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Certain Helen Royal

#226eec
Notes

Certain Helen Royal (#226EEC) 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 (217°, 84%, 53%) 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.

HEX
#226eec
RGB
rgb(34, 110, 236)
HSL
hsl(217, 84%, 53%)
HWB
hwb(217 13% 7%)
OKLCH
oklch(56.8% 0.204 260.3)
HSV
hsv(217, 86%, 93%)
LAB
lab(48.94% 24.12 -69.70)
LCH
lch(48.94% 73.76 289.09)
CMYK
cmyk(86%, 53%, 0%, 7%)

Etymology

Certain
adjective

Latin certus, fixed / sure — sharing root with English concern and certify. As a color modifier, certain implies a saturated-and-unambiguous quality where the hue declares its character without hesitation. Sits at the bold-and-confident end of the grid, parallel to assured and decisive in usage.

Helen
modifier

Greek Ἑλένη, Helen-of-Troy. As a color modifier, helen implies a Helen-of-Troy-and-fairest-face quality, the visual register of Helen-of-Troy-and-Tyndareus-Sparta hand-Helen-of-Troy-and-fairest-face Helen-of-Troy-and-Tyndareus-Sparta-and-Iliad-Homeric helen-and-Helen-of-Troy-and-fairest-face surfaces under Helen-of-Troy-and-Tyndareus-Sparta-and-Iliad-Homeric Mycenaean-and-Trojan Bronze-Age-Aegean-light. Sits at the modifier-and-myth end of the grid, parallel to eros and hera in usage.

Royal
noun

The blue of European royal court dress and regalia from the late seventeenth century forward — the color of British peers' robes, French royal sashes, the lining of the crown-jewel cases. The color refers to a saturated, slightly violet-shifted blue with the matte finish of velvet or melton wool dyed to maximum intensity: deeper than cornflower, warmer than ultramarine, with the heraldic weight of a color reserved for monarchs and the official Crown.

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 explore

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.

#226eec
Original
#007ef0
Protanopia
#006cea
Deuteranopia
#008da2
Tritanopia
#676767
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).
AAon White
4.66:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAon Black
4.51:1

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