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Symmetrical Larimar

#4b8cb5
Notes

Symmetrical Larimar (#4B8CB5) is a true azure 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 (203°, 42%, 50%) 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 orange. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#4b8cb5
RGB
rgb(75, 140, 181)
HSL
hsl(203, 42%, 50%)
HWB
hwb(203 29% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(61.4% 0.091 238.4)
P3
color(display-p3 0.3566 0.5429 0.6950)
HSV
hsv(203, 59%, 71%)
LAB
lab(55.67% -8.50 -27.76)
LCH
lch(55.67% 29.04 252.97)
CMYK
cmyk(59%, 23%, 0%, 29%)

Etymology

Symmetrical
adjective

Greek symmetría, due-proportion — adjectival suffix -al, derived from sym-metron (with-measure). As a color modifier, symmetrical implies a clear-and-balanced-and-mirrored quality where the hue carries the visual register of bilateral-or-radial proportional symmetry. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to balanced and aligned in usage.

Larimar
noun

A blue variety of pectolite — a calcium-sodium silicate — found only in one mountain range in the Dominican Republic. Marketed as a gemstone since the 1970s and named after a Spanish word for the sea. The color refers to a polished larimar cabochon: a soft, slightly muted light blue with the cloudy translucency of pectolite. Lighter than aqua, warmer than glacier, with the gem-trade specificity of a stone that occurs in exactly one place on Earth.

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.

#4b8cb5
Original
#798bb7
Protanopia
#6b81b4
Deuteranopia
#00969a
Tritanopia
#818181
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
3.67:1
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
5.72:1

Wide gamut

Display P3 representation

The CSS Color 4 wide-gamut form of this color. Both swatches render the same color on every display — the P3 form only diverges from sRGB when a designer pushes channels outside sRGB's reach.

sRGB hex
sRGB hex
##4B8CB5
Display P3
Display P3
color(display-p3 0.3566 0.5429 0.6950)
P3 has subtle headroomOKLCH chroma 0.091

Moderately saturated colors gain a small bump in P3 — the difference is usually visible side-by-side on wide-gamut hardware but won't change the character of the color.

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