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blue · cool

#384b63

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

Token name suggestion: Slate Sapphire

RGB
56, 75, 99
HSL
214°, 28%, 30%
CMYK
43, 24, 0, 61
Luminance
0.0677

#384b63 is a dark soft blue, 214° on the wheel and 88/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (8.92:1). As text it scores 8.92:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(214 28% 30%)rgb(56 75 99)Base step 800AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #384b63 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#384b63
Hue
214°
blue
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
30%
dark
Brightness
39%
HSV value
Perceived
29%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0677
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
88/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
8.92:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Blue
ΔE2000 10.3
Chroma
16.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.407
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 15
Web-safe
#333366
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue214° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness30%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #384b63.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool88% 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
Red12%
Green74%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#384b63
HEX (8-digit)#384b63ff
RGBrgb(56, 75, 99)
RGBArgba(56, 75, 99, 1)
HSLhsl(214, 28%, 30%)
HSV / HSBhsv(213, 43%, 39%)
HWBhwb(214 22% 61%)
CMYKcmyk(43%, 24%, 0%, 61%)
LABlab(31.3 -0.4 -16.4)
LCHlch(31.3 16.4 268.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.407 0.047 254.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(6.40, 6.77, 12.77)
Decimal3689315
Display P3color(display-p3 0.220 0.294 0.388)
Web-safe#333366

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #384b63;
background-color: #384b63;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #384b63;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#384b63] bg-[#384b63]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #384b63;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.220, green: 0.294, blue: 0.388)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.220, green: 0.294, blue: 0.388, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#384B63</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF384B63)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF384B63)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(99, 75, 56)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(56, 75, 99)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(56, 75, 99)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 56, 75, 99)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2196f, 0.2941f, 0.3882f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{56,75,99}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #384b63 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #384b63 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E3E51, #D8DFE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #384b63 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: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEFF3;
  --brand-200: #D6DDE6;
  --brand-300: #B7C5D6;
  --brand-400: #94A8C2;
  --brand-500: #708BAE;
  --brand-600: #58769C;
  --brand-700: #4A6382;
  --brand-800: #384b63;
  --brand-900: #2E3B4D;
  --brand-950: #1D2530;
  --brand: #384b63;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CBD5E2;
  --brand-hover: #2B3A4C;
  --brand-pressed: #1E2835;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141B24;
    --brand-ink: #D8DFE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#ECEFF3',
        200: '#D6DDE6',
        300: '#B7C5D6',
        400: '#94A8C2',
        500: '#708BAE',
        600: '#58769C',
        700: '#4A6382',
        800: '#384b63',
        900: '#2E3B4D',
        950: '#1D2530',
        DEFAULT: '#384b63',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #ECEFF3,
  '200': #D6DDE6,
  '300': #B7C5D6,
  '400': #94A8C2,
  '500': #708BAE,
  '600': #58769C,
  '700': #4A6382,
  '800': #384b63,
  '900': #2E3B4D,
  '950': #1D2530,
);
$brand-base: #384b63;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEFF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6DDE6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B7C5D6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#94A8C2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#708BAE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#58769C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4A6382", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#384b63", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2E3B4D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D2530", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #384b63 · 8.92:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 8.92:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 2.35:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #384b63 as text scores 8.92:1 on white and 2.35:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EFF2F6 at 7.94:1.

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
#384b63 · 8.92:1
AA on whitealready passes
#384b63
The quick fox
#384b63 · 8.92:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#384b63
The quick fox
#59779E · 4.56:1
AA on black+18% L
#59779E
The quick fox
#8199B8 · 7.18:1
AAA on black+31% L
#8199B8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #384B63 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
#384b63 on white: 8.92:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#384b63 on black: 2.35:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #384b63 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #384b63.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White8.92:1AaAa
Slate 508.52:1AaAa
Slate 1008.14:1AaAa
Slate 2007.23:1AaAa
Slate 3006.01:1AaAa
Slate 4003.48:1AaAa
Slate 5001.87:1AaAa
Slate 6001.18:1AaAa
Slate 7001.16:1AaAa
Slate 8001.64:1AaAa
Slate 9002.00:1AaAa
Black2.35:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #424C64
deuteranopia · #3D4862
tritanopia · #295053

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. #384b63 is pinned to step 800; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F7F9
#ECEFF3
#D6DDE6
#B7C5D6
#94A8C2
#708BAE
#58769C
#4A6382
#384b63
#2E3B4D
#1D2530
Base = 800Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1D2530Text 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 0.012 254.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.019 254.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.028 254.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.037 254.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.043 254.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.047 254.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.047 254.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.044 254.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.040 254.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.033 254.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.026 254.6);
}

Colors that work with #384b63

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#F5F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CBD5E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#536F93
Captions on the surface
Accent#664435
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E3E51
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF2F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141B24
Dark-mode background
Hover#2B3A4C
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1E2835
Two steps down
Disabled#6B83A0
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#375479
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 #384b63

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary 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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight70/100
  • 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#635038
Analogous left#386063
Analogous right#3B3863
Split-complement 1#633B38
Split-complement 2#606338
Triadic 1#63384B
Triadic 2#4B6338
Tetradic#633860
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°214°

#384b63 sits at 214°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red22.0%
Green29.4%
Blue38.8%
R · 0–255
56
0x38
G · 0–255
75
0x4b
B · 0–255
99
0x63

CMYK percentages

Cyan43.4%
Magenta24.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)61.2%

Total ink coverage is 129%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#384b63 text on a black background

contrast 2.35:1

Card sample

#384b63 text on a white background

contrast 8.92:1

Card sample

#384b63 on grey

8.14:1

#384b63 on its own surface

8.30:1

#384b63 on its dark surface

1.94:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #384b63;
Background color
Panel with #384b63 background
background-color: #384b63;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #384b63;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(56, 75, 99, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(56, 75, 99, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #384b63;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #384b63, #423863);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #384b63, #4C3863);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #384b63;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #384b63;
caret-color: #384b63;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #384b63;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF2F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #384b63;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#384b63 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #384b63 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(56, 75, 99, 0.5)
rgb(56 75 99 / 50%)
#384b6380
hsl(214 28% 30% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #384b63 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#384b631a#EBEDEF
20%#384b6333#D7DBE0
40%#384b6366#AFB7C1
60%#384b6399#8893A1
80%#384b63cc#606F82

Gradients from #384b63

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, #4E698A, #384b63 45%, #2E3E51);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #384b63, #382D4F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #384b63, #635038);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #59779E 0%, #384b63 45%, #2E3E51 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #4A8482 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #4A4377 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E3E51 0%, transparent 65%), #384b63;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #384b63

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.

#384b63 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

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 2.35:1 — lift it to #59779E 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.

#384b63, answered

What color is #384b63?

#384b63 is a dark soft blue, closest to Dark Slate Blue (ΔE2000 10.3). It sits at 214° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 30% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #384b63?

rgb(56, 75, 99) — 56 red, 75 green and 99 blue out of 255, or 22% / 29.4% / 38.8% by channel.

What is #384b63 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(214, 28%, 30%) and hsv(213, 43%, 39%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #384b63 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0677 and perceived brightness is 29%, so white text on it reaches 8.92:1.

Should I use black or white text on #384b63?

White. It scores 8.92:1 against #384b63, versus 2.35:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #384b63 accessible on a white background?

#384b63 on white scores 8.92:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #384b63?

#635038 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #633B38 and #606338, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #384b63?

For interface work: #F5F7F9 as the surface, #CBD5E2 for borders, #536F93 for secondary text, #664435 as an accent and #2E3E51 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #386063 and #3B3863 stays calm, while #635038 is the loudest partner.

What is #384b63 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(43%, 24%, 0%, 61%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #384b63 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 88 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #383B63; nudged cooler, #2E3F54.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #384b63?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 15 away. That is a visible difference, so define #384b63 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #384b63 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#384b63] or text-[#384b63], 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 #384b63 with 50% opacity?

rgba(56, 75, 99, 0.5), or #384b6380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #9CA5B1; over black, #1C2632.

Is #384b63 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333366, ΔE2000 11 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #384b63 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #384b63?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #4E698A, #384b63 45%, #2E3E51). For more colour, a short hue run to #382D4F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #384b63 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #384b63 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.