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Noble Plavi

#223c9f
Notes

Noble Plavi (#223C9F) is a true blue 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 (228°, 65%, 38%) places it in the balanced band at a mid lightness. It works across type, buttons, and borders, saturated enough to feel deliberate but balanced enough to not fight the rest of the palette. 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.

HEX
#223c9f
RGB
rgb(34, 60, 159)
HSL
hsl(228, 65%, 38%)
HWB
hwb(228 13% 38%)
OKLCH
oklch(40.4% 0.163 267.1)
HSV
hsv(228, 79%, 62%)
LAB
lab(29.60% 27.33 -56.42)
LCH
lch(29.60% 62.69 295.84)
CMYK
cmyk(79%, 62%, 0%, 38%)

Etymology

Noble
adjective

Latin nōbilis, well-known / illustrious — sharing root with gnōscere (to know). As a color modifier, noble implies a saturated-and-dignified-and-aristocratic quality, the deep-rich color of pre-modern European noble-class hereditary-aristocratic livery-and-armorial bearings. Sits at the bold-and-aristocratic end of the grid, parallel to aristocratic and highborn in usage.

Plavi
noun

The Serbo-Croatian word for blue — used across Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro for the saturated deep blue of Adriatic water and traditional folk-embroidery. The color refers to plavi embroidery thread on Croatian čilim rug: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of dyed wool thread.

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

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Harmonies

Accessibility

Color-vision simulation

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.

#223c9f
Original
#004ca2
Protanopia
#00409d
Deuteranopia
#005667
Tritanopia
#3e3e3e
Achromatopsia
WCAG contrast

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.

The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon White
9.48:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
Failon Black
2.22:1

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