Palettes / Colors / #4E81BC

#4E81BC — Muted Blue

#4E81BC is a blue color we call Muted Blue, closest to the named color SteelBlue (#4682B4). It belongs to the blue family.

Color name

Closest CSS keyword: steelblue (#4682B4) — not an exact match. CSS steelblue gives you #4682B4, a different color; use #4E81BC when you need this exact shade.

Sources: common names follow widely used color-name references; CSS keywords and their hex values follow the CSS Color specification.

#4E81BC is a cool blue color associated with trust, calm and professionalism. It sits comfortably in the middle: usable for large areas in soft schemes, or as a supporting color beside something stronger.

Its strongest partner is its complement #BC884E; it also sits naturally between #4EB8BC and #514EBC. In the palettes below you can see it working alongside real color combinations from our collection.

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Color values

RGB & CMYK percentages

Red 31% · Green 51% · Blue 74%

Cyan 59% · Magenta 31% · Yellow 0% · Key 26%

CMYK values are unprofiled approximations for screen reference — not a print-proofing guarantee.

Previews

CSS code for #4E81BC

.text { color: #4E81BC; }
.background { background-color: #4E81BC; }
.border { border: 3px solid #4E81BC; }
.text-rgb { color: rgb(78, 129, 188); }
.text-hsl { color: hsl(212, 45%, 52%); }
.text-shadow-hex { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px #4E81BC; }
.text-shadow-rgba { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px rgba(78, 129, 188, 0.8); }
.box-shadow-hex { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px #4E81BC; }
.box-shadow-rgba { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px rgba(78, 129, 188, 0.8); }

HTML: <p style="color:#4E81BC">Text here</p> · <div style="background-color:#4E81BC">Div content here</div>

Shades of #4E81BC

Tints of #4E81BC

Tones of #4E81BC

Color harmonies

Complementary — #BC884E:

Analogous:

Triadic:

Contrast & accessibility

Best text color on #4E81BC: #000000.

Semi-transparent (opacity) text on #4E81BC

Text set with opacity blends into the background, so its real contrast is lower than the solid ratios above. Choose a text color and an opacity to see the blended color and its true ratio:

How #4E81BC looks with color blindness

Simulated with standard Machado color-vision-deficiency matrices — useful when this color carries meaning in charts, maps or interfaces:

Closest design-system colors

The nearest matches in the Tailwind CSS, Material Design and Bootstrap palettes — handy when you need a framework class instead of a raw hex:

Palettes with a similar color

These palettes use a close neighbour of #4E81BC rather than the exact color:

Similar colors

The closest colors that actually appear in our palette collection — click any to open its page:

Browse neighbouring colors

← #4E81BB  ·  #4E81BD →

Frequently asked questions

What color is #4E81BC?

#4E81BC is Muted Blue, a blue color (RGB 78, 129, 188). Its closest standard named color is SteelBlue.

What is the RGB and HSL of #4E81BC?

#4E81BC is RGB 78, 129, 188 — HSL 212°, 45%, 52% — CMYK 59%, 31%, 0%, 26%.

What colors go with #4E81BC?

Its complement is #BC884E; analogous partners are #4EB8BC and #514EBC. It also appears in 6+ palettes in our collection.

Can I use #4E81BC for text?

Black text on #4E81BC has a contrast ratio of 5.19:1 (passes WCAG AA); white text gives 4.05:1.