Royal blue

#4e72ad

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

This is Royal blue, a soft blue at 217 degrees. 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.

Royal blue color values

Every conversion for #4e72ad, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#4e72ad

RGB78, 114, 173

HSL217, 38%, 49%

HSV217, 55%, 68%

CMYK55%, 34%, 0%, 32%

Lab47.84, 4.87, -35.37

XYZ16.7, 16.67, 41.87

Decimal5141165

Web safe#666699

Pantone285 C

Shades of royal blue

#47689e #405e8f #39547f #334a70 #2c4061 #253652 #1e2c43 #172233 #101824 #0a0e15

Tints of royal blue

#5d7fb6 #6e8cbe #7e99c5 #8fa6cc #a0b3d4 #b0c1db #c1cee3 #d1dbea #e2e8f2 #f3f5f9

Colors that go with royal blue

Complementary#ad894e Analogous#4ea1ad Analogous#5a4ead Triadic#ad4e72 Triadic#72ad4e Split complementary#ad5a4e Split complementary#a1ad4e

Royal blue in print

The cmyk build is well inside gamut, so what you see on screen is close to what prints. The cmyk build is 55, 34, 0, 32.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #4e72ad on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

55 34 0 32

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

55 35 4 38

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 readrgb vs cmyk for print andwhat the k in cmyk means.

Royal blue in css

Copy #4e72ad straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #4e72ad; }
.text { color: #4e72ad; }
.border { border: 2px solid #4e72ad; }

How royal blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Royal blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #4e72ad against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use white text on this color for readable body copy. To test #4e72ad against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Royal blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #4e72ad sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

Building a full palette around royal blue? Pull matching colors from any photo with thecolor palette generator, or check a design for print with thergb to cmyk converter.

Turn royal blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #4e72ad 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 royal blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Here is how the numbers for #4e72ad are worked out. The rgb, hsl, hsv, cie-lab and xyz values follow the standard conversions from the sRGB color space. 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.