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blue · cool

#536f9f

a balanced, soft blue · cool · closest name: Royal Blue

Token name suggestion: Atlas Sapphire

RGB
83, 111, 159
HSL
218°, 31%, 48%
CMYK
48, 30, 0, 38
Luminance
0.1571

#536f9f is a balanced soft blue, 218° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.07:1). As text it scores 5.07:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Royal Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(218 31% 48%)rgb(83 111 159)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #536f9f is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#536f9f
Hue
218°
blue
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
62%
HSV value
Perceived
43%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1571
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.07:1
Closest name
Royal Blue
ΔE2000 7.9
Chroma
29.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.540
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 6.9
Web-safe
#666699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue218° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #536f9f.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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%
Green72%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#536f9f
HEX (8-digit)#536f9fff
RGBrgb(83, 111, 159)
RGBArgba(83, 111, 159, 1)
HSLhsl(218, 31%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(218, 48%, 62%)
HWBhwb(218 33% 38%)
CMYKcmyk(48%, 30%, 0%, 38%)
LABlab(46.6 3.4 -29.1)
LCHlch(46.6 29.3 276.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.540 0.083 260.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(15.51, 15.71, 35.01)
Decimal5468063
Display P3color(display-p3 0.325 0.435 0.624)
Web-safe#666699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #536f9f;
background-color: #536f9f;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #536f9f;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#536f9f] bg-[#536f9f]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #536f9f;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.325, green: 0.435, blue: 0.624)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.325, green: 0.435, blue: 0.624, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#536F9F</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF536F9F)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF536F9F)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(159, 111, 83)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(83, 111, 159)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(83, 111, 159)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 83, 111, 159)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3255f, 0.4353f, 0.6235f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{83,111,159}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #536f9f 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #536f9f 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2C3A54, #D7DEEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #536f9f 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: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEFF3;
  --brand-200: #D5DBE7;
  --brand-300: #B5C2D9;
  --brand-400: #90A4C5;
  --brand-500: #6C86B2;
  --brand-600: #536f9f;
  --brand-700: #465E86;
  --brand-800: #384B6B;
  --brand-900: #2C394F;
  --brand-950: #1B2331;
  --brand: #536f9f;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C9D3E3;
  --brand-hover: #475F88;
  --brand-pressed: #3B4E70;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141A24;
    --brand-ink: #D7DEEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F7F9',
        100: '#ECEFF3',
        200: '#D5DBE7',
        300: '#B5C2D9',
        400: '#90A4C5',
        500: '#6C86B2',
        600: '#536f9f',
        700: '#465E86',
        800: '#384B6B',
        900: '#2C394F',
        950: '#1B2331',
        DEFAULT: '#536f9f',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F7F9,
  '100': #ECEFF3,
  '200': #D5DBE7,
  '300': #B5C2D9,
  '400': #90A4C5,
  '500': #6C86B2,
  '600': #536f9f,
  '700': #465E86,
  '800': #384B6B,
  '900': #2C394F,
  '950': #1B2331,
);
$brand-base: #536f9f;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEFF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5DBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B5C2D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#90A4C5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6C86B2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#536f9f", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#465E86", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#384B6B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2C394F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2331", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #536f9f · 5.07:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.07:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.14:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #536f9f as text scores 5.07:1 on white and 4.14:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EEF1F6 at 4.48:1.

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
#536f9f · 5.07:1
AA on whitealready passes
#536f9f
The quick fox
#42587E · 7.17:1
AAA on white−10% L
#42587E
The quick fox
#5976A8 · 4.58:1
AA on black+3% L
#5976A8
The quick fox
#8197BD · 7.09:1
AAA on black+15% L
#8197BD

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #536F9F 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
#536f9f on white: 5.07:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#536f9f on black: 4.14:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #536f9f as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #536f9f.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.07:1AaAa
Slate 504.85:1AaAa
Slate 1004.63:1AaAa
Slate 2004.11:1AaAa
Slate 3003.41:1AaAa
Slate 4001.98:1AaAa
Slate 5001.07:1AaAa
Slate 6001.49:1AaAa
Slate 7002.04:1AaAa
Slate 8002.89:1AaAa
Slate 9003.52:1AaAa
Black4.14:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5D72A1
deuteranopia · #546B9E
tritanopia · #347980

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. #536f9f is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F7F9
#ECEFF3
#D5DBE7
#B5C2D9
#90A4C5
#6C86B2
#536f9f
#465E86
#384B6B
#2C394F
#1B2331
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2331Text 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 0.021 260.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 260.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.050 260.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.064 260.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.076 260.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.083 260.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.083 260.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.078 260.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.069 260.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.058 260.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.045 260.8);
}

Colors that work with #536f9f

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#F5F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9D3E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4F6997
Captions on the surface
Accent#A46F4E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C3A54
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141A24
Dark-mode background
Hover#475F88
One step down in lightness
Pressed#3B4E70
Two steps down
Disabled#A0ADC2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#5076B7
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 #536f9f

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • 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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight53/100
  • 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#9F8353
Analogous left#53959F
Analogous right#5D539F
Split-complement 1#9F5D53
Split-complement 2#959F53
Triadic 1#9F536F
Triadic 2#6F9F53
Tetradic#9F5395
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°218°

#536f9f sits at 218°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red32.5%
Green43.5%
Blue62.4%
R · 0–255
83
0x53
G · 0–255
111
0x6f
B · 0–255
159
0x9f

CMYK percentages

Cyan47.8%
Magenta30.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)37.6%

Total ink coverage is 116%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#536f9f text on a black background

contrast 4.14:1

Card sample

#536f9f text on a white background

contrast 5.07:1

Card sample

#536f9f on grey

4.63:1

#536f9f on its own surface

4.72:1

#536f9f on its dark surface

3.44:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #536f9f;
Background color
Panel with #536f9f background
background-color: #536f9f;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #536f9f;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(83, 111, 159, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(83, 111, 159, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #536f9f;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #536f9f, #6A539F);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #536f9f, #7D539F);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #536f9f;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #536f9f;
caret-color: #536f9f;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #536f9f;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #536f9f;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#536f9f 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #536f9f 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(83, 111, 159, 0.5)
rgb(83 111 159 / 50%)
#536f9f80
hsl(218 31% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #536f9f 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#536f9f1a#EEF1F5
20%#536f9f33#DDE2EC
40%#536f9f66#BAC5D9
60%#536f9f99#98A9C5
80%#536f9fcc#758CB2

Gradients from #536f9f

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, #778FB8, #536f9f 45%, #2C3A54);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #536f9f, #62498B);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #536f9f, #9F8353);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #8BA0C3 0%, #536f9f 45%, #2C3A54 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #71B1B5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7363AE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C3A54 0%, transparent 65%), #536f9f;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #536f9f

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.

#536f9f 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 4.14:1 — lift it to #5976A8 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.

#536f9f, answered

What color is #536f9f?

#536f9f is a balanced soft blue, closest to Royal Blue (ΔE2000 7.9). It sits at 218° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #536f9f?

rgb(83, 111, 159) — 83 red, 111 green and 159 blue out of 255, or 32.5% / 43.5% / 62.4% by channel.

What is #536f9f in HSL and HSV?

hsl(218, 31%, 48%) and hsv(218, 48%, 62%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #536f9f a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1571 and perceived brightness is 43%, so white text on it reaches 5.07:1.

Should I use black or white text on #536f9f?

White. It scores 5.07:1 against #536f9f, versus 4.14:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #536f9f accessible on a white background?

#536f9f on white scores 5.07:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #536f9f?

#9F8353 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9F5D53 and #959F53, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #536f9f?

For interface work: #F5F7FA as the surface, #C9D3E3 for borders, #4F6997 for secondary text, #A46F4E as an accent and #2C3A54 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #53959F and #5D539F stays calm, while #9F8353 is the loudest partner.

What is #536f9f in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(48%, 30%, 0%, 38%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #536f9f warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #53539F; nudged cooler, #486891.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #536f9f?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 6.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #536f9f as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #536f9f in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#536f9f] or text-[#536f9f], 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 #536f9f with 50% opacity?

rgba(83, 111, 159, 0.5), or #536f9f80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A9B7CF; over black, #2A3850.

Is #536f9f a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #666699, ΔE2000 8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #536f9f 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 #536f9f?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #778FB8, #536f9f 45%, #2C3A54). For more colour, a short hue run to #62498B keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #536f9f in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #536f9f at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.