colors
Back to gallery

Composed Heraldry

#4e3fb4
Notes

Composed Heraldry (#4E3FB4) 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 (248°, 48%, 48%) 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
#4e3fb4
RGB
rgb(78, 63, 180)
HSL
hsl(248, 48%, 48%)
HWB
hwb(248 25% 29%)
OKLCH
oklch(45.6% 0.177 282.6)
HSV
hsv(248, 65%, 71%)
LAB
lab(34.94% 39.06 -60.16)
LCH
lch(34.94% 71.73 302.99)
CMYK
cmyk(57%, 65%, 0%, 29%)

Etymology

Composed
adjective

The past participle of compose, to arrange together — used as a color modifier for hues that read as deliberate and balanced. Composed black, composed gray: the saturation is moderate, the hue is calmly positioned without aggression. Sits at the bold-and-quiet edge of the grid near settled and resolute.

Heraldry
noun

Old French heraudie, herald-craft — the medieval European armorial-bearings system, where the heraldic tincture purpure (one of the rare stains) is rendered as a deep blue-violet on shields-and-banners since the 13th century. Heraldry color refers to a 14th-century French armorial-roll purpure tincture: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-violet with the matte finish of vermilion-and-azurite-mixed armorial pigment.

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.

#4e3fb4
Original
#0056b8
Protanopia
#004eb2
Deuteranopia
#1a5c74
Tritanopia
#4b4b4b
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
7.80:1
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
2.69:1

Related Colors

Canvas