Nearest-color comparison

Ocean Blue vs Cerulean

Ocean Blue and Cerulean are different blue colors with HEX values #0077BE and #007BA7. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 23.3, their contrast ratio is 1:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

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

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Ocean Blue#0077BE

Cerulean#007BA7

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance23.3

Pair contrast1:1

Luminance delta0.0005

Hue delta6 deg

Lighter colorCerulean

More saturatedOcean Blue

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Ocean Blue

Ocean Blue is #0077BE, a cool blue color with vibrant and jewel tone character. Compared with Cerulean, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#0077BE RGB0, 119, 190 HSL202, 100, 37 CMYK100, 37, 0, 25 Luminance0.1691 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

blue color

Cerulean

Cerulean is #007BA7, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Ocean Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#007BA7 RGB0, 123, 167 HSL196, 100, 33 CMYK100, 26, 0, 35 Luminance0.1696 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Ocean Blue or Cerulean

Choose Ocean BlueOcean Blue is better when the design needs vibrant and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #0077BE.

Choose CeruleanCerulean is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #007BA7.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyOcean BlueCerulean

HEX#0077BE#007BA7

RGB0, 119, 1900, 123, 167

HSL202, 100, 37196, 100, 33

CMYK100, 37, 0, 25100, 26, 0, 35

FamilyBlueBlue

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneVibrant, Jewel ToneJewel Tone

Luminance0.16910.1696

Black contrast4.38:14.39:1

White contrast4.79:14.78:1

Shared tonesJewel Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Ocean Bluewhite text - 4.79:1

Ceruleanwhite text - 4.78:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Ocean Blue#0077BE

Cerulean#007BA7

#1AABFF#1AABFF

#05BCFF#05BCFF

#BD4500#BD4500

#A82D00#A82D00

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": "ocean-blue",
    "name": "Ocean Blue",
    "hex": "#0077BE",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      119,
      190
    ],
    "hsl": [
      202,
      100,
      37
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      37,
      0,
      25
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "vibrant",
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1691,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.38,
      "white": 4.79
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.79
    },
    "description": "Ocean Blue is #0077BE, a cool blue color with vibrant and jewel tone character. Compared with Cerulean, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/ocean-blue/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ocean-blue.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "cerulean",
    "name": "Cerulean",
    "hex": "#007BA7",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      123,
      167
    ],
    "hsl": [
      196,
      100,
      33
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      26,
      0,
      35
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.1696,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 4.39,
      "white": 4.78
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF"
      ],
      "AAA": []
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.78
    },
    "description": "Cerulean is #007BA7, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Ocean Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/cerulean/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cerulean.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 23.3,
  "contrastRatio": 1,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 6,
    "saturation": 0,
    "lightness": 4
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0005,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "jewel-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Cerulean",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Ocean Blue"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Ocean Blue",
      "background": "#0077BE",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.79
    },
    {
      "color": "Cerulean",
      "background": "#007BA7",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 4.78
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Ocean Blue is better when the design needs vibrant and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #0077BE.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Cerulean is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #007BA7.",
  "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/ocean-blue-vs-cerulean.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ocean-blue.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cerulean.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "ocean-blue-vs-cerulean",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Ocean Blue vs Cerulean",
  "verdict": "Ocean Blue and Cerulean are very close colors. Cerulean is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Ocean Blue and Cerulean are different blue colors with HEX values #0077BE and #007BA7. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 23.3, their contrast ratio is 1:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 23.3,
  "contrastRatio": 1,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "ocean-blue",
      "name": "Ocean Blue",
      "hex": "#0077BE",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        119,
        190
      ],
      "hsl": [
        202,
        100,
        37
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        37,
        0,
        25
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "vibrant",
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1691,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.38,
        "white": 4.79
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.79
      },
      "description": "Ocean Blue is #0077BE, a cool blue color with vibrant and jewel tone character. Compared with Cerulean, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/ocean-blue/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ocean-blue.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "cerulean",
      "name": "Cerulean",
      "hex": "#007BA7",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        123,
        167
      ],
      "hsl": [
        196,
        100,
        33
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        26,
        0,
        35
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.1696,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 4.39,
        "white": 4.78
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF"
        ],
        "AAA": []
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.78
      },
      "description": "Cerulean is #007BA7, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Ocean Blue, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/cerulean/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cerulean.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 23.3,
    "contrastRatio": 1,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 6,
      "saturation": 0,
      "lightness": 4
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0005,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Cerulean",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Ocean Blue"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Ocean Blue",
        "background": "#0077BE",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.79
      },
      {
        "color": "Cerulean",
        "background": "#007BA7",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 4.78
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Ocean Blue is better when the design needs vibrant and jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #0077BE.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Cerulean is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #007BA7.",
    "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/ocean-blue-vs-cerulean.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/ocean-blue.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/cerulean.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/ocean-blue-vs-cerulean/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/ocean-blue-vs-cerulean.json"
}