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Indigo Nocturne Bright
Color detail

Indigo Nocturne Bright

Blue · Hue 230
Hex
#08165E
RGB
rgb(8, 22, 94)
HSL
hsl(230, 84%, 20%)
CMYK
cmyk(91%, 77%, 0%, 63%)
Metrics
S 84% · L 20%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
16.3:1AA
on black
1.3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Indigo Nocturne Bright (#08165E) belongs to the blue family — hue 230°, 84% saturation, 20% lightness. Copy the hex, RGB, or HSL value above, or paste the CSS custom property below into your stylesheet to reference this color directly.

CSS
:root {
  --colorarchive-indigo-nocturne-bright: #08165E;
  --colorarchive-indigo-nocturne-bright-hsl: hsl(230, 84%, 20%);
  --colorarchive-indigo-nocturne-bright-rgb: rgb(8, 22, 94);
}

AI Color Names

Let AI suggest alternative poetic names for this color in English and Chinese.

Design Context

AuthoritativeIntellectualLuxurious
Common in

Defense · Aviation · Higher Education

Pairs well with

Gold for prestige, white for sharp readability, electric blue for energy

Design tip

Perfect for dark mode backgrounds and headers. Navy is softer than black and adds character. Pair with bright accents for contrast.

Cultural context ▶

Navy and midnight blue symbolize authority, intelligence, and tradition. The color of uniforms, institutions, and power.

Color Origins

Blue family

The most-loved color on the planet, and the most overused.

Heritage

Blue is the rarest pigment in the natural world — and so, historically, the most expensive. Ultramarine, ground from lapis lazuli mined only in Afghanistan, was worth more than gold in Renaissance Europe; Vermeer's bills were enormous because of how much he used. Egyptian blue (the first synthetic pigment, ~3000 BCE) was lost for centuries and rediscovered in the 19th. Prussian blue (1704) democratized blue overnight; Yves Klein's IKB (1960) re-aristocratized it.

Across cultures

In ancient Egypt blue was the color of the Nile and the heavens — sacred, protective. In China blue-and-white porcelain (qinghua) defined export ceramics for 600 years. In Mediterranean traditions blue wards off the evil eye. In post-WWII America, blue became the corporate default ('IBM blue'); in Japan, indigo (ai) is the centuries-old workwear dye that became the ground tone of an entire textile tradition. Across the world blue is consistently rated the most-liked color — sometimes by 35% margins.

In the wild

Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind. IBM's blue dates to 1947. Levi's blue is the natural color of indigo on cotton. Twitter Blue (#1DA1F2) defined social-media blue for a decade before X scrapped it. Pixar's Up famously runs on a single complementary palette built on blue. The blue checkmark, the blue link, the blue 'send' button — blue has become the default color of digital trust, to the point of being a UX cliché.

How it reads

Blue recedes — physically, the eye focuses blue light slightly behind the retina, which makes blue elements feel deep or distant. It reads as trustworthy, calm, corporate, and (at the cool end) cold. Light blues read airy and clinical; mid blues are the default for tech and finance; deep blues read as luxurious or naval. The omnipresence of blue in software is real: most enterprise UIs reach for it because it offends the fewest stakeholders, which is also the reason it can feel like the absence of a real choice.

This particular tone

A jewel tone — saturated and dark at once. This is the register of velvet, deep enamel, and old-world luxury.

Lightness band: At this depth the hue starts behaving like a neutral — it can substitute for black in many contexts while still carrying a faint chromatic temperature. It pairs especially well with off-whites and warm metallics.

Saturation band: At this saturation the color is doing work. It reads as a brand statement, a sport accessory, or a UI signal. It should be used in small, deliberate doses against quieter neighbors; large fields at this saturation will exhaust the eye.

Brands using a similar color

Within the public brand-guidelines reference catalog, these are the closest matches to #08165E.

  • Disney+primary
    Disney+ Navy · #01153E
    →
  • Didi 滴滴neutral
    Didi Navy · #0E1733
    →
  • Stripeneutral
    Slate Navy · #0A2540
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #08165E.

  • England (London)Royal Navy
    #0A2351 · Royal Navy / Royal Mail livery
    →
  • AustraliaSouthern Sky Navy
    #0C1E3F · Outback night sky
    →
  • BrazilBrazil Blue
    #002776 · Brazilian flag — celestial sphere
    →

Tonal strip

All lightness levels at this hue and saturation. Click any to navigate.

Palette moves

Instead of stopping at one swatch, use nearby, opposite, and tonal neighbors to branch into a broader palette.

Lighter companion
Indigo Shadow Bright
#0B1F83 · hsl(230, 84%, 28%)
Darker companion
Indigo Ink Bright
#061042 · hsl(230, 84%, 14%)
Complementary counterpoint
Amber Nocturne Bright
#5E5008 · hsl(50, 84%, 20%)
Analogous lead
Violet Nocturne Bright
#16085E · hsl(250, 84%, 20%)
Analogous echo
Steel Nocturne Bright
#083A5E · hsl(205, 84%, 20%)
Triadic +120°
Merlot Nocturne Bright
#5E0816 · hsl(350, 84%, 20%)
Triadic +240°
Leaf Nocturne Bright
#165E08 · hsl(110, 84%, 20%)
Split-comp +150°
Ember Nocturne Bright
#5E2508 · hsl(20, 84%, 20%)
Split-comp +210°
Olive Nocturne Bright
#415E08 · hsl(80, 84%, 20%)
Export preview
Base: Indigo Nocturne Bright #08165E
Lighter companion: Indigo Shadow Bright #0B1F83
Darker companion: Indigo Ink Bright #061042
Complementary counterpoint: Amber Nocturne Bright #5E5008
Analogous lead: Violet Nocturne Bright #16085E
Analogous echo: Steel Nocturne Bright #083A5E
Triadic +120°: Merlot Nocturne Bright #5E0816
Triadic +240°: Leaf Nocturne Bright #165E08
Split-comp +150°: Ember Nocturne Bright #5E2508
Split-comp +210°: Olive Nocturne Bright #415E08

Compare

See how Indigo Nocturne Bright compares side by side with related colors.

vsIndigo Shadow BrightvsIndigo Ink BrightvsAmber Nocturne BrightvsViolet Nocturne BrightvsSteel Nocturne BrightvsMerlot Nocturne Bright

Nearest neighbors

The closest archive matches by hue, saturation, and lightness.

Search by hex
Nearby match
Indigo Nocturne Pure
#041462 · hsl(230, 92%, 20%)
Nearby match
Indigo Ink Bright
#061042 · hsl(230, 84%, 14%)
Nearby match
Indigo Nocturne Vivid
#0D1A59 · hsl(230, 74%, 20%)
Nearby match
Indigo Shadow Bright
#0B1F83 · hsl(230, 84%, 28%)
Nearby match
Indigo Ink Pure
#030E45 · hsl(230, 92%, 14%)
Nearby match
Indigo Ink Vivid
#09123E · hsl(230, 74%, 14%)

Accessible pairings

Archive colors that meet WCAG contrast standards when paired with this color. Use as text-on-background or background-on-text.

Contrast checker
AAA15.6:1
Amber Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA15.8:1
Amber Veil Muted
#FBFBF9
AAA15.8:1
Amber Veil Dust
#FBFBF9
AAA15.8:1
Amber Veil Soft
#FCFBF8
AAA15.9:1
Amber Veil Clear
#FDFCF7
AAA15.9:1
Amber Veil Vivid
#FEFCF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#0E0D50
Protanopia
#0F0F53
Tritanopia
#094947
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