We're live on Product Hunt!Support us
ColorArchive

A curated color library with 5,000+ algorithmically generated colors. Browse, search, save favorites, and export palette tokens — no account required.

CollectionsFamiliesBrandsRegionsJournalNotesGuidesFree ResourcesConvertColorblindAboutSupportUpdates
Ready for static export
Privacy·Terms·Refunds·Cookies·Commerce Disclosure
colorarchive.org · © 2026 ColorArchive
Skip to content
ColorArchive
ProLog in
ArchiveAll ColorsCollections
Sapphire Ink Vivid
Color detail

Sapphire Ink Vivid

Blue · Hue 210
Hex
#09243E
RGB
rgb(9, 36, 62)
HSL
hsl(210, 74%, 14%)
CMYK
cmyk(85%, 42%, 0%, 76%)
Metrics
S 74% · L 14%
Contrast (WCAG)
on white
15.7:1AA
on black
1.3:1Fail
Save to journalSign in to saveStart palette from thisRecent trail

About this color

Sapphire Ink Vivid (#09243E) belongs to the blue family — hue 210°, 74% saturation, 14% 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-sapphire-ink-vivid: #09243E;
  --colorarchive-sapphire-ink-vivid-hsl: hsl(210, 74%, 14%);
  --colorarchive-sapphire-ink-vivid-rgb: rgb(9, 36, 62);
}

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 #09243E.

  • Stripeneutral
    Slate Navy · #0A2540
    →
  • Patagonianeutral
    Forest Black · #0F1F2E
    →
  • Didi 滴滴neutral
    Didi Navy · #0E1733
    →

Cultures using a similar color

From the cultural-palette catalog, these regions feature a color close to #09243E.

  • AustraliaSouthern Sky Navy
    #0C1E3F · Outback night sky
    →
  • England (London)Royal Navy
    #0A2351 · Royal Navy / Royal Mail livery
    →
  • IcelandBasalt Black
    #1A1B1F · Reynisfjara basalt columns
    →

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
Sapphire Nocturne Vivid
#0D3359 · hsl(210, 74%, 20%)
Complementary counterpoint
Coral Ink Vivid
#3E2409 · hsl(30, 74%, 14%)
Analogous lead
Indigo Ink Vivid
#09123E · hsl(230, 74%, 14%)
Analogous echo
Cerulean Ink Vivid
#09353E · hsl(190, 74%, 14%)
Triadic +120°
Blush Ink Vivid
#3E0924 · hsl(330, 74%, 14%)
Triadic +240°
Lime Ink Vivid
#243E09 · hsl(90, 74%, 14%)
Split-comp +150°
Crimson Ink Vivid
#3E0909 · hsl(0, 74%, 14%)
Split-comp +210°
Citrine Ink Vivid
#3E3E09 · hsl(60, 74%, 14%)
Export preview
Base: Sapphire Ink Vivid #09243E
Lighter companion: Sapphire Nocturne Vivid #0D3359
Complementary counterpoint: Coral Ink Vivid #3E2409
Analogous lead: Indigo Ink Vivid #09123E
Analogous echo: Cerulean Ink Vivid #09353E
Triadic +120°: Blush Ink Vivid #3E0924
Triadic +240°: Lime Ink Vivid #243E09
Split-comp +150°: Crimson Ink Vivid #3E0909
Split-comp +210°: Citrine Ink Vivid #3E3E09

Compare

See how Sapphire Ink Vivid compares side by side with related colors.

vsSapphire Nocturne VividvsCoral Ink VividvsIndigo Ink VividvsCerulean Ink VividvsBlush Ink VividvsLime Ink Vivid

Nearest neighbors

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

Search by hex
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Vivid
#0D3359 · hsl(210, 74%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Ink Bright
#062442 · hsl(210, 84%, 14%)
Nearby match
Steel Ink Vivid
#09283E · hsl(205, 74%, 14%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Ink Pure
#032445 · hsl(210, 92%, 14%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Nocturne Bright
#08335E · hsl(210, 84%, 20%)
Nearby match
Sapphire Ink Clear
#102437 · hsl(210, 54%, 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
AAA15.1:1
Coral Veil Faint
#FAFAF9
AAA15.1:1
Coral Veil Muted
#FBFAF9
AAA15.1:1
Coral Veil Dust
#FBFAF9
AAA15.1:1
Coral Veil Soft
#FCFAF8
AAA15.1:1
Coral Veil Clear
#FDFAF7
AAA15.2:1
Coral Veil Vivid
#FEFAF6

Color Vision Simulation

How this color appears with different color vision deficiencies.

Full simulator
Deuteranopia
#171438
Protanopia
#181839
Tritanopia
#0B3433
Ready to build

Turn these colors into design tokens

ColorArchive Pro includes CSS variables, Figma tokens, Tailwind config, and Procreate swatches — ready to drop into any project.

Upgrade to ProFree downloadView collections

Related colors

More from Blue

Search
Cerulean Ink Faint#202627 · hsl(190, 10%, 14%)Cerulean Nocturne Faint#2E3638 · hsl(190, 10%, 20%)Cerulean Shadow Faint#404C4F · hsl(190, 10%, 28%)Cerulean Dusk Faint#4E5C5F · hsl(190, 10%, 34%)Cerulean Velvet Faint#607276 · hsl(190, 10%, 42%)Cerulean Core Faint#6E8387 · hsl(190, 10%, 48%)Cerulean Radiant Faint#7E9295 · hsl(190, 10%, 54%)Cerulean Tone Faint#8FA0A3 · hsl(190, 10%, 60%)