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AI Color

Shades of Indigo

Eleven steps of indigo from the lightest tint to the darkest shade, all sharing hue 245° and 61% saturation so they work together as a set. Indigo was historically the most expensive dye on this list, and it still reads as costly.

Using a indigo ramp in a design system

A ramp like this one is the unit of work in a modern design system. Rather than choosing individual colors for each component, you assign roles to steps: the 50 and 100 steps become backgrounds and hover states, the 200 and 300 steps become borders and dividers, the 500 step is the brand color itself, and the 700 through 900 steps carry text and pressed states.

Because every step here shares a hue and saturation, the resulting interface reads as one coherent surface. The moment you hand-pick a color that sits outside the ramp, it will look subtly wrong even to people who cannot articulate why.

Check the steps you intend to pair before you ship them. The lightest tints will not carry text on white, and the darkest shades will not carry white text at small sizes in every case. Run them through the contrast checker once and record the results.

Indigo color palettes

Full palettes built around indigo, ready to copy as CSS or Tailwind tokens.

  • Indigo Deep Archive

    278

    Indigo Deep Archive color palette using #fec4d9, #a7c6f4, #ea38d5, #1f1496, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Deep Alcove

    273

    Indigo Deep Alcove color palette using #f9c8da, #a8c8f4, #e433d9, #231497, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Velvet Signal

    262

    Indigo Velvet Signal color palette using #fcc2dd, #9cc4f3, #eb3ce0, #120a9c, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Still Drift

    257

    Indigo Still Drift color palette using #fad3e4, #87bbf6, #f725db, #221384, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Velvet Ember

    217

    Indigo Velvet Ember color palette using #f8cfe0, #9ebdf0, #ed2de3, #1c1497, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Quiet Alcove

    204

    Indigo Quiet Alcove color palette using #e4c1f8, #c8f1a3, #a022f6, #4b9919, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Quiet Signal

    203

    Indigo Quiet Signal color palette using #ebccfe, #bcf887, #9520f3, #3fa407, #4b0082.

  • Indigo Golden Prairie

    165

    Indigo Golden Prairie color palette using #e7c4fb, #bdfd98, #a325f8, #4b9b07, #4b0082.

See all indigo color palettes

Shades of other colors

Shades of indigo FAQ

How many shades of indigo are there?

In principle there are millions, because a shade is any value along the lightness axis of a hue. In practice a design system needs about eleven steps, which is exactly what this page provides: five tints above the base, the base itself, and five shades below it.

What is the hex code for indigo?

The base indigo on this page is #4b3fd1, which is hsl(245, 61%, 53%). Every other swatch keeps the same hue and saturation and varies only lightness, so they all belong together.

What is the difference between a tint, a tone and a shade?

A tint is the color mixed with white, a shade is the color mixed with black, and a tone is the color mixed with grey, which lowers saturation. This page shows tints and shades; use the color mixer if you want tones.

Which shade of indigo should I use for text?

Use the darkest swatch that still reads as indigo rather than black. On this page that is generally the 800 or 900 step, which reaches 18.27:1 against white.