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Plumb Anodorhynchus

#a0b5fe
Notes

Plumb Anodorhynchus (#A0B5FE) is a soft blue with a pastel character. It reads calm and airy, with enough chroma to feel intentional rather than washed out. Its HSL profile (227°, 98%, 81%) places it in the highly saturated band at a light 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 amber. For something softer, pull in its analogous neighbors on either side of the wheel.

HEX
#a0b5fe
RGB
rgb(160, 181, 254)
HSL
hsl(227, 98%, 81%)
HWB
hwb(227 63% 0%)
OKLCH
oklch(78.5% 0.107 271.5)
HSV
hsv(227, 37%, 100%)
LAB
lab(74.62% 10.06 -38.41)
LCH
lch(74.62% 39.70 284.68)
CMYK
cmyk(37%, 29%, 0%, 0%)

Etymology

Plumb
adjective

Latin plumbum, lead — referring to the lead-weighted plumb-line of pre-modern carpentry. As a color modifier, plumb implies a clear-and-vertical-true quality where the hue carries the visual register of gravity-aligned-and-perfectly-vertical surface. Sits at the crisp-and-balanced end of the grid, parallel to level and squared in usage.

Anodorhynchus
noun

The genus Anodorhynchus — particularly A. hyacinthinus (hyacinth macaw), the largest of all parrot species, native to central South America. The plumage is the most saturated true blue of any parrot. The color refers to a male A. hyacinthinus in adult plumage: a saturated, slightly cool deep blue with the matte finish of structurally-and-pigment-colored macaw feathers.

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.

#a0b5fe
Original
#9dbcff
Protanopia
#95b4fc
Deuteranopia
#83c3cf
Tritanopia
#b6b6b6
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
1.99:1
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
10.54:1

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