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Cleansed Skagerrak

#56b5f3
Notes

Cleansed Skagerrak (#56B5F3) 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 (204°, 87%, 65%) 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
#56b5f3
RGB
rgb(86, 181, 243)
HSL
hsl(204, 87%, 65%)
HWB
hwb(204 34% 5%)
OKLCH
oklch(74.1% 0.127 240.2)
HSV
hsv(204, 65%, 95%)
LAB
lab(70.52% -9.39 -39.12)
LCH
lch(70.52% 40.23 256.50)
CMYK
cmyk(65%, 26%, 0%, 5%)

Etymology

Cleansed
adjective

Old English clǣnsian, to make clean — past-participle of cleanse. As a color modifier, cleansed implies a clear-and-purified quality where the hue has been stripped of any contaminating tint. Sits at the crisp-and-clear end of the grid, parallel to fresh and pristine in usage.

Skagerrak
noun

The strait between Norway, Denmark, and Sweden — connecting the North Sea to the Kattegat. Skagerrak color refers to mid-depth Skagerrak water at Skagen: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue-green with the optical complexity of brackish Scandinavian water at the boundary of two major sea basins.

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.

#56b5f3
Original
#99b5f6
Protanopia
#83a6f2
Deuteranopia
#00c4ca
Tritanopia
#a5a5a5
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).
Failon White
2.26:1
The quick brown foxSample body text at normal size. The wcag minimum for body contrast is 4.5:1 (AA) or 7:1 (AAA).
AAAon Black
9.30:1

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