#514B9D

sRGB: 81 / 75 / 157

#514B9D belongs to the blue family. Its hex code tells a screen to mix 81 red, 75 green and 157 blue on a scale of 0 to 255. On the HSL wheel, hue is a position around a circle: 244.4° lands in the blue region. Its 35.3% saturation makes it partway between gray and the most vivid version of this hue at this lightness. HSL lightness is 45.5% on a scale from black (0%) to white (100%). Of black and white lettering, white has the clearer light-to-dark separation on this background (7.39:1), which helps the shapes of letters stand out.

Color conversions

sRGB (8-bit): 81, 75, 157
HSL: 244.39°, 35.34%, 45.49%
HSV / HSB: 244.39°, 52.23%, 61.57%
CMYK (approx.): 48.41%, 52.23%, 0.00%, 38.43%
CIE XYZ (D65, Y = 100 for white): 11.994, 9.216, 33.046
CIELAB (D65, 2° observer): 36.396, 24.949, -44.058
WCAG relative luminance: 0.09216
24-bit decimal: 5327773

CMYK uses a profile-free approximation. Printed output depends on the press, ink and paper. Lab uses a D65 white point.

Text contrast

Contrast tells you how clearly lettering separates from #514B9D in light and dark. The ratio compares relative luminance, a measure of light weighted for human vision. Identical colors give 1:1 and black against white gives 21:1. A ratio of 2.99:1 falls just below the 3:1 AA minimum for large text. Body text needs at least 4.5:1 because its finer strokes are harder to distinguish.

Black text: 2.84:1

Normal text: Fail
Large text: Fail

White text: 7.39:1

Normal text: AAA
Large text: AAA

AA and AAA are WCAG accessibility levels. AAA sets a higher bar: 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text. Large text begins at 18 pt regular or 14 pt bold. Ratings use the unrounded ratio.

Reference: WCAG text contrast guidance

Palettes & scales

Harmonies rotate the hue. Scales mix the starting color with white, black or middle gray in 20% steps in encoded sRGB.

Complementary

#979D4B sits half a turn (180°) from #514B9D on the HSL wheel. Keeping saturation and lightness steady while crossing to the opposite hue gives you a contrasting accent. Check text contrast separately before using the pair for lettering.

#514B9D #979D4B

Analogous

#4B6E9D and #7A4B9D sit 30° to either side of #514B9D. The three hues are neighbors on the wheel, so you can change the color of a border or highlight while keeping it close to the original.

#4B6E9D #514B9D #7A4B9D

Triadic

#514B9D, #9D514B and #4B9D51 are spaced 120° apart, forming a triangle on the wheel. Try one for the main color and the other two for accents.

#514B9D #9D514B #4B9D51

Split complementary

Start at #514B9D and look across the wheel. #9D7A4B and #6E9D4B sit 30° to either side of its exact opposite, giving you two different accent choices.

#514B9D #9D7A4B #6E9D4B

Square

Starting with #514B9D, each quarter turn (90°) takes you to the next hue: #9D4B6E, #979D4B, then #4B9D7A. Across the square, #514B9D pairs with #979D4B, and #9D4B6E with #4B9D7A.

#514B9D #9D4B6E #979D4B #4B9D7A

Tetradic

#514B9D and #979D4B are opposites, as are #9D4B97 and #4B9D51. Together they form a rectangle on the wheel, with alternating gaps of 60° and 120°.

#514B9D #9D4B97 #979D4B #4B9D51

Tints

Mixing #514B9D with white in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #746FB1, keeps 80% of the original. By #DCDBEB, the mixture is 80% white.

#514B9D #746FB1 #9793C4 #B9B7D8 #DCDBEB #FFFFFF

Shades

Mixing #514B9D with black in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #413C7E, keeps 80% of the original. By #100F1F, the mixture is 80% black.

#514B9D #413C7E #312D5E #201E3F #100F1F #000000

Tones

Mixing #514B9D with middle gray in 20% steps produces this scale. The first mixture, #5A5697, keeps 80% of the original. By #777586, the mixture is 80% middle gray.

#514B9D #5A5697 #646091 #6D6B8C #777586 #808080

Copy color codes

Hex, RGB and HSL are three ways to write this screen color. Paste any of them into a CSS color property.

Hex

#514B9D

RGB

rgb(81 75 157)

HSL

hsl(244.390 35.345% 45.490%)

CSS example

.color-sample {
  background-color: #514B9D;
  color: #FFFFFF;
}

Channel breakdown

RGB

#514B9D uses 81 red, 75 green and 157 blue. Each bar shows how much of that channel’s 0–255 range the screen uses.

Red 31.8%

Green 29.4%

Blue 61.6%

CMYK

A simple CMYK estimate for #514B9D is 48.4% cyan, 52.2% magenta, 0.0% yellow and 38.4% black. These are ink amounts; a printer profile is needed to predict the result on paper.

Cyan 48.4%

Magenta 52.2%

Yellow 0.0%

Black 38.4%

Nearby colors

The nearest shorthand match is #554499. Its matching digit pairs let you write it as #549 in CSS. For a modern design, keep #514B9D when you want an exact match. Use its web-safe neighbor, #663399, when matching a legacy palette of 216 colors.

Nearest shorthand: #554499 Nearest web-safe: #663399

Gradient to complement

#514B9D #5D598F #686682 #747474 #808266 #8B8F59 #979D4B

Color vision previews

Compare how #514B9D appears in each simulation. When two chart lines or status indicators become hard to tell apart, a label, shape or line pattern gives readers another way to distinguish them. Individual perception varies.

Protanopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from long-wavelength cones, some reds and greens can look alike, and reds can appear darker.

#2458A0

Deuteranopia

A red–green color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from medium-wavelength cones, some greens can be difficult to distinguish from reds or browns.

#1F539B

Tritanopia

A blue–yellow color vision deficiency. Without a distinct response from short-wavelength cones, blue can resemble green, and yellow can resemble pink.

#375D6D

Protanomaly (50%)

An altered long-wavelength cone response can make reds appear dimmer and harder to distinguish from greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#38549E

Deuteranomaly (50%)

An altered medium-wavelength cone response can reduce the visible difference between reds and greens. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#35519C

Tritanomaly (50%)

An altered short-wavelength cone response can make blue harder to distinguish from green. This swatch shows the model’s halfway setting.

#4B518E

Grayscale (luminance)

This design check removes hue and preserves relative luminance so you can compare light and dark areas.

#565656

Partial grayscale (50% blend)

This design check mixes the original color halfway toward its grayscale equivalent in linear light. Use it to see how a design holds up as color fades.

#535180

Reference: National Eye Institute: Types of Color Vision Deficiency

Technical reference

CAM16 and CIECAM02 below assume D65 white, an average surround, background Y of 20 against white at 100, and adapting luminance of 4.07 cd/m².

Linear sRGB

These channels scale with emitted light. Use them for lighting calculations and physically meaningful blends.

R 0.08228 G 0.07036 B 0.33716

Display P3

P3 displays can reproduce a wider range of reds and greens. These coordinates reproduce this same sRGB swatch on a color-managed P3 display.

R 0.31362 G 0.29493 B 0.59565

Linear Display P3

These P3 channels are proportional to light, before display encoding.

R 0.08017 G 0.07076 B 0.31349

CIE xyY

The x and y coordinates locate chromaticity on a diagram. Y gives relative luminance on a scale where white is 100.

x 0.221 y 0.170 Y 9.216

CMY

Ideal cyan, magenta and yellow are the complements of the encoded red, green and blue channels.

C % 68.235 M % 70.588 Y % 38.431

Binary RGB

Each eight-bit group represents one channel. Together they store the 24-bit hex color.

01010001 01001011 10011101