Blue Color Codes
The color code of Blue is Hex #0000FF, RGB rgb(0, 0, 255), HSL hsl(240, 100%, 50%) and HSB 240°, 100%, 100%. Blue is one of the three additive primaries. A screen makes it by turning the blue channel fully on and leaving the other two off. There are more blue shades than any one list can hold. The 26 named below each come with a full code set you can copy for design and color grading work.
The family
Different Shades of Blue
There are 26 named shades of blue here. Each one links to its own page with the full code set. Click any swatch to copy its hex.
What Is the Color Code for Blue?
The Blue color code has four screen formats and one print format. The screen ones are Hex, RGB, HSL and HSB. The print one is CMYK. All five describe the same blue. They differ in what they make easy to change.
What Is the Hex Code for Blue?
The hex code for Blue is #0000FF. Hex is the format you use in CSS and in most design tools. The first two digits set red, the next two set green and the last two set blue. In #0000FF the blue pair is highest at FF and the green pair is lowest at 00.
What Is the RGB Code for Blue?
The RGB code for Blue is rgb(0, 0, 255). RGB counts each channel from 0 to 255. The gap between the strongest and the weakest channel is 255, and that gap is the whole of the color. Close the gap and you get grey.
What Is the HSL / HSB Code for Blue?
The HSL code for Blue is hsl(240, 100%, 50%) and the HSB code is 240°, 100%, 100%. The hue of 240 degrees is the position on the color wheel, and this family runs from 200°–255°. HSL and HSB are easier to adjust by hand than hex. Move the first number and you change the color. Move the others and you keep the color but change how strong or how light it is.
What Is the CMYK Code for Blue?
The CMYK code for Blue is 100%, 100%, 0%, 0%. CMYK is for print rather than screens. A screen adds light to make color. Ink takes light away. A blue this strong is one of the colors that suffers most in the move, because ink cannot reach the brightness a backlit screen can. Ask a printer for a Pantone reference on anything that has to match exactly.
What Does the Color Blue Mean?
Blue means trust and stability. It is the most common color in corporate identity, and banks, airlines and software companies reach for it more than any other hue. It is also the least appetising color there is. Almost nothing edible is blue, which is why food brands avoid it and cleaning products do not. How much of that a shade carries depends on how strong it is. Ultramarine holds the most chroma here at 133. Azure holds the least at 8, and reads as barely tinted by comparison.
Lightest & Darkest Shades of Blue
The lightest shade of blue is Azure at #F0FFFF. The darkest is Dark Blue at #00008B. Everything else on this page sits between those two. If you need a background, start from the light end. If you need text, start from the dark end.
Which Blue Is Best for Branding & Design?
It depends what the color has to do. A logo can use any shade because it does not have to pass a contrast test. A button does. Of the 26 shades on this page, 13 are dark enough to carry white text at AA. The questions below cover the cases people ask about most.
Which Blue Looks Most Professional for Designs?
Zaffre at #0014A8 is the safest professional pick, with white text on it reaching 12.61:1. It is deep rather than bright, which is what makes it read as considered instead of loud. The most saturated shades further up this page look cheaper at large sizes.
Which Blue Shade Increases Attention the Most?
Ultramarine at #3F00FF draws the most attention. It carries the highest chroma of any shade here at 133, which is the measure of how far a color sits from grey, and that is what makes it hard to ignore. White text on it clears AA at 7.91:1, so unusually for a family's boldest shade you can use it and still label it.
Which Blue Should I Use for a Buy / CTA Button?
Use Ultramarine at #3F00FF. White text on it scores 7.91:1, which passes AA for button labels. Blue is the rare family where the boldest shade is also safe: Ultramarine clears AA at 7.91:1, so you do not have to trade attention for legibility here.
Blue color tools
Convert Blue Color Codes (Hex, RGB, HSL)
Have a blue value in one format and need it in another? Paste #0000FF in and you get rgb(0, 0, 255) back, and the result updates as you type. These three cover the jobs that come up most.
#0000FF→rgb(0, 0, 255)
Hex to RGB
Paste a hex, get the three channels
0, 0, 255→#0000FF
RGB to Hex
Go the other way for CSS
#0000FF→hsl(240, 100%, 50%)
Hex to HSL
For adjusting a shade by hand
Find the Blue Hex Code in Any Image
Upload an image and click the part you want. The picker reads that exact pixel, which saves guessing at a blue in a corporate logo, where the exact value is rarely published.
#3F00FF
Image Color Picker
Click any pixel in a photo to read its hex
Ultramarine
Color Name Finder
Give it a value, get the closest named blue
Build a Blue Color Palette
Start from #0000FF, or from any of the 26 shades above. The palette tool pulls colors out of an image. The gradient tool blends two values into a run, and #F0FFFF to #00008B covers this family end to end. The shades and tints tool takes one value and gives you a full scale from it.