ColorXprez

#3A3C4E

Charcoal · dark cool blue

About #3A3C4E

#3A3C4E is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 23% red, 24% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 26% cyan, 23% magenta, 0% yellow and 69% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

Visually it is similar to Charcoal (ΔE 8.2), with Gunmetal the next nearest named colour. Across the colour wheel sits #4E4C3A (umber), its complementary partner.

Because it is dark, it is most useful for headings, body text, footers and dark-mode backgrounds. White text reads best on it at 10.85:1 (a WCAG AAA pass). Used as a text colour on white, it is readable too (10.85:1).

Colour codes

HEX
RGB
HSL
HSV / HSB
CMYK
CIELAB
Decimal
CSS
Red58
Green60
Blue78

Closest named colours

Charcoal
#36454F · ΔE 8.2
Gunmetal
#2A3439 · ΔE 10.5
Graphite
#383838 · ΔE 12.0

ΔE measures visible difference: under 2 is barely noticeable, over 10 is clearly different.

Text on #3A3C4E

WCAG contrast for white and black text on this colour.

White heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #3A3C4E.
10.85:1AAA
Black heading text
Body copy set on charcoal #3A3C4E.
1.94:1Fail

Colour-blindness preview

How #3A3C4E appears to people with the three most common types of colour-vision deficiency.

Normal vision
#3A3C4E
Protanopia (no red cones)
#373E4F
Deuteranopia (no green cones)
#363C4E
Tritanopia (no blue cones)
#353F42

Shades, tints & matching colours

Tints and shades

Complementary

Analogous

Triadic

Split complementary

Tetradic

Similar colours

Frequently asked questions

›What colour is #3A3C4E?

#3A3C4E is a dark, muted blue colour. Digitally that works out to 23% red, 24% green and 31% blue. In CMYK print terms it is 26% cyan, 23% magenta, 0% yellow and 69% black. Most people will perceive it as cool.

›What text colour should I use on #3A3C4E?

Use white text. White on #3A3C4E has a contrast ratio of 10.85:1 (AAA).

›What colours go with #3A3C4E?

Its complementary colour is #4E4C3A, and analogous partners are #3A464E and #423A4E.