Steel blue

#1a97bd

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

This is Steel blue, a strong teal at 194 degrees. 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 #1a97bd, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#1a97bd

RGB26, 151, 189

HSL194, 76%, 42%

HSV194, 86%, 74%

CMYK86%, 20%, 0%, 26%

Lab58.06, -18.52, -28.71

XYZ20.68, 26.03, 52.08

Decimal1742781

Web safe#3399cc

Pantone639 C

Shades of steel blue

#188aad #167d9d #13708c #11637c #0f566c #0d495c #0a3c4c #082f3b #06222b #04151b

Tints of steel blue

#1daad5 #2cb8e2 #45c0e5 #5dc8e9 #75d0ec #8ed9ef #a6e1f3 #bfe9f6 #d7f1f9 #effafd

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#bd401a Analogous#1abd92 Analogous#1a45bd Triadic#bd1a97 Triadic#97bd1a Split complementary#bd1a45 Split complementary#bd921a

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 86, 20, 0, 26.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #1a97bd on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

86 20 0 26

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

83 22 4 32

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 #1a97bd straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #1a97bd; }
.text { color: #1a97bd; }
.border { border: 2px solid #1a97bd; }

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 #1a97bd against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #1a97bd 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 #1a97bd 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 #1a97bd 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

The figures for #1a97bd come from standard color math, shown so you can check them. We convert from sRGB to each space with the standard formulas, so the codes match what design tools show. The uncoated cmyk build carries more ink than the coated one, which is what a printer would compensate for when the same color runs on a rougher stock. The Pantone figure is the nearest match in our reference set by perceptual distance and it is an approximation, not an exact spot color.