Nearest-color comparison

Slate Navy vs Charcoal

Slate Navy and Charcoal are different blue and gray colors with HEX values #30475E and #36454F. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 16.3, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.

Slate Navy and Charcoal are very close colors. Slate Navy is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Slate Navy#30475E

Charcoal#36454F

Quick Difference Summary

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

RGB distance16.3

Pair contrast1.03:1

Luminance delta0.0033

Hue delta6 deg

Lighter colorSlate Navy

More saturatedSlate Navy

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Slate Navy

Slate Navy is #30475E, a cool blue color with balanced character. Compared with Charcoal, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#30475E RGB48, 71, 94 HSL210, 32, 28 CMYK49, 24, 0, 63 Luminance0.0594 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

gray color

Charcoal

Charcoal is #36454F, a cool gray color with dark and neutral character. Compared with Slate Navy, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for text, ui surfaces, and minimal branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.

HEX#36454F RGB54, 69, 79 HSL204, 19, 26 CMYK32, 13, 0, 69 Luminance0.0561 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Slate Navy or Charcoal

Choose Slate NavySlate Navy is better when the design needs balanced blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #30475E.

Choose CharcoalCharcoal is better when the design needs dark and neutral gray character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #36454F.

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

Technical Comparison Table

PropertySlate NavyCharcoal

HEX#30475E#36454F

RGB48, 71, 9454, 69, 79

HSL210, 32, 28204, 19, 26

CMYK49, 24, 0, 6332, 13, 0, 69

FamilyBlueGray

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneBalancedDark, Neutral

Luminance0.05940.0561

Black contrast2.19:12.12:1

White contrast9.6:19.9:1

Shared tonesNone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Slate Navywhite text - 9.6:1

Charcoalwhite text - 9.9:1

Related Palette Strip

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

Slate Navy#30475E

Charcoal#36454F

#50759B#50759B

#5B7486#5B7486

#5E4731#5E4731

#4F4036#4F4036

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": "slate-navy",
    "name": "Slate Navy",
    "hex": "#30475E",
    "rgb": [
      48,
      71,
      94
    ],
    "hsl": [
      210,
      32,
      28
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      49,
      24,
      0,
      63
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "balanced"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0594,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.19,
      "white": 9.6
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 9.6
    },
    "description": "Slate Navy is #30475E, a cool blue color with balanced character. Compared with Charcoal, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/slate-navy/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/slate-navy.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "charcoal",
    "name": "Charcoal",
    "hex": "#36454F",
    "rgb": [
      54,
      69,
      79
    ],
    "hsl": [
      204,
      19,
      26
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      32,
      13,
      0,
      69
    ],
    "family": "gray",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "dark",
      "neutral"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0561,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 2.12,
      "white": 9.9
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 9.9
    },
    "description": "Charcoal is #36454F, a cool gray color with dark and neutral character. Compared with Slate Navy, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for text, ui surfaces, and minimal branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/charcoal/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 16.3,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 6,
    "saturation": 13,
    "lightness": 2
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0033,
  "sameFamily": false,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [],
  "lighterColor": "Slate Navy",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Slate Navy"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Slate Navy",
      "background": "#30475E",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 9.6
    },
    {
      "color": "Charcoal",
      "background": "#36454F",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 9.9
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Slate Navy is better when the design needs balanced blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #30475E.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Charcoal is better when the design needs dark and neutral gray character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #36454F.",
  "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/slate-navy-vs-charcoal.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/slate-navy.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "slate-navy-vs-charcoal",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Slate Navy vs Charcoal",
  "verdict": "Slate Navy and Charcoal are very close colors. Slate Navy is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.03:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Slate Navy and Charcoal are different blue and gray colors with HEX values #30475E and #36454F. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 16.3, their contrast ratio is 1.03:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 16.3,
  "contrastRatio": 1.03,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "slate-navy",
      "name": "Slate Navy",
      "hex": "#30475E",
      "rgb": [
        48,
        71,
        94
      ],
      "hsl": [
        210,
        32,
        28
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        49,
        24,
        0,
        63
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "balanced"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0594,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.19,
        "white": 9.6
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 9.6
      },
      "description": "Slate Navy is #30475E, a cool blue color with balanced character. Compared with Charcoal, it is lighter and more saturated. Use it for interfaces, brand systems, and technical design, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/slate-navy/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/slate-navy.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "charcoal",
      "name": "Charcoal",
      "hex": "#36454F",
      "rgb": [
        54,
        69,
        79
      ],
      "hsl": [
        204,
        19,
        26
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        32,
        13,
        0,
        69
      ],
      "family": "gray",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "dark",
        "neutral"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0561,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 2.12,
        "white": 9.9
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 9.9
      },
      "description": "Charcoal is #36454F, a cool gray color with dark and neutral character. Compared with Slate Navy, it is darker and less saturated. Use it for text, ui surfaces, and minimal branding, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/charcoal/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 16.3,
    "contrastRatio": 1.03,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 6,
      "saturation": 13,
      "lightness": 2
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0033,
    "sameFamily": false,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [],
    "lighterColor": "Slate Navy",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Slate Navy"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.03,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Slate Navy",
        "background": "#30475E",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 9.6
      },
      {
        "color": "Charcoal",
        "background": "#36454F",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 9.9
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Slate Navy is better when the design needs balanced blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #30475E.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Charcoal is better when the design needs dark and neutral gray character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #36454F.",
    "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/slate-navy-vs-charcoal.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/slate-navy.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/charcoal.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/slate-navy-vs-charcoal/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/slate-navy-vs-charcoal.json"
}