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blue · cool

#596ecb

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Denim

RGB
89, 110, 203
HSL
229°, 52%, 57%
CMYK
56, 46, 0, 20
Luminance
0.1759

#596ecb is a balanced vivid blue, 229° on the wheel and 90/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (4.65:1). As text it scores 4.65:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Royal Blue, nearest Tailwind family is indigo.

hsl(229 52% 57%)rgb(89 110 203)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #596ecb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#596ecb
Hue
229°
blue
Saturation
52%
vivid
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
47%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1759
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
90/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
White
4.65:1
Closest name
Royal Blue
ΔE2000 4
Chroma
54.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.568
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
indigo
500 · ΔE 6.3
Web-safe
#6666CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue229° of 360°
Saturation52%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #596ecb.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool90% 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%
Green63%
Blue25%

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

Every format

HEX#596ecb
HEX (8-digit)#596ecbff
RGBrgb(89, 110, 203)
RGBArgba(89, 110, 203, 1)
HSLhsl(229, 52%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(229, 56%, 80%)
HWBhwb(229 35% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(56%, 46%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(49.0 19.6 -50.8)
LCHlch(49.0 54.5 291.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.568 0.145 271.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.47, 17.59, 58.80)
Decimal5861067
Display P3color(display-p3 0.349 0.431 0.796)
Web-safe#6666CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #596ecb;
background-color: #596ecb;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #596ecb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#596ecb] bg-[#596ecb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #596ecb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.349, green: 0.431, blue: 0.796)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.349, green: 0.431, blue: 0.796, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#596ECB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF596ECB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF596ECB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(203, 110, 89)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(89, 110, 203)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(89, 110, 203)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 89, 110, 203)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3490f, 0.4314f, 0.7961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{89,110,203}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #596ecb 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #596ecb 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1E2B61, #D3D8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #596ecb 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: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-100: #E9ECF6;
  --brand-200: #CFD4ED;
  --brand-300: #AAB4E4;
  --brand-400: #7F8FD7;
  --brand-500: #596ecb;
  --brand-600: #3A52BA;
  --brand-700: #31449B;
  --brand-800: #27377C;
  --brand-900: #202B5B;
  --brand-950: #141B39;
  --brand: #596ecb;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C1C9EC;
  --brand-hover: #3E57C3;
  --brand-pressed: #354AA8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141724;
    --brand-ink: #D3D8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F5FA',
        100: '#E9ECF6',
        200: '#CFD4ED',
        300: '#AAB4E4',
        400: '#7F8FD7',
        500: '#596ecb',
        600: '#3A52BA',
        700: '#31449B',
        800: '#27377C',
        900: '#202B5B',
        950: '#141B39',
        DEFAULT: '#596ecb',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F5FA,
  '100': #E9ECF6,
  '200': #CFD4ED,
  '300': #AAB4E4,
  '400': #7F8FD7,
  '500': #596ecb,
  '600': #3A52BA,
  '700': #31449B,
  '800': #27377C,
  '900': #202B5B,
  '950': #141B39,
);
$brand-base: #596ecb;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F5FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9ECF6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CFD4ED", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AAB4E4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7F8FD7", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#596ecb", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3A52BA", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#31449B", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#27377C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#202B5B", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#141B39", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #596ecb · 4.65:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.65:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 4.52:1
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #596ecb as text scores 4.65:1 on white and 4.52:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #ECEEF9 at 4.02:1.

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
#596ecb · 4.65:1
AA on whitealready passes
#596ecb
The quick fox
#384FB4 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−11% L
#384FB4
The quick fox
#596ecb · 4.52:1
AA on blackalready passes
#596ecb
The quick fox
#8494D8 · 7.21:1
AAA on black+11% L
#8494D8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #596ECB 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
#596ecb on white: 4.65:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#596ecb on black: 4.52:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #596ecb as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #596ecb.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.65:1AaAa
Slate 504.44:1AaAa
Slate 1004.24:1AaAa
Slate 2003.77:1AaAa
Slate 3003.13:1AaAa
Slate 4001.81:1AaAa
Slate 5001.02:1AaAa
Slate 6001.63:1AaAa
Slate 7002.23:1AaAa
Slate 8003.15:1AaAa
Slate 9003.84:1AaAa
Black4.52:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #447ACE
deuteranopia · #3470C9
tritanopia · #138393

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. #596ecb is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F4F5FA
#E9ECF6
#CFD4ED
#AAB4E4
#7F8FD7
#596ecb
#3A52BA
#31449B
#27377C
#202B5B
#141B39
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4F5FADarkest = 950 · #141B39Text step on white = 500
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 0.036 271.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 271.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.087 271.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.113 271.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.133 271.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.145 271.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.145 271.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.136 271.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.122 271.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 271.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.080 271.5);
}

Colors that work with #596ecb

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C1C9EC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B599B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9F6D2D
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1E2B61
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECEEF9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141724
Dark-mode background
Hover#3E57C3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#354AA8
Two steps down
Disabled#BFC3D6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#5F76DA
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 #596ecb

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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 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-high
  • Weight43/100
  • 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#CBB659
Analogous left#59A7CB
Analogous right#7D59CB
Split-complement 1#CB7D59
Split-complement 2#A7CB59
Triadic 1#CB596E
Triadic 2#6ECB59
Tetradic#CB59A7
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°229°

#596ecb sits at 229°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red34.9%
Green43.1%
Blue79.6%
R · 0–255
89
0x59
G · 0–255
110
0x6e
B · 0–255
203
0xcb

CMYK percentages

Cyan56.2%
Magenta45.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.4%

Total ink coverage is 122%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#596ecb text on a black background

contrast 4.52:1

Card sample

#596ecb text on a white background

contrast 4.65:1

Card sample

#596ecb on grey

4.24:1

#596ecb on its own surface

4.27:1

#596ecb on its dark surface

3.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #596ecb;
Background color
Panel with #596ecb background
background-color: #596ecb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #596ecb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(89, 110, 203, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(89, 110, 203, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #596ecb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #596ecb, #9059CB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #596ecb, #AD59CB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #596ecb;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #596ecb;
caret-color: #596ecb;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #596ecb;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECEEF9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #596ecb;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#596ecb 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #596ecb 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(89, 110, 203, 0.5)
rgb(89 110 203 / 50%)
#596ecb80
hsl(229 52% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #596ecb 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#596ecb1a#EEF1FA
20%#596ecb33#DEE2F5
40%#596ecb66#BDC5EA
60%#596ecb99#9BA8E0
80%#596ecbcc#7A8BD5

Gradients from #596ecb

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, #8897DA, #596ecb 45%, #1E2B61);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #596ecb, #8B42C4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #596ecb, #CBB659);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #9FABE1 0%, #596ecb 45%, #1E2B61 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #80C3D7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9770D2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1E2B61 0%, transparent 65%), #596ecb;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #596ecb

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.

#596ecb 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 4.52:1.

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.

#596ecb, answered

What color is #596ecb?

#596ecb is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Royal Blue (ΔE2000 4). It sits at 229° on the hue wheel with 52% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #596ecb?

rgb(89, 110, 203) — 89 red, 110 green and 203 blue out of 255, or 34.9% / 43.1% / 79.6% by channel.

What is #596ecb in HSL and HSV?

hsl(229, 52%, 57%) and hsv(229, 56%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #596ecb a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1759 and perceived brightness is 47%, so white text on it reaches 4.65:1.

Should I use black or white text on #596ecb?

White. It scores 4.65:1 against #596ecb, versus 4.52:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #596ecb accessible on a white background?

#596ecb on white scores 4.65:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #596ecb?

#CBB659 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CB7D59 and #A7CB59, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #596ecb?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C1C9EC for borders, #4B599B for secondary text, #9F6D2D as an accent and #1E2B61 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #59A7CB and #7D59CB stays calm, while #CBB659 is the loudest partner.

What is #596ecb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(56%, 46%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #596ecb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 90 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #6E59CB; nudged cooler, #5782CD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #596ecb?

The indigo family — its 500 step is #6366f1, ΔE2000 6.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #596ecb as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #596ecb in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#596ecb] or text-[#596ecb], 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 #596ecb with 50% opacity?

rgba(89, 110, 203, 0.5), or #596ecb80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #ACB7E5; over black, #2D3766.

Is #596ecb a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6666CC, ΔE2000 4.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #596ecb 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 #596ecb?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #8897DA, #596ecb 45%, #1E2B61). For more colour, a short hue run to #8B42C4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #596ecb in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #596ecb at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.