Skip to main content

Viridian Blue

#0F56A0·blue family·WCAG AAA

Tints & Shades

50

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Scale from white (50) through Viridian Blue (500) to black (900), interpolated in Lab color space.

Color Values

HEX
#0F56A0
RGB
rgb(15, 86, 160)
HSL
hsl(211, 83%, 34%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.455 0.137 254)
CMYK
cmyk(91%, 46%, 0%, 37%)
Luminance:0.0930
CSS var:--color-viridian-blue
Tailwind:bg-[#0F56A0]

Accessibility

Score: 71/100

On White (#FFF)

7.35:1

AAA

On Black (#000)

2.86:1

Fail

On Light Gray (#F5F5F5)

6.74:1

AA

Best text color on this background:

white7.35:1
Open in Contrast Checker →

Design Applications

Background

background-color: #0F56A0

Text Color

color: #0F56A0

bg-[#0F56A0] text-[#FFFFFF]

Accent border card component

border-left: 4px solid #0F56A0

Color Meaning & Psychology

Blue is the world's most universally preferred color across cultures. It slows respiration, lowers blood pressure, and promotes calm — the physiological opposite of red. Blue's associations with sky and water make it feel limitless, trustworthy, and reliable. In corporate design, blue dominates banking, insurance, healthcare, and technology precisely because it communicates stability. Dark navy conveys authority and tradition; royal blues suggest quality and aspiration; sky blues feel open and optimistic; teal bridges trust with modernity. The primary limitation of blue is food — it suppresses appetite, with almost no naturally blue foods existing in nature. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.

Industry Usage

Common contexts and industries where Viridian Blue is applied in professional design.

  • Banking, insurance, and financial institutions
  • Healthcare and medical device companies
  • Enterprise software and SaaS platforms
  • Government and public sector organizations
  • Airlines and aviation brands
  • Communication and social networking apps
  • Cybersecurity and data protection products
  • Pharmaceutical companies and clinical products

Accessibility Considerations

Normal Text

Passes AA

4.5:1 minimum required

Large Text

Passes AA Large

3:1 minimum required

UI Components

Meets 1.4.11

3:1 for non-text UI

Viridian Blue is a dark color. Use white (#FFFFFF) text on top of it for maximum readability (7.35:1). Avoid small black text on this background.

CSS & Code Examples

Background

background-color: #0F56A0;

Text

color: #0F56A0;

Border

border: 2px solid #0F56A0;

Box Shadow

box-shadow: 0 4px 20px #0F56A040;

Gradient

background: linear-gradient(135deg, #0F56A0, #5482d2);

Tailwind-style

--color-viridian-blue: #0F56A0;

Tailwind CSS Utilities

Use arbitrary value syntax in Tailwind CSS to apply Viridian Blue without a custom config.

Background

bg-[#0F56A0]

Text

text-[#0F56A0]

Border

border-[#0F56A0]

Ring

ring-[#0F56A0]

Fill

fill-[#0F56A0]

From (gradient)

from-[#0F56A0]

Via (gradient)

via-[#0F56A0]

To (gradient)

to-[#0F56A0]

Design Tokens

Ready-to-use Viridian Blue design token in CSS custom properties, SCSS, Tailwind v3/v4, and JSON formats.

CSS Custom Properties

:root {
  --color-viridian-blue: #0F56A0;
  --color-viridian-blue-rgb: 15, 86, 160;
  --color-viridian-blue-hsl: 211, 83%, 34%;
}

SCSS Variables

$color-viridian-blue: #0F56A0;
$color-viridian-blue-rgb: 15, 86, 160;
$color-viridian-blue-hsl: 211, 83%, 34%;

Tailwind v3 Config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'viridian-blue': '#0F56A0',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 (@theme)

/* tailwind.css */
@theme {
  --color-viridian-blue: #0F56A0;
}

JSON Design Token (W3C format)

{
  "viridian-blue": {
    "value": "#0F56A0",
    "type": "color",
    "description": "Viridian Blue — #0F56A0"
  }
}

What Does Viridian Blue Mean? Color Psychology & Cultural Symbolism

Evolutionary color psychology suggests blue's dominance traces to the sky and clean water—stable, expansive environments our ancestors associated with safety and resources. Viridian Blue carries this ancient signal into contemporary design as stability, doing perceptual work before a single word is read.

  • Across color psychology research, blue consistently tests high for "trustworthiness" associations, making Viridian Blue a reliable vehicle for stability in cross-demographic audiences.
  • Brand designers draw on blue-family tones to project stability and competence—values that Viridian Blue communicates in a deep key.
  • At 83% saturation, Viridian Blue reads as vivid—Electric and royal blues are modern, confident, and digitally native—they signal tech-forward positioning and work well for startups challenging traditional industries.
  • Viridian Blue's deep lightness (34%) shifts its psychological register: Navy and deep blues project gravitas, authority, and executive-level trust—the dominant choice for financial services, law firms, and premium B2B brands.

In a world of visual noise, Viridian Blue earns attention through steadiness. Use it where you need to be believed.

How to Use Viridian Blue in Design: Applications, Pairings & Best Practices

Viridian Blue's accessibility profile makes it one of the more designer-friendly choices in the warm-cool spectrum. Its deep quality at 34% lightness typically produces workable contrast ratios for both text and UI applications.

  • Avoid: food contexts where it suppresses appetite (the only major color with no natural blue foods), extreme urgency signals, and applications targeting very young children where warmer colors perform better.
  • Color harmonies: Viridian Blue's complementary color creates a high-energy split ideal for promotional design; its analogous palette (±30° hue) builds cohesive, monochromatic sophistication.
  • Proportional use: Viridian Blue's vivid saturation (83%) means small applications—accents, highlights, icons—deliver maximum impact without visual fatigue. Reserve large-scale use for intentional brand moments.
  • As a dark tone, Viridian Blue creates maximum contrast with white and light neutrals—excellent for creating premium dark-mode sections, bold headers, and high-drama brand moments
  • Typography: Viridian Blue works as a background behind white text but requires careful sizing—test at intended heading and body sizes before finalizing.

In a world of visual noise, Viridian Blue earns attention through steadiness. Use it where you need to be believed.

Viridian Blue Accessibility: WCAG Contrast Ratios, Color Blindness & Inclusive Design

Viridian Blue (#0F56A0) achieves a 7.35:1 contrast ratio with white text, surpassing the WCAG 2.1 AAA threshold of 7:1. This exceptional contrast qualifies it for body text, UI components at any size, and all accessibility-sensitive interface contexts. Relative luminance: 9.3%.

  • As text on white (#FFFFFF): 7.35:1 — AAA ✓
  • As text on black (#000000): 2.86:1 — Fail
  • Best text color on Viridian Blue background: White (#FFFFFF) at 7.35:1
  • WCAG 2.1 luminance: 9.3% — low luminance (dark)—it provides strong contrast for white and light overlaid text, functioning well as a background in dark-mode and header contexts
  • Viridian Blue qualifies for all text sizes including small body copy (AAA).
  • Color blindness consideration: tritanopia (blue-yellow color blindness, ~0.003% of population) may affect how this color reads. While rare, for maximum accessibility supplement color signals with text or icon indicators in critical states.

Viridian Blue's WCAG profile makes it a compliant choice for most text applications.

Viridian Blue in Industry: Branding, Design & Market Applications

Viridian Blue (#0F56A0) is most at home in industries where trust, reliability, calm, and professionalism are key brand values. Its deep quality makes it particularly effective in Finance & Banking contexts, where the vivid saturation signals professionalism at exactly the right register.

  • Finance & Banking: Blue is the most trusted color in financial services—a global design convention built over decades. It signals fiduciary reliability, stability, and the conservative stewardship that depositors and investors need to feel comfortable transferring wealth. (examples: Capital One, PayPal, Visa) Dark navy communicates established tradition; mid-tone blues suggest accessible, modern banking. Avoid pure bright blue for legacy institutions.
  • Technology: Technology brands use blue to communicate intelligence, reliability, and forward-thinking professionalism. From legacy enterprise software to consumer apps, blue provides a neutral credibility that scales across markets and cultures. (examples: Apple, Microsoft, Salesforce) Varying the tone of blue is how tech brands differentiate: sky blue for friendliness (consumer apps), royal blue for confidence (productivity tools), navy for enterprise seriousness.
  • Healthcare: Healthcare's use of blue is a trust transfer from corporate credibility to clinical reliability. Patients associate blue with cleanliness, precision, and medical competence—making it the second most common healthcare color after white. (examples: Headspace, One Medical, Kaiser Permanente) Teal-blue works particularly well for health tech and telemedicine, balancing clinical trust with digital accessibility.
  • Brand positioning: Viridian Blue is best suited for brands projecting trustworthiness, reliability, professionalism. Categories outside this positioning—food contexts where it suppresses appetite (the only major color with no natural blue foods)—tend to see weaker results.
  • Adjacent applications: Beyond primary industries, Viridian Blue works effectively in corporate identity, banking and finance UIs, healthcare platforms—contexts where professionalism serves a secondary but reinforcing role.

The industries where Viridian Blue performs best are those where the audience expects professionalism. Build brand strategy around this alignment, not against it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the hex code for Viridian Blue?
The hex code for Viridian Blue is #0F56A0. Its RGB values are rgb(15, 86, 160) and its HSL values are hsl(211, 83%, 34%).
What does Viridian Blue mean in design?
Blue is the world's most universally preferred color across cultures. It slows respiration, lowers blood pressure, and promotes calm — the physiological opposite of red. Blue's associations with sky and water make it feel limitless, trustworthy, and reliable. In corporate design, blue dominates banking, insurance, healthcare, and technology precisely because it communicates stability. Dark navy conveys authority and tradition; royal blues suggest quality and aspiration; sky blues feel open and optimistic; teal bridges trust with modernity. The primary limitation of blue is food — it suppresses appetite, with almost no naturally blue foods existing in nature. Its deeper, richer tone gives it gravitas and sophistication, making it well-suited for primary brand colors, typography, and contexts where authority matters.
Is Viridian Blue WCAG accessible?
Viridian Blue (#0F56A0) passes WCAG AAA on white with a 7.35:1 contrast ratio. Its overall accessibility score is 71/100.
What colors go well with Viridian Blue?
Viridian Blue pairs well with its complementary color Chocolate (#7B3F00). Analogous colors like Dark Turquoise and Cerulean also work harmoniously. Check the Color Harmonies section above for the full palette.
What is Viridian Blue used for?
Viridian Blue is commonly used for: Banking, insurance, and financial institutions; Healthcare and medical device companies; Enterprise software and SaaS platforms; Government and public sector organizations; Airlines and aviation brands.
What are the CSS and Tailwind values for Viridian Blue?
In CSS, use `color: #0F56A0` or `background-color: #0F56A0`. The CSS custom property is `--color-viridian-blue: #0F56A0`. In Tailwind CSS, use the arbitrary value class `bg-[#0F56A0]` for backgrounds or `text-[#0F56A0]` for text.