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Knightly Bleu

#227cef
Notes

Knightly Bleu (#227CEF) is a true azure with a neon character. It sits at the high-saturation edge of its family. Use it sparingly, as signage, accent, or highlight against darker surfaces. Its HSL profile (214°, 86%, 54%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#227cef
RGB
rgb(34, 124, 239)
HSL
hsl(214, 86%, 54%)
HWB
hwb(214 13% 6%)
OKLCH
oklch(59.9% 0.192 257.1)
HSV
hsv(214, 86%, 94%)
LAB
lab(52.93% 16.44 -64.91)
LCH
lch(52.93% 66.96 284.21)
CMYK
cmyk(86%, 48%, 0%, 6%)

Etymology

Knightly
adjective

Old English cniht, young man / knight — adjectival suffix -ly. As a color modifier, knightly implies a saturated-and-chivalrous-and-medieval quality, the deep-rich color of medieval-English-and-French knight-and-squire armorial-bearings-and-livery tradition. Sits at the bold-and-chivalrous end of the grid, parallel to gallant and cavalier.

Bleu
noun

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

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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.

#227cef
Original
#3788f3
Protanopia
#0076ed
Deuteranopia
#0098aa
Tritanopia
#717171
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).
AA Largeon White
4.04:1
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
5.20:1

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