In Western cultures, blue symbolizes trust and reliability, often used in corporate branding to convey professionalism. Conversely, in some Eastern cultures, blue can represent mourning and loss, highlighting the color's complex emotional resonance.
The term 'blue' derives from the Old French word 'bleu', which can be traced back to the Latin 'blavus' around the 12th century. In ancient Egypt, blue was revered, with turquoise and lapis lazuli being used to create some of the earliest known pigments, showcasing its significance in art and culture.
Ranked by CIE76 ΔE — the perceptual distance from Blue. Lower ΔE means a closer match (below ~2 is barely distinguishable).
All 45 Blues →Nine steps of Blue by lightness — from #000085 (darkest) to #7A7AFF (lightest). Click any to copy.
Sitting opposite Blue at 60° on the color wheel, these give the highest-contrast pairings.
Curated 5-color combinations featuring Blue.
Brands and institutions known for using Blue.
A 50–900 tonal scale with Blue anchored at 500 — ready to drop into a design system. Click any step to copy.
Works well as text on light backgrounds; fails on dark.
Thresholds: AA needs 4.5:1 (normal text) / 3:1 (large); AAA needs 7:1 / 4.5:1. Large = 18pt+ or 14pt+ bold.
Copy-ready values for CSS, screen and print, plus the extra conversions designers reach for.
color: blue; color-mix(in srgb, blue 70%, white) 240°, 100%, 100% 100, 100, 0, 0 255 #0000FF How Blue appears to viewers with the three main types of color blindness (~1 in 12 men, 1 in 200 women). Simulated approximations.