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blue · cool

#556daf

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Cobalt

RGB
85, 109, 175
HSL
224°, 36%, 51%
CMYK
51, 38, 0, 31
Luminance
0.1596

#556daf is a balanced soft blue, 224° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.01:1). As text it scores 5.01:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Royal Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(224 36% 51%)rgb(85 109 175)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #556daf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#556daf
Hue
224°
blue
Saturation
36%
soft
Lightness
51%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1596
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
5.01:1
Closest name
Royal Blue
ΔE2000 6.6
Chroma
39.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.546
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 8.5
Web-safe
#666699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue224° of 360°
Saturation36%
Lightness51%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #556daf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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%
Green69%
Blue19%

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

Every format

HEX#556daf
HEX (8-digit)#556dafff
RGBrgb(85, 109, 175)
RGBArgba(85, 109, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(224, 36%, 51%)
HSV / HSBhsv(224, 51%, 69%)
HWBhwb(224 33% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(51%, 38%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(46.9 10.2 -37.9)
LCHlch(46.9 39.3 285.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.546 0.107 267.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(16.95, 15.96, 42.74)
Decimal5598639
Display P3color(display-p3 0.333 0.427 0.686)
Web-safe#666699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #556daf;
background-color: #556daf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #556daf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#556daf] bg-[#556daf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #556daf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.333, green: 0.427, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.333, green: 0.427, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#556DAF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF556DAF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF556DAF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 109, 85)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(85, 109, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(85, 109, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 85, 109, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3333f, 0.4275f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{85,109,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #556daf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #556daf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#293557, #D5DBEB);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #556daf 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: #F5F6F9;
  --brand-100: #EBEEF4;
  --brand-200: #D3D9E8;
  --brand-300: #B3BDDB;
  --brand-400: #8D9DC9;
  --brand-500: #667CB7;
  --brand-600: #556daf;
  --brand-700: #41558B;
  --brand-800: #34446F;
  --brand-900: #293451;
  --brand-950: #1A2033;
  --brand: #556daf;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C8CFE5;
  --brand-hover: #485D99;
  --brand-pressed: #3C4E80;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D5DBEB;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F6F9',
        100: '#EBEEF4',
        200: '#D3D9E8',
        300: '#B3BDDB',
        400: '#8D9DC9',
        500: '#667CB7',
        600: '#556daf',
        700: '#41558B',
        800: '#34446F',
        900: '#293451',
        950: '#1A2033',
        DEFAULT: '#556daf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F6F9,
  '100': #EBEEF4,
  '200': #D3D9E8,
  '300': #B3BDDB,
  '400': #8D9DC9,
  '500': #667CB7,
  '600': #556daf,
  '700': #41558B,
  '800': #34446F,
  '900': #293451,
  '950': #1A2033,
);
$brand-base: #556daf;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F6F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBEEF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D3D9E8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B3BDDB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8D9DC9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#667CB7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#556daf", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#41558B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#34446F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#293451", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1A2033", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #556daf · 5.01:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.01:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.19:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #556daf as text scores 5.01:1 on white and 4.19:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EEF0F7 at 4.40:1.

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
#556daf · 5.01:1
AA on whitealready passes
#556daf
The quick fox
#43578E · 7.02:1
AAA on white−10% L
#43578E
The quick fox
#5C73B2 · 4.55:1
AA on black+2% L
#5C73B2
The quick fox
#8697C6 · 7.26:1
AAA on black+14% L
#8697C6

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #556DAF 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
#556daf on white: 5.01:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#556daf on black: 4.19:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #556daf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #556daf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.01:1AaAa
Slate 504.79:1AaAa
Slate 1004.57:1AaAa
Slate 2004.06:1AaAa
Slate 3003.37:1AaAa
Slate 4001.95:1AaAa
Slate 5001.05:1AaAa
Slate 6001.51:1AaAa
Slate 7002.07:1AaAa
Slate 8002.92:1AaAa
Slate 9003.56:1AaAa
Black4.19:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #5374B2
deuteranopia · #496CAE
tritanopia · #2C7B85

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. #556daf 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.

#F5F6F9
#EBEEF4
#D3D9E8
#B3BDDB
#8D9DC9
#667CB7
#556daf
#41558B
#34446F
#293451
#1A2033
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5F6F9Darkest = 950 · #1A2033Text 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 0.027 267.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 267.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.064 267.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.084 267.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.099 267.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.107 267.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.107 267.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.101 267.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.090 267.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.075 267.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.059 267.7);
}

Colors that work with #556daf

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#F5F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C8CFE5
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B609B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B48050
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#293557
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF0F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#485D99
One step down in lightness
Pressed#3C4E80
Two steps down
Disabled#ABB3C9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#5774C1
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 #556daf

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
  • Weight49/100
  • 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#AF9755
Analogous left#559AAF
Analogous right#6A55AF
Split-complement 1#AF6A55
Split-complement 2#9AAF55
Triadic 1#AF556D
Triadic 2#6DAF55
Tetradic#AF559A
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°224°

#556daf sits at 224°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red33.3%
Green42.7%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
85
0x55
G · 0–255
109
0x6d
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan51.4%
Magenta37.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 121%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#556daf text on a black background

contrast 4.19:1

Card sample

#556daf text on a white background

contrast 5.01:1

Card sample

#556daf on grey

4.57:1

#556daf on its own surface

4.64:1

#556daf on its dark surface

3.54:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #556daf;
Background color
Panel with #556daf background
background-color: #556daf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #556daf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(85, 109, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(85, 109, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #556daf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #556daf, #7955AF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #556daf, #9055AF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #556daf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #556daf;
caret-color: #556daf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #556daf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF0F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #556daf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#556daf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #556daf 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(85, 109, 175, 0.5)
rgb(85 109 175 / 50%)
#556daf80
hsl(224 36% 51% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #556daf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#556daf1a#EEF0F7
20%#556daf33#DDE2EF
40%#556daf66#BBC5DF
60%#556daf99#99A7CF
80%#556dafcc#778ABF

Gradients from #556daf

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, #7F91C3, #556daf 45%, #293557);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #556daf, #71499C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #556daf, #AF9755);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #93A3CC 0%, #556daf 45%, #293557 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #78B5BF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #836AB9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #293557 0%, transparent 65%), #556daf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #556daf

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.

#556daf 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 4.19:1 — lift it to #5C73B2 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.

#556daf, answered

What color is #556daf?

#556daf is a balanced soft blue, closest to Royal Blue (ΔE2000 6.6). It sits at 224° on the hue wheel with 36% saturation and 51% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #556daf?

rgb(85, 109, 175) — 85 red, 109 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 33.3% / 42.7% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #556daf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(224, 36%, 51%) and hsv(224, 51%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #556daf a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1596 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.01:1.

Should I use black or white text on #556daf?

White. It scores 5.01:1 against #556daf, versus 4.19:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #556daf accessible on a white background?

#556daf on white scores 5.01:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #556daf?

#AF9755 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AF6A55 and #9AAF55, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #556daf?

For interface work: #F5F6FA as the surface, #C8CFE5 for borders, #4B609B for secondary text, #B48050 as an accent and #293557 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #559AAF and #6A55AF stays calm, while #AF9755 is the loudest partner.

What is #556daf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(51%, 38%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #556daf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #5E55AF; nudged cooler, #5379B2.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #556daf?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 8.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #556daf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #556daf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#556daf] or text-[#556daf], 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 #556daf with 50% opacity?

rgba(85, 109, 175, 0.5), or #556daf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #AAB6D7; over black, #2B3758.

Is #556daf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #666699, ΔE2000 7.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #556daf 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 #556daf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #7F91C3, #556daf 45%, #293557). For more colour, a short hue run to #71499C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #556daf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #556daf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.