Shades of Navy
Eleven steps of navy from the lightest tint to the darkest shade, all sharing hue 227° and 61% saturation so they work together as a set. Navy is the default alternative to black in branding because it stays legible while feeling softer.
- 50Porcelain#f3f5fcrgb(243, 245, 252)
- 100Periwinkle#cdd5f3rgb(205, 213, 243)
- 200Sky Blue#a7b6eargb(167, 182, 234)
- 300Amethyst#8196e1rgb(129, 150, 225)
- 400Slate Blue#5c76d7rgb(92, 118, 215)
- 500Cerulean#3657cergb(54, 87, 206)
- 600Cerulean#2a46acrgb(42, 70, 172)
- 700Midnight Blue#203686rgb(32, 54, 134)
- 800Midnight Blue#172760rgb(23, 39, 96)
- 900Ebony#0e183argb(14, 24, 58)
- 950Jet Black#050815rgb(5, 8, 21)
Using a navy 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.
Shades of other colors
- Shades of red
- Shades of orange
- Shades of yellow
- Shades of green
- Shades of teal
- Shades of blue
- Shades of indigo
- Shades of purple
- Shades of pink
- Shades of magenta
- Shades of brown
- Shades of beige
- Shades of cream
- Shades of gray
- Shades of black
- Shades of white
- Shades of gold
- Shades of silver
- Shades of burgundy
- Shades of sage
- Shades of mint
- Shades of lavender
- Shades of coral
Shades of navy FAQ
How many shades of navy 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 navy?
The base navy on this page is #16255c, which is hsl(227, 61%, 22%). 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 navy should I use for text?
Use the darkest swatch that still reads as navy rather than black. On this page that is generally the 800 or 900 step, which reaches 17.35:1 against white.