Color comparison

Navy Blue vs Midnight Blue

Navy Blue and Midnight Blue are different blue colors with HEX values #000080 and #191970. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 38.8, their contrast ratio is 1.08:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Navy Blue and Midnight Blue are visually related colors. Midnight Blue is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.08:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Navy Blue#000080

Midnight Blue#191970

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance38.8

Pair contrast1.08:1

Luminance delta0.0051

Hue delta0 deg

Lighter colorMidnight Blue

More saturatedNavy Blue

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Navy Blue

Navy Blue is #000080, a cool blue color with dark and classic character. Compared with Midnight Blue, it is darker and more saturated. 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

blue color

Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue is #191970, a cool blue color with dark and jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for luxury branding, night themes, and editorial design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#191970 RGB25, 25, 112 HSL240, 64, 27 CMYK78, 78, 0, 56 Luminance0.0207 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Navy Blue or Midnight Blue

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

Choose Midnight BlueMidnight Blue is better when the design needs dark and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #191970.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyNavy BlueMidnight Blue

HEX#000080#191970

RGB0, 0, 12825, 25, 112

HSL240, 100, 25240, 64, 27

CMYK100, 100, 0, 5078, 78, 0, 56

FamilyBlueBlue

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneDark, ClassicDark, Jewel Tone

Luminance0.01560.0207

Black contrast1.31:11.41:1

White contrast16.01:114.85:1

Shared tonesDark

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Navy Bluewhite text - 16.01:1

Midnight Bluewhite text - 14.85:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Navy Blue#000080

Midnight Blue#191970

#0000DB#0000DB

#2929BC#2929BC

#7F8000#7F8000

#717119#717119

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": "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 Midnight Blue, it is darker and more saturated. 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"
  },
  {
    "slug": "midnight-blue",
    "name": "Midnight Blue",
    "hex": "#191970",
    "rgb": [
      25,
      25,
      112
    ],
    "hsl": [
      240,
      64,
      27
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      78,
      78,
      0,
      56
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "dark",
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0207,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.41,
      "white": 14.85
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 14.85
    },
    "description": "Midnight Blue is #191970, a cool blue color with dark and jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for luxury branding, night themes, and editorial design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/midnight-blue/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/midnight-blue.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 38.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.08,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 0,
    "saturation": 36,
    "lightness": 2
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0051,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "dark"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Midnight Blue",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Navy Blue"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.08,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Navy Blue",
      "background": "#000080",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 16.01
    },
    {
      "color": "Midnight Blue",
      "background": "#191970",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 14.85
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Navy Blue is better when the design needs dark and classic blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #000080.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Midnight Blue is better when the design needs dark and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #191970.",
  "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/navy-blue-vs-midnight-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/midnight-blue.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "navy-blue-vs-midnight-blue",
  "type": "curated",
  "name": "Navy Blue vs Midnight Blue",
  "verdict": "Navy Blue and Midnight Blue are visually related colors. Midnight Blue is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.08:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Navy Blue and Midnight Blue are different blue colors with HEX values #000080 and #191970. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 38.8, their contrast ratio is 1.08:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 38.8,
  "contrastRatio": 1.08,
  "colors": [
    {
      "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 Midnight Blue, it is darker and more saturated. 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"
    },
    {
      "slug": "midnight-blue",
      "name": "Midnight Blue",
      "hex": "#191970",
      "rgb": [
        25,
        25,
        112
      ],
      "hsl": [
        240,
        64,
        27
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        78,
        78,
        0,
        56
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark",
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0207,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.41,
        "white": 14.85
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 14.85
      },
      "description": "Midnight Blue is #191970, a cool blue color with dark and jewel tone character. Compared with Navy Blue, it is lighter and less saturated. Use it for luxury branding, night themes, and editorial design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/midnight-blue/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/midnight-blue.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 38.8,
    "contrastRatio": 1.08,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 0,
      "saturation": 36,
      "lightness": 2
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0051,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "dark"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Midnight Blue",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Navy Blue"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.08,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Navy Blue",
        "background": "#000080",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 16.01
      },
      {
        "color": "Midnight Blue",
        "background": "#191970",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 14.85
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Navy Blue is better when the design needs dark and classic blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #000080.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Midnight Blue is better when the design needs dark and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #191970.",
    "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/navy-blue-vs-midnight-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/navy-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/midnight-blue.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/navy-blue-vs-midnight-blue/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/navy-blue-vs-midnight-blue.json"
}