Steel blue

#3971aa

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

Steel blue sits in the blue band, mid and soft. A mid blue this balanced is a workhorse for corporate identity. It pairs with warm neutrals for balance, or with a brighter accent for contrast.

Steel blue color values

Every conversion for #3971aa, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#3971aa

RGB57, 113, 170

HSL210, 50%, 45%

HSV210, 66%, 67%

CMYK66%, 34%, 0%, 33%

Lab46.42, 0.23, -35.92

XYZ14.85, 15.58, 40.26

Decimal3764650

Web safe#336699

Pantone300 C

Shades of steel blue

#34679b #2f5d8d #2a547e #254a6f #204060 #1b3652 #162d43 #122334 #0d1926 #080f17

Tints of steel blue

#407ebe #538cc5 #6799cc #7aa6d3 #8eb3d9 #a2c1e0 #b6cee7 #cadbed #dee9f4 #f2f6fb

Colors that go with steel blue

Complementary#aa7239 Analogous#39a9aa Analogous#3a39aa Triadic#aa3971 Triadic#71aa39 Split complementary#aa3a39 Split complementary#a9aa39

Steel blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 66, 34, 0, 33.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #3971aa on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

66 34 0 33

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

65 35 4 39

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

This color converts to cmyk comfortably and should hold on press.

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 #3971aa straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #3971aa; }
.text { color: #3971aa; }
.border { border: 2px solid #3971aa; }

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 #3971aa against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #3971aa 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 #3971aa 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 #3971aa 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

Every value on this page for #3971aa is computed, not guessed. 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.