RAL Classic color

RAL 5011 Steel blue #231A24

RAL 5011 Steel blue is shown here as #231A24, a widely published sRGB approximation of the printed swatch. It is a very dark grayish magenta in the neutral family. In OKLCH it sits at lightness 0.233, chroma 0.023 and hue 323.0°. The nearest CSS named color is black (#000000), ΔE2000 11.1 away.

Relative luminance
0.0122
OKLCH L · C · h
0.233 · 0.023 · 323.0
Best text
White 16.87:1
Hue family
Neutral
Inspect this color Check contrast

#231A24 color codes

HEX
#231A24
RGB
rgb(35, 26, 36)
HSL
hsl(294, 16%, 12%)
OKLCH
oklch(0.233 0.023 323.0)
OKLab
oklab(0.233 0.018 -0.014)
CIELAB (D65)
L* 10.73, a* 6.79, b* -5.16
XYZ (D65)
X 1.38, Y 1.22, Z 1.83
CMYK (naive)
cmyk(3%, 28%, 0%, 86%)

CIELAB and XYZ use the D65 white point; CSS lab() uses D50, so paste the OKLCH or HEX value into stylesheets. CMYK here is a plain formula with no press profile.

RAL and RAL Classic are trademarks of RAL gGmbH, which this site is not affiliated with. The sRGB value is an approximation of the printed swatch; check a physical RAL color card before you specify a paint.

Legibility

Contrast: is #231A24 accessible?

White text on it reaches 16.87:1, passing AAA. Black text fails at 1.24:1.

WCAG 2 gives the same ratio whichever color is the text; APCA does not, so its Lc changes sign and size with polarity.

Open the Contrast System

  • Black text on it

    1.24:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc 0

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.24:1

  • White text on it

    16.87:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc −106

  • As text on black

    1.24:1

    • AA fails
    • AA large fails
    • AAA fails
    • APCA Lc 0

    Text is here, unreadable at 1.24:1

  • As text on white

    16.87:1

    • AA passes
    • AA large passes
    • AAA passes
    • APCA Lc +103

Nearest versions that pass 4.5:1

  • For text on white

    #231A24 16.87:1

    It already reaches 16.87:1 on white, so no change is needed.

  • For text on black

    #7C717D 4.51:1

    Lightening its OKLCH lightness from 0.23 to 0.56 reaches 4.51:1 on black, keeping the hue.

    Compare both in the Contrast System

Checking another pair? Use the Contrast Checker.

Studio

Adjust #231A24 live

Move lightness, chroma and hue in OKLCH, or drag on the map. The map is every lightness and chroma at the current hue: sRGB inside the solid area, Display P3 out to the dashed line.

The studio needs JavaScript.

Scale

Shades and tints of #231A24

Eleven OKLCH lightness steps at this hue, each with its contrast against white and black. #231A24 sits at step 950.

  1. 50#FBF1FC
    White
    1.10
    Black
    19.08
  2. 100#F2E7F3
    White
    1.19
    Black
    17.50
  3. 200#DED3DF
    White
    1.44
    Black
    14.48
  4. 300#C5B9C6
    White
    1.88
    Black
    11.12
  5. 400#A99DAA
    White
    2.59
    Black
    8.09
  6. 500#8D828E
    White
    3.67
    Black
    5.71
  7. 600#756A77
    White
    5.14
    Black
    4.08
  8. 700#5E545F
    White
    7.21
    Black
    2.90
  9. 800#453C46
    White
    10.56
    Black
    1.98
  10. 900#2E262F
    White
    14.63
    Black
    1.43
  11. 950This color#231A24
    White
    16.87
    Black
    1.24

Under each step, white and black text on it; a bold figure passes 4.5:1.

Gamut

How vivid #231A24 can get

At its lightness and hue, sRGB reaches OKLCH chroma 0.111; #231A24 uses 21% of it. Display P3, which many recent phones and laptops show, reaches 0.120 there: 8% more.

0.00.20.40.60.80.20.40.60.8 460480500520540560580600620
  • sRGB
  • Display P3
  • Rec. 2020
  • Dominant wavelength
OKLCH chroma
0.023
sRGB edge
0.111
Display P3 edge
0.120
Rec. 2020 edge
0.137
Dominant wavelength
Complementary 553 nm
Excitation purity
20%
Chromaticity
x 0.3113, y 0.2758
  • This color#231A24
  • Most vivid in sRGB#34003B
  • Most vivid in Display P3oklch(0.233 0.120 323.0)

On a screen without Display P3 the last tile shows the sRGB edge instead.

Use the wider color where screens show it
.accent {
  color: #231a24;
}
@media (color-gamut: p3) {
  .accent { color: color(display-p3 0.1888 0 0.2288); }
}

Mixing

Mixing #231A24

Each row is the same mix worked out in a different space, with the halfway color at its end. sRGB, which older CSS gradients use, can sag gray or dark in the middle; OKLab keeps the lightness steps even; OKLCH holds chroma and hue as it goes.

White #FFFFFF

  • sRGB50%#918D92
  • OKLab50%#898389
  • OKLCH50%#898389

Black #000000

  • sRGB50%#120D12
  • OKLab50%#070407
  • OKLCH50%#070407

Its complement #172117

  • sRGB50%#1D1E1E
  • OKLab50%#1D1E1E
  • OKLCH50%#122027
In CSS
/* A gradient and a mix, worked out in OKLCH */
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, #231a24, white);
color: color-mix(in oklch, #231a24 50%, white);

In use

#231A24 in an interface

A button, a link, a heading, a focused field, an icon and a chart line in this color, on a light page and a dark one. Each check is a WCAG 2 contrast minimum: 1.4.3 for text, 1.4.11 for the rest.

Light page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:116.87:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:116.87:1 Passes
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:116.87:1 Passes
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:116.87:1 Passes

Dark page

  • Button labelText, 4.5:116.87:1 Passes
  • Link and body-size textText, 4.5:11.11:1 Fails
  • Large headingLarge text, 3:11.11:1 Fails
  • Icons, borders and focus ringsNon-text, 3:11.11:1 Fails

For text on this page, the nearest shade that passes is #857A86 4.57:1

Color vision

How #231A24 looks with color blindness

Achromatopsia changes it most, ΔE2000 9.1; tritanopia changes it least, 4.9.

Simulated with Machado et al. (2009) at full severity, in linear light.

Simulate a whole page What each type sees

  • Protanopia

    No working red (long-wavelength) cones

    #191C24 ΔE2000 7.5

    Noticeable

    Reads as near-black

  • Deuteranopia

    No working green (medium-wavelength) cones

    #1B1D24 ΔE2000 7.1

    Noticeable

    Reads as near-black

  • Tritanopia

    No working blue (short-wavelength) cones

    #231B1D ΔE2000 4.9

    Close match

    Reads as near-black

  • Achromatopsia

    No cone color vision; lightness only

    #1D1D1D ΔE2000 9.1

    Noticeable

    Reads as near-black

Pairing check

A near-neutral has no complementary hue to pair with, so tell it apart from neighboring grays by lightness contrast alone.

Harmony

Color harmonies for #231A24

Its complement is #172117, a very dark grayish green.

Hue rotations in OKLCH, mapped into sRGB by trimming chroma so hue and lightness stay put.

Open the Harmony Studio
  • Base#231A24
  • Complement#172117

Complementary

Open in Harmony Studio
  • −30°#1E1C28
  • Base#231A24
  • +30°#26191F

Analogous

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#231A24
  • +120°#231D11
  • +240°#102122

Triadic

Open in Harmony Studio
  • Base#231A24
  • +150°#1E1F12
  • +210°#12211D

Split-complementary

Open in Harmony Studio

Code

Design tokens

Ready-to-paste tokens in six formats. Rename them to fit your system.

CSS custom property

:root {
  --color-ral-5011: #231a24;
}

Tailwind config

// tailwind.config.js
module.exports = {
  theme: {
    extend: {
      colors: {
        'ral-5011': '#231a24',
      },
    },
  },
};

Tailwind v4 theme

/* app.css — Tailwind CSS v4 */
@import "tailwindcss";

@theme {
  --color-ral-5011: oklch(0.233 0.023 323.0);
}

Design token (W3C DTCG)

{
  "color": {
    "ral-5011": {
      "$type": "color",
      "$value": {
        "colorSpace": "srgb",
        "components": [0.1373, 0.102, 0.1412],
        "hex": "#231a24"
      },
      "$description": "RAL 5011 Steel blue (approximate sRGB)"
    }
  }
}

SwiftUI color

import SwiftUI

enum Palette {
    static let ral5011 = Color(.sRGB, red: 0.137, green: 0.102, blue: 0.141, opacity: 1)
}

Jetpack Compose color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

object Palette {
    val Ral5011 = Color(0xFF231A24)
}

Matches

The nearest match in each system

The closest CSS name, Tailwind shade, RAL Classic paint and Crayola crayon by ΔE2000; under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side. RAL and Crayola values approximate physical colors.

Neighbors

The eight nearest colors on this site by ΔE2000, closest first. Under 2 is hard to tell apart side by side.

Tools

Open #231A24 in the tools

Each opens over this page. More colors live in the Color Library, and every color page is listed on the hub.