Colors Encyclopedia

Brand colors

Yale Brand Colors

Yale palette: #00356B, #FFFFFF, #000000. Compare HEX/RGB, WCAG contrast and CSS tokens; open independent JSON data.

Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Yale.

EducationBrand indexAPIDataset
Commonly referenced palette Yale
#00356B#FFFFFF#000000
Listed without an implied color hierarchy

Palette

Palette color 1#00356BRGB 0, 53, 107
White#FFFFFFRGB 255, 255, 255
Black#000000RGB 0, 0, 0

CSS Tokens

:root {
  --brand-yale-1: #00356B;
  --brand-yale-2: #FFFFFF;
  --brand-yale-3: #000000;
}

Accessibility Snapshot

#00356BBlack 1.72:1 / White 12.2:1
#FFFFFFBlack 21:1 / White 1:1
#000000Black 1:1 / White 21:1

Brand palette context · Editorially reviewed

About Yale Brand Colors

Yale Blue has a documented institutional history as well as a digital value. Yale’s identity guide notes that the Yale Corporation adopted blue as the university’s official color in 1894, choosing a dark shade associated with Oxford; the current web specification identifies Yale Blue as #00356B and pairs it with white, grays, and purposeful accents.

The web guidance encourages generous white space and flexible responsive layouts while retaining Yale Blue as the identifying anchor. It also advises choosing a base—generally black or Yale Blue—and adding other colors to differentiate content rather than decorate it. That discipline is more transferable than copying the wordmark: hierarchy, contrast, and spacing make the palette work.

This independent technical and historical summary is not a Yale website template, wordmark asset, endorsement, or permission to use university marks.

Downloadable brand colors infographic

Yale Brand Colors Infographic

Save an independent infographic of the commonly referenced Yale HEX palette and its accessibility guidance. No logo or proprietary artwork is included.

1200 × 800
Yale brand colors infographic showing its commonly referenced HEX palette and accessibility guidance for every listed color without assigning a color hierarchy.
Yale brand colors infographic. Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Yale.
Download WebPDownload SVGOpen full size

Machine-readable data

Machine-Readable Brand Color Data (JSON)

Structured brand palette data for design systems, references, automations, and AI ingestion.

AI-Ready Dataset v1.0.0
Luminance0.0361
Black text1.72:1AA Fail
White text12.2:1AA Pass
hexCanonical HEX value
rgbRed, green, blue channels
hslHue, saturation, lightness
cmykApproximate print conversion
wcagAA and AAA contrast options
harmoniesMathematical harmony sets
variantsGenerated tone variants
nearestColorsKnowledge graph neighbors
Download JSON Open API
Structured sections
Brand
{
  "slug": "yale",
  "name": "Yale",
  "category": "education",
  "brandCategory": [
    "Education",
    "education"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/yale/",
  "categoryUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/education/",
  "disclaimer": "Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Yale."
}
Palette
[
  {
    "name": "Palette color 1",
    "hex": "#00356B",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      53,
      107
    ],
    "hsl": [
      210,
      100,
      21
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      50,
      0,
      58
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0361,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.72,
      "white": 12.2
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "White",
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "rgb": [
      255,
      255,
      255
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      0,
      100
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      0,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "luminance": 1,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 21,
      "white": 1
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "name": "Black",
    "hex": "#000000",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "hsl": [
      0,
      0,
      0
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      0,
      0,
      0,
      100
    ],
    "luminance": 0,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1,
      "white": 21
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    }
  }
]
AI context
{
  "brandUseCases": [
    "university identity",
    "campus web systems",
    "institutional design",
    "brand reference",
    "design systems",
    "CSS tokens",
    "accessibility checks"
  ],
  "semanticGroups": [
    "education brand colors",
    "blue brand palette",
    "gray brand palette",
    "cool brand palette",
    "neutral brand palette",
    "dark brand color",
    "jewel tone brand color",
    "light brand color",
    "Yale color reference"
  ],
  "contrastSafeWith": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#F5F5F5",
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ],
  "relatedEndpoints": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/yale.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors.json"
  ]
}
CSS tokens
{
  "css": "--brand-yale-1: #00356B;\n--brand-yale-2: #FFFFFF;\n--brand-yale-3: #000000;"
}
Accessibility
[
  {
    "hex": "#00356B",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.72,
      "white": 12.2
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "hex": "#FFFFFF",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 21,
      "white": 1
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#000000",
        "#1A1A1A",
        "#36454F"
      ]
    }
  },
  {
    "hex": "#000000",
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1,
      "white": 21
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    }
  }
]
Full JSON dataset 
{
  "slug": "yale",
  "name": "Yale",
  "category": "education",
  "brandCategory": [
    "Education",
    "education"
  ],
  "disclaimer": "Commonly referenced brand color values. This page is an independent technical reference and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Yale.",
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/yale/",
  "categoryUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/brand-colors/education/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/yale.json",
  "colors": [
    {
      "name": "Palette color 1",
      "hex": "#00356B",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        53,
        107
      ],
      "hsl": [
        210,
        100,
        21
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        50,
        0,
        58
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0361,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.72,
        "white": 12.2
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "White",
      "hex": "#FFFFFF",
      "rgb": [
        255,
        255,
        255
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        0,
        100
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "luminance": 1,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 21,
        "white": 1
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#000000",
          "#1A1A1A",
          "#36454F"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Black",
      "hex": "#000000",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "hsl": [
        0,
        0,
        0
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        0,
        0,
        0,
        100
      ],
      "luminance": 0,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1,
        "white": 21
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "brandUseCases": [
    "university identity",
    "campus web systems",
    "institutional design",
    "brand reference",
    "design systems",
    "CSS tokens",
    "accessibility checks"
  ],
  "semanticGroups": [
    "education brand colors",
    "blue brand palette",
    "gray brand palette",
    "cool brand palette",
    "neutral brand palette",
    "dark brand color",
    "jewel tone brand color",
    "light brand color",
    "Yale color reference"
  ],
  "contrastSafeWith": [
    "#FFFFFF",
    "#F5F5F5",
    "#000000",
    "#1A1A1A",
    "#36454F"
  ],
  "relatedEndpoints": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors/yale.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/brand-colors.json"
  ]
}
Dataset manifest Version 1.0.0 Build hash published in manifest Canonical page

Related Brand Color Guides

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