I use black or white text on #22232b?

White. It scores 15.63:1 against #22232b, versus 1.34:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #22232b accessible on a white background?

#22232b on white scores 15.63:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #22232b?

#2B2A22 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #2B2522 and #282B22, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #22232b?

For interface work: #F6F7F8 as the surface, #D1D2DB for borders, #656880 for secondary text, #2D2820 as an accent and #383A47 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #22282B and #25222B stays calm, while #2B2A22 is the loudest partner.

What is #22232b in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(21%, 19%, 0%, 83%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #22232b warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 62 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #24222B; nudged cooler, #21262C.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #22232b?

The zinc family — its 500 step is #71717a, ΔE2000 26.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #22232b as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #22232b in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#22232b] or text-[#22232b], 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 #22232b with 50% opacity?

rgba(34, 35, 43, 0.5), or #22232b80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #919195; over black, #111216.

Is #22232b a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 7.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #22232b 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #22232b?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #3D3F4D, #22232b 45%, #383A47). For more colour, a short hue run to #18141A keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #22232b in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #22232b at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.