Imposing Bleu
Imposing Bleu (#0E398A) is a deep azure with a jewel character. It carries the deep, saturated richness of a gemstone. Authoritative and slightly formal, it works well for type and heavy UI elements. Its HSL profile (219°, 82%, 30%) places it in the highly saturated band at a dark lightness. Best used in small doses, like logos, CTAs, focus rings, or highlight text, where its saturation becomes a feature rather than noise. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary amber. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.
Etymology
Latin impōnere, to place upon — present-participle of impose. As a color modifier, imposing implies a deep-and-massive-and-architectural quality, the dark cool-gray of Citadel-and-Cathedral monumental architecture against the sky. Sits at the deep-and-architectural end of the grid, parallel to towering and looming in scale.
The French word for blue — used across French art vocabulary from bleu de Prusse (Prussian blue) to bleu de Sèvres (Sèvres porcelain blue). The color refers to a Bleu de France heraldic field: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of dyed wool. The French cousin of blue.
Closest matches
The nearest named color in three reference sources, ranked by perceptual distance (ΔE76 in CIELAB). ΔE < 1 is imperceptible to most viewers; ΔE > 10 is clearly different. When two sources point to the same hex they’re merged into one tile; click any to open that color’s page.
Variations
Click any swatch to exploreHarmonies
Accessibility
How this color appears to viewers with the four major color-vision-deficiency types. Computed via the Machado (2009) physiologically-based model. If a tile matches the original, the color reads the same to that viewer.
The color used as foreground text against pure white and pure black, with the contrast ratio and WCAG 2.1 grade. Aim for AA (4.5:1) for body text and AA Large (3:1) for 18 pt+ headlines; AAA (7:1) is the gold standard for long-form reading surfaces.