Exploring the Color #174A96

#174A96 sits at 216° on the color wheel, placing it in the azure family of the cool half of the spectrum. With 73% saturation and 34% lightness, it reads as a richly saturated, shadowed tone — a balanced mid-energy presence that sits comfortably alongside other UI tones. Its RGB mix of 23, 74, 150 produces a 8.55:1 contrast ratio against white, which clears WCAG AAA for body text in that pairing.

In RGB space #174A96 is a distant relative of CSS teal — about 63 units away from #008080. Designers reach for azure hues at this saturation when the brief calls for bold, immediate signal, and at this lightness when they want a present, comfortable mid-canvas voice. On screen the cool cast tends to pair best with warm neutrals in the 25°-45° range to add life.

Darkening Shades

Lightening Shades