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Caliginous Blueberry

#3b3385
Notes

Caliginous Blueberry (#3B3385) is a true blue with an earthy character. It leans grounded and natural, the kind of color that plays well with wood, clay, linen, and warm neutrals. Its HSL profile (246°, 45%, 36%) 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 yellow. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#3b3385
RGB
rgb(59, 51, 133)
HSL
hsl(246, 45%, 36%)
HWB
hwb(246 20% 48%)
OKLCH
oklch(38.0% 0.132 282.5)
HSV
hsv(246, 62%, 52%)
LAB
lab(26.71% 27.67 -45.08)
LCH
lch(26.71% 52.89 301.54)
CMYK
cmyk(56%, 62%, 0%, 48%)

Etymology

Caliginous
adjective

Latin cālīginōsus, misty / dark — derived from cālīgō (mist, gloom). As a color modifier, caliginous implies an obscured, dimmed, slightly-cool-shifted quality where the hue is veiled by darkness or atmospheric fog. Sits at the deep-and-veiled end of the grid, between murky and tenebrous in usage.

Blueberry
noun

The genus Vaccinium — North American native berry shrubs cultivated since the early twentieth century. The fruit's deep blue-purple skin is colored by anthocyanin and the protective bloom of waxy yeast cells. The color refers to a fresh wild blueberry: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the powdery finish of waxy fruit surface.

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.

#3b3385
Original
#004288
Protanopia
#003c83
Deuteranopia
#1a4657
Tritanopia
#3b3b3b
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
10.51:1
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
2.00:1

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