colors
Back to gallery

Plutonian Gloaming

#281252
Notes

Plutonian Gloaming (#281252) is a deep indigo 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 (261°, 64%, 20%) places it in the balanced band at a dark lightness. It works well as a headline, icon, or deep background in an otherwise light layout, pairing cleanly with cream, bone, and warm neutrals. For a confident two-color system, pair it with its complementary lime. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#281252
RGB
rgb(40, 18, 82)
HSL
hsl(261, 64%, 20%)
HWB
hwb(261 7% 68%)
OKLCH
oklch(25.9% 0.109 292.9)
HSV
hsv(261, 78%, 32%)
LAB
lab(12.56% 27.81 -34.98)
LCH
lch(12.56% 44.69 308.49)
CMYK
cmyk(51%, 78%, 0%, 68%)

Etymology

Plutonian
adjective

From Pluto, the Roman god of the underworld (Greek Plouton). As a color modifier, plutonian implies the cool deep darkness of the underworld realms, with literary-classical register. Sits at the deep-and-cool end of the grid, parallel to Hadean and cooler than infernal.

Gloaming
noun

Scots and Northern English gloming, twilight — derived from Old English glōmung, related to glōm (gloom) but specifically denoting the half-light between sunset and full dark. Gloaming color refers to a Highland-loch eastern sky at the gloaming: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the optical complexity of Rayleigh-scattered atmospheric Belt of Venus light over a wet Scottish horizon.

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.

#281252
Original
#002154
Protanopia
#001f51
Deuteranopia
#1b2330
Tritanopia
#1b1b1b
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
16.17:1
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
1.30:1

Related Colors

Canvas