Color #525966 Color / Colour Code #525966
This page shows the hex color code for color #525966 (#525966). The colour is a blue tone with 11% saturation and 36% lightness. Explore its conversions, colour palettes, gradients, accessibility data, and CSS code below.
Color Conversions
Accessibility Contrast
WCAG contrast ratios for #525966 against common backgrounds.
Complementary Colors
#525966 paired with its color wheel opposite for maximum contrast.
Analogous Colors
Hues at 189, 219, and 249 degrees for harmonious combinations.
Triadic Palette
Three colors at 219, 339, and 99 degrees.
Color Palettes Using #525966
Five shades at lightness levels 15% through 85% while keeping hue at 219 and saturation at 11%. Use the darkest shade for text and the lightest for backgrounds to build a cohesive single-hue design system.
Adjacent hues from 219 to 264 degrees create a warm, unified palette. This analogous scheme works for marketing materials, seasonal campaigns, and any design that needs visual warmth without clashing colors.
Combines the base color at hue 219 with its complement at 39 and two adjacent cool tones. This split-complementary approach provides strong visual contrast while remaining more balanced than a pure complementary scheme.
Five evenly spaced hues at 40% saturation and 80% lightness. Pastels are gentle on the eyes and work well for dashboards, onboarding screens, category tags, and any interface where multiple distinct colors are needed without visual aggression.
Shades & Tints of #525966
Lightness variations at hue 219 and 11% saturation.
CSS Gradients with #525966
Design Use Cases for #525966
Muted Accent Color
With 11% saturation, #525966 has a subtle, sophisticated quality. This level of desaturation works well for secondary buttons, inactive states, subtle borders, and backgrounds that need a hint of color without being distracting. Muted colors communicate restraint and professionalism.
Primary Interface Color
At 36% lightness, #525966 is in the mid-range, making it ideal for interactive elements like buttons, links, and selected states. This lightness level ensures good contrast against both light and dark adjacent elements in most layouts.
Trust & Professional Identity
#525966 sits in the blue range (hue 219). Blue is the world's most popular color for corporate identities because it conveys trust, stability, and competence. Use it for navigation bars, link text, form focus states, and any element where user confidence matters. Financial, healthcare, and technology brands rely heavily on this hue range.
Gradient Pairing
Create a gradient from #525966 (hue 219) to its complement at hue 39. For a subtler effect, try pairing with an analogous color at hue 249. Use CSS: background: linear-gradient(135deg, #525966, #665f52);
CSS Code for #525966
Similar Colors
Colors visually similar to #525966 based on RGB, lightness, and hue variations.
Use This Color in Design Tools
Apply #525966 across image editing and color design tools.
About Color #525966 (#525966)
#525966 is a blue color (colour) with RGB channel values of 82 red, 89 green, and 102 blue. The blue channel is dominant with a relatively balanced channel distribution. In HSL terms, the hue sits at 219 degrees with 11% saturation and 36% lightness, placing it in the cool range of the colour spectrum.
The perceived brightness of #525966 is 88/255 using the ITU-R BT.601 luma formula (0.299R + 0.587G + 0.114B). This appears dark to the human eye, so pair it with light text for adequate readability. For print production, the CMYK equivalent is 20% cyan, 13% magenta, 0% yellow, and 60% key (black).
The WCAG contrast ratio of #525966 against white is 7.05:1 and against black is 2.98:1. This exceeds the AAA requirement (7:1) for normal text on white, making it excellent for body text and small UI labels on light backgrounds.
The complementary colour #665F52 creates maximum visual tension when paired with #525966. For more harmonious color combinations, use the analogous colours #526366 and #555266, which sit 30 degrees on either side of the hue wheel. To build a complete design system, start with the monochromatic scale above for consistent shade variations, then add one complementary or triadic accent for interactive elements.
How to Explore Color #525966
- Enter your color value in HEX format.
- The tool converts it to RGB, HSL, CMYK format in real time.
- Copy the converted value to your clipboard.
What is HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK color conversion
Converting from HEX to RGB, HSL, CMYK translates a color value between two different color models. Different color models are used in web design (HEX, RGB), print (CMYK), and color theory (HSL, HSV).
Related Tools & Colors
Frequently Asked Questions
- What color / colour is #525966?
- #525966 is Color #525966, a blue color (colour) with RGB(82, 89, 102), HSL(219, 11%, 36%), and CMYK(20%, 13%, 0%, 60%). Its perceived brightness is 88/255.
- Is #525966 accessible for text?
- Against white, #525966 has a contrast ratio of 7.05:1 (passes AA for normal text). Against black, it has 2.98:1 (fails AA). Use the contrast checker tool for custom background pairings.
- What colours pair well with #525966?
- The complementary colour is #665F52 (hue 39). For subtle color combinations, use analogous colours #526366 and #555266. The triadic palette adds #665259 and #596652 for vibrant variety.
- How do I use #525966 in CSS?
- Use any format: color: #525966; or rgb(82, 89, 102); or hsl(219, 11%, 36%). For CSS custom properties: --color-primary: 219 11% 36%; then use it as hsl(var(--color-primary)).
- Is this color / colour explorer free?
- Yes, completely free with no signup required. All colour calculations run in your browser. You can explore any valid hex color code, not just the pre-generated palette.