Cornflower blue

#72a5e3

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

Cornflower blue is a mid blue that reads grounded. 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.

Cornflower blue color values

Every conversion for #72a5e3, ready to copy. Hex, rgb, hsl, hsv, cmyk, cie-lab, xyz, decimal, web safe and the nearest Pantone.

Hex#72a5e3

RGB114, 165, 227

HSL213, 67%, 67%

HSV213, 50%, 89%

CMYK50%, 27%, 0%, 11%

Lab66.55, 0.04, -36.5

XYZ34.26, 36.03, 77.82

Decimal7513571

Web safe#6699cc

Pantone284 C

Shades of cornflower blue

#5894de #3e84d9 #2974cf #2465b5 #1f579b #1a4881 #143a67 #0f2b4d #0a1d33 #050e1a

Tints of cornflower blue

#7fade6 #8bb5e8 #98bdeb #a4c5ed #b1cdf0 #bed5f2 #caddf5 #d7e5f7 #e3edfa #f0f5fc

Colors that go with cornflower blue

Complementary#e3b072 Analogous#72dee3 Analogous#7772e3 Triadic#e372a5 Triadic#a5e372 Split complementary#e37772 Split complementary#dee372

Cornflower blue in print

It sits in a comfortable part of the gamut and reproduces reliably on press. The cmyk build is 50, 27, 0, 11.

The same color needs a different cmyk build depending on the paper. Here is #72a5e3 on both.

Coated stockgloss or silk, C

50 27 0 11

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

Uncoated stocknatural or matte, U

50 29 4 17

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.

Cornflower blue in css

Copy #72a5e3 straight into your stylesheet.

.background { background-color: #72a5e3; }
.text { color: #72a5e3; }
.border { border: 2px solid #72a5e3; }

How cornflower blue looks on light and dark

Sample text on black

Sample text on white

Text on this color

Cornflower blue and accessibility

Contrast ratios for #72a5e3 against black and white text, measured to the WCAG standard.

Use black text on this color for readable body copy. To test #72a5e3 against any other color, not just black and white, run the pair through ourcontrast checker for a live WCAG reading.

Cornflower blue on a business card, sticker and pattern

A quick look at how #72a5e3 sits on real print products. Start any of these in the maker.

Business card

Sticker

Repeat pattern

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

Turn cornflower blue into a seamless pattern

Four patterns built from #72a5e3 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 cornflower blue, free and print ready.

Open in pattern maker

How we calculate these values

Every value on this page for #72a5e3 is computed, not guessed. 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 value is the closest reference by perceptual color distance and should be treated as a starting point, not a guaranteed match.