Unwavering Crown Ultramarine
Unwavering Crown Ultramarine (#174CBD) is a true azure with a vibrant character. It holds its own as a focal accent, carrying visual weight without tipping into neon territory. Its HSL profile (221°, 78%, 42%) places it in the highly saturated band at a mid 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
Old English un- (negation) plus wafrian (to flicker). As a color modifier, unwavering implies a saturated-and-constant quality where the hue maintains its full strength without flicker or shift. Sits at the bold-and-firm end of the grid, parallel to steadfast and firm in usage.
Latin corōna, garland / crown. As a color modifier, crown implies a royal-headpiece-and-coronation quality, the visual register of British-Imperial-State-Crown-and-French-Crown-Jewel hand-set jeweled-and-velvet-and-gilt royal-and-Imperial-coronation surfaces under Imperial-State-Crown-and-French-Crown-Jewel royal-and-Imperial coronation-day light. Sits at the modifier-and-cultural end of the grid, parallel to throne and coronet in usage.
The pigment ground from lapis lazuli — the Afghan mineral imported through Venice in the late Middle Ages, more expensive by weight than gold during the Renaissance. The color refers to a freshly mixed ultramarine pigment in linseed oil: a saturated, slightly violet-shifted deep blue with the matte finish of micron-ground rock. Deeper than cobalt, cooler than royal, with the art-historical weight of the blue Vermeer reserved for Mary's robe.
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.