Nearest-color comparison

Dark Blue vs Navy Blue

Dark Blue and Navy Blue are different blue colors with HEX values #00008B and #000080. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 11, their contrast ratio is 1.05:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Dark Blue and Navy Blue are very close colors. Dark Blue is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Dark Blue#00008B

Navy Blue#000080

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Dark Blue and Navy Blue across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance11

Pair contrast1.05:1

Luminance delta0.003

Hue delta0 deg

Lighter colorDark Blue

More saturatedDark Blue

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Dark Blue

Dark Blue is #00008B, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#00008B RGB0, 0, 139 HSL240, 100, 27 CMYK100, 100, 0, 45 Luminance0.0186 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

blue color

Navy Blue

Navy Blue is #000080, a cool blue color with dark and classic character. Compared with Dark Blue, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for branding, formal design, and interfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#000080 RGB0, 0, 128 HSL240, 100, 25 CMYK100, 100, 0, 50 Luminance0.0156 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Dark Blue or Navy Blue

Choose Dark BlueDark Blue is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #00008B.

Choose Navy BlueNavy Blue is better when the design needs dark and classic blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #000080.

Use togetherUse these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyDark BlueNavy Blue

HEX#00008B#000080

RGB0, 0, 1390, 0, 128

HSL240, 100, 27240, 100, 25

CMYK100, 100, 0, 45100, 100, 0, 50

FamilyBlueBlue

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneJewel ToneDark, Classic

Luminance0.01860.0156

Black contrast1.37:11.31:1

White contrast15.31:116.01:1

Shared tonesNone

Accessibility and Contrast

Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.

Dark Bluewhite text - 15.31:1

Navy Bluewhite text - 16.01:1

Related Palette Strip

A compact visual strip showing the two compared colors with nearby harmony and variant context.

Dark Blue#00008B

Navy Blue#000080

#0000E6#0000E6

#0000DB#0000DB

#8A8A00#8A8A00

#7F8000#7F8000

colorsBoth named color records with HEX, RGB, HSL, CMYK, luminance, WCAG, and links

differencesRGB distance, HSL deltas, luminance delta, contrast, and shared attributes

accessibilityPair contrast and safer text choices for each color

useCasesWhen to choose each color and when to use them together

relatedApiMachine-readable comparison and color endpoints

Structured sections

Colors

[
  {
    "slug": "dark-blue",
    "name": "Dark Blue",
    "hex": "#00008B",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      0,
      139
    ],
    "hsl": [
      240,
      100,
      27
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      100,
      0,
      45
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0186,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.37,
      "white": 15.31
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 15.31
    },
    "description": "Dark Blue is #00008B, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/dark-blue/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-blue.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "navy-blue",
    "name": "Navy Blue",
    "hex": "#000080",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      0,
      128
    ],
    "hsl": [
      240,
      100,
      25
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      100,
      0,
      50
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "dark",
      "classic"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0156,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.31,
      "white": 16.01
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 16.01
    },
    "description": "Navy Blue is #000080, a cool blue color with dark and classic character. Compared with Dark Blue, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for branding, formal design, and interfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/navy-blue/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 11,
  "contrastRatio": 1.05,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 0,
    "saturation": 0,
    "lightness": 2
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.003,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [],
  "lighterColor": "Dark Blue",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Dark Blue"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Dark Blue",
      "background": "#00008B",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 15.31
    },
    {
      "color": "Navy Blue",
      "background": "#000080",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 16.01
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Dark Blue is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #00008B.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Navy Blue is better when the design needs dark and classic blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #000080.",
  "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
}

Related API

[
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/dark-blue-vs-navy-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "dark-blue-vs-navy-blue",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Dark Blue vs Navy Blue",
  "verdict": "Dark Blue and Navy Blue are very close colors. Dark Blue is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.05:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Dark Blue and Navy Blue are different blue colors with HEX values #00008B and #000080. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 11, their contrast ratio is 1.05:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 11,
  "contrastRatio": 1.05,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "dark-blue",
      "name": "Dark Blue",
      "hex": "#00008B",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        0,
        139
      ],
      "hsl": [
        240,
        100,
        27
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        100,
        0,
        45
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0186,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.37,
        "white": 15.31
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 15.31
      },
      "description": "Dark Blue is #00008B, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for web design, css color systems, and ui prototyping, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/dark-blue/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-blue.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "navy-blue",
      "name": "Navy Blue",
      "hex": "#000080",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        0,
        128
      ],
      "hsl": [
        240,
        100,
        25
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        100,
        0,
        50
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark",
        "classic"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0156,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.31,
        "white": 16.01
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 16.01
      },
      "description": "Navy Blue is #000080, a cool blue color with dark and classic character. Compared with Dark Blue, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for branding, formal design, and interfaces, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/navy-blue/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 11,
    "contrastRatio": 1.05,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 0,
      "saturation": 0,
      "lightness": 2
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.003,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [],
    "lighterColor": "Dark Blue",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Dark Blue"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.05,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Dark Blue",
        "background": "#00008B",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 15.31
      },
      {
        "color": "Navy Blue",
        "background": "#000080",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 16.01
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Dark Blue is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #00008B.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Navy Blue is better when the design needs dark and classic blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #000080.",
    "useTogetherWhen": "Use these colors together as related palette neighbors, subtle material differences, or tonal alternatives rather than readable foreground/background pairs."
  },
  "relatedApi": [
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/dark-blue-vs-navy-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/dark-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/dark-blue-vs-navy-blue/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/dark-blue-vs-navy-blue.json"
}