Exploring the Color #161E59

#161E59 sits at 233° on the color wheel, placing it in the blue family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 60% saturation and 22% lightness, it reads as a moderately saturated, deep tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 22, 30, 89 produces a 15.40:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #161E59 is a clear variant of CSS navy — about 54 units away from #000080. Designers reach for blue hues at this saturation when the brief calls for a conversational, mid-energy register, and at this lightness when they want weight, depth, and grounded contrast. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades