Steel blue

#169bc2

Hex, rgb, cmyk and Pantone values for steel blue, with shades, tints, matching colors and free print quality patterns.

Steel blue lands where green meets blue, deep and vivid. Teals like this feel modern and clean. Warm corals opposite it on the wheel bring contrast and sand tones keep it coastal.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #169bc2, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#169bc2

RGB22, 155, 194

HSL194, 80%, 42%

HSV194, 89%, 76%

CMYK89%, 20%, 0%, 24%

Lab59.44, -19.17, -29.4

XYZ21.79, 27.51, 55.2

Decimal1481666

Web safe#0099cc

Pantone639 C

Shades of steel blue

#148eb1 #1280a1 #107390 #0e667f #0d586f #0b4b5e #093e4d #07313d #05232c #03161b

Tints of steel blue

#19afdb #29bce7 #41c3e9 #5acbec #73d3ef #8cdbf2 #a5e3f5 #bdeaf8 #d6f2fa #effafd

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#c23d16 Analogous#16c293 Analogous#1645c2 Triadic#c2169b Triadic#9bc216 Split complementary#c21645 Split complementary#c29316

Steel blue in print

It is saturated enough that the cmyk build can shift slightly from screen to press, so proof it. The cmyk build is 89, 20, 0, 24.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #169bc2 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

89 20 0 24

Ink sits on the surface, so colors stay bright and close to screen.

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

86 22 4 30

The stock absorbs ink and gains dot, so it needs a heavier build and reads a touch softer.

This color is saturated enough to sit near the edge of cmyk gamut, so expect a small drop in punch on paper and proof it before a long run.

See how it converts in the rgb to cmyk converter, or read rgb vs cmyk for print and what the k in cmyk means.

Steel blue in css

Copy #169bc2 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #169bc2; }
.text { color: #169bc2; }
.border { border: 2px solid #169bc2; }

How steel blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Steel blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #169bc2 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #169bc2 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through our contrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Steel blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #169bc2 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around steel blue? Pull matching colors from any photo with the color palette generator, or check a design for print with the rgb to cmyk converter.

Turn steel blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #169bc2 and its shades, free at print quality. Click any one to keep editing in the pattern maker.

Arches Signature stripes Gem Shingles

Make posters, wallpaper and packaging art from steel blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #169bc2 are worked out. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. The coated and uncoated cmyk builds differ because uncoated stock absorbs more ink and gains dot, so the same color needs a heavier, slightly duller build on press. For Pantone we return the nearest reference by perceptual distance, which gets you close but is not a substitute for a physical swatch book.