Palettes / Colors / #4E81BE

#4E81BE — Muted Blue

#4E81BE 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 #4E81BE 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.

#4E81BE 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 #BE8D50; it also sits naturally between #50B9BE and #5650BE. 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 75%

Cyan 59% · Magenta 32% · Yellow 0% · Key 25%

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

Previews

CSS code for #4E81BE

.text { color: #4E81BE; }
.background { background-color: #4E81BE; }
.border { border: 3px solid #4E81BE; }
.text-rgb { color: rgb(78, 129, 190); }
.text-hsl { color: hsl(213, 46%, 53%); }
.text-shadow-hex { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px #4E81BE; }
.text-shadow-rgba { text-shadow: 4px 4px 2px rgba(78, 129, 190, 0.8); }
.box-shadow-hex { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px #4E81BE; }
.box-shadow-rgba { box-shadow: 1px 1px 3px 2px rgba(78, 129, 190, 0.8); }

HTML: <p style="color:#4E81BE">Text here</p> · <div style="background-color:#4E81BE">Div content here</div>

Shades of #4E81BE

Tints of #4E81BE

Tones of #4E81BE

Color harmonies

Complementary — #BE8D50:

Analogous:

Triadic:

Contrast & accessibility

Best text color on #4E81BE: #000000.

Semi-transparent (opacity) text on #4E81BE

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 #4E81BE 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 #4E81BE 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

← #4E81BD  ·  #4E81BF →

Frequently asked questions

What color is #4E81BE?

#4E81BE is Muted Blue, a blue color (RGB 78, 129, 190). Its closest standard named color is SteelBlue.

What is the RGB and HSL of #4E81BE?

#4E81BE is RGB 78, 129, 190 — HSL 213°, 46%, 53% — CMYK 59%, 32%, 0%, 25%.

What colors go with #4E81BE?

Its complement is #BE8D50; analogous partners are #50B9BE and #5650BE. It also appears in 6+ palettes in our collection.

Can I use #4E81BE for text?

Black text on #4E81BE has a contrast ratio of 5.21:1 (passes WCAG AA); white text gives 4.03:1.