Nearest-color comparison

Zaffre vs Smalt

Zaffre #0014A8 vs Smalt #003399: RGB distance 34.4 and contrast 1.16:1. Compare hue, luminance, saturation, WCAG and practical use.

Zaffre and Smalt are related but distinguishable, with an RGB distance of 34.4. Smalt is lighter by 0.0134, and their saturation is equal. Their mutual contrast is 1.16:1. The pair is too close for a readable foreground/background combination and works better as neighboring palette colors.

Differences Use cases Accessibility JSON

Zaffre#0014A8

Smalt#003399

Quick Difference Summary

The main measurable differences between Zaffre and Smalt across RGB distance, luminance, hue, saturation, and contrast.

RGB distance34.4

Pair contrast1.16:1

Luminance delta0.0134

Hue delta13 deg

Lighter colorSmalt

More saturatedZaffre

Side-by-Side Color Profiles

blue color

Zaffre

Zaffre is #0014A8, a cool blue with hue 233°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.0333. Beside Smalt, it is darker and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 12.61:1.

HEX#0014A8 RGB0, 20, 168 HSL233, 100, 33 CMYK100, 88, 0, 34 Luminance0.0333 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

blue color

Smalt

Smalt is #003399, a cool blue with hue 220°, saturation 100% and luminance 0.0467. Beside Zaffre, it is lighter and equally saturated. Of the two standard text choices, white text gives the higher contrast at 10.86:1.

HEX#003399 RGB0, 51, 153 HSL220, 100, 30 CMYK100, 67, 0, 40 Luminance0.0467 Best textwhite text

Color page WCAG HEX atlas

When to Use Zaffre or Smalt

Choose ZaffreChoose Zaffre when the design calls for jewel tone blue color at #0014A8, with cool temperature and 33% HSL lightness.

Choose SmaltChoose Smalt when #003399, its jewel tone blue character, or its 30% HSL lightness is the closer match.

Use togetherTreat them as tonal alternatives or adjacent palette steps, not as text and background. Their contrast is only 1.16:1. They share jewel tone tone characteristics.

Technical Comparison Table

PropertyZaffreSmalt

HEX#0014A8#003399

RGB0, 20, 1680, 51, 153

HSL233, 100, 33220, 100, 30

CMYK100, 88, 0, 34100, 67, 0, 40

FamilyBlueBlue

TemperatureCoolCool

ToneJewel ToneJewel Tone

Luminance0.03330.0467

Black contrast1.67:11.93:1

White contrast12.61:110.86:1

Shared tonesJewel Tone

Accessibility and Contrast

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

Zaffrewhite text - 12.61:1

Smaltwhite text - 10.86:1

Downloadable color comparison infographic

Zaffre vs Smalt Color Comparison Infographic

Save a high-resolution comparison infographic with both HEX colors, visual distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance.

1200 × 800

Zaffre vs Smalt color comparison infographic showing both HEX colors, RGB and HSL values, color distance, mutual contrast, and accessibility guidance. — Zaffre vs Smalt color comparison infographic generated from the canonical dataset values shown on this page.

Download WebP Download SVG Open full size

Related Palette Strip

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

Zaffre#0014A8

Smalt#003399

#0522FF#0522FF

#0052F5#0052F5

#A89500#A89500

#996600#996600

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": "zaffre",
    "name": "Zaffre",
    "hex": "#0014A8",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      20,
      168
    ],
    "hsl": [
      233,
      100,
      33
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      88,
      0,
      34
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0333,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.67,
      "white": 12.61
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 12.61
    },
    "description": "Zaffre is #0014A8, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Smalt, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/zaffre/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/zaffre.json"
  },
  {
    "slug": "smalt",
    "name": "Smalt",
    "hex": "#003399",
    "rgb": [
      0,
      51,
      153
    ],
    "hsl": [
      220,
      100,
      30
    ],
    "cmyk": [
      100,
      67,
      0,
      40
    ],
    "family": "blue",
    "temperature": "cool",
    "tone": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "luminance": 0.0467,
    "contrast": {
      "black": 1.93,
      "white": 10.86
    },
    "wcag": {
      "AA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ],
      "AAA": [
        "#FFFFFF",
        "#F5F5F5"
      ]
    },
    "bestText": {
      "text": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 10.86
    },
    "description": "Smalt is #003399, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Zaffre, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
    "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/smalt/",
    "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/smalt.json"
  }
]

Differences

{
  "rgbDistance": 34.4,
  "contrastRatio": 1.16,
  "hslDelta": {
    "hue": 13,
    "saturation": 0,
    "lightness": 3
  },
  "luminanceDelta": 0.0134,
  "sameFamily": true,
  "sameTemperature": true,
  "sharedTones": [
    "jewel-tone"
  ],
  "lighterColor": "Smalt",
  "moreSaturatedColor": "Zaffre"
}

Accessibility

{
  "pairContrastRatio": 1.16,
  "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
  "safeText": [
    {
      "color": "Zaffre",
      "background": "#0014A8",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 12.61
    },
    {
      "color": "Smalt",
      "background": "#003399",
      "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
      "label": "white text",
      "ratio": 10.86
    }
  ]
}

Use cases

{
  "chooseFirstWhen": "Zaffre is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #0014A8.",
  "chooseSecondWhen": "Smalt is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #003399.",
  "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/zaffre-vs-smalt.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/zaffre.json",
  "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/smalt.json"
]

Full JSON dataset

{
  "datasetVersion": "1.0.0",
  "slug": "zaffre-vs-smalt",
  "type": "nearest",
  "name": "Zaffre vs Smalt",
  "verdict": "Zaffre and Smalt are visually related colors. Smalt is the lighter option. They share similar temperature behavior. Their mutual contrast is 1.16:1, so the pair is too low for text and better treated as a palette relationship.",
  "summary": "Zaffre and Smalt are different blue colors with HEX values #0014A8 and #003399. According to Colors Encyclopedia, their RGB distance is 34.4, their contrast ratio is 1.16:1, and the comparison helps choose between tone, temperature, and accessibility behavior.",
  "rgbDistance": 34.4,
  "contrastRatio": 1.16,
  "colors": [
    {
      "slug": "zaffre",
      "name": "Zaffre",
      "hex": "#0014A8",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        20,
        168
      ],
      "hsl": [
        233,
        100,
        33
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        88,
        0,
        34
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0333,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.67,
        "white": 12.61
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 12.61
      },
      "description": "Zaffre is #0014A8, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Smalt, it is darker and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/zaffre/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/zaffre.json"
    },
    {
      "slug": "smalt",
      "name": "Smalt",
      "hex": "#003399",
      "rgb": [
        0,
        51,
        153
      ],
      "hsl": [
        220,
        100,
        30
      ],
      "cmyk": [
        100,
        67,
        0,
        40
      ],
      "family": "blue",
      "temperature": "cool",
      "tone": [
        "jewel-tone"
      ],
      "luminance": 0.0467,
      "contrast": {
        "black": 1.93,
        "white": 10.86
      },
      "wcag": {
        "AA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ],
        "AAA": [
          "#FFFFFF",
          "#F5F5F5"
        ]
      },
      "bestText": {
        "text": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 10.86
      },
      "description": "Smalt is #003399, a cool blue color with jewel tone character. Compared with Zaffre, it is lighter and similar in saturation. Use it for historical references, pigment palettes, and cultural color systems, with white text as the safer foreground option.",
      "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/colors/smalt/",
      "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/smalt.json"
    }
  ],
  "differences": {
    "rgbDistance": 34.4,
    "contrastRatio": 1.16,
    "hslDelta": {
      "hue": 13,
      "saturation": 0,
      "lightness": 3
    },
    "luminanceDelta": 0.0134,
    "sameFamily": true,
    "sameTemperature": true,
    "sharedTones": [
      "jewel-tone"
    ],
    "lighterColor": "Smalt",
    "moreSaturatedColor": "Zaffre"
  },
  "accessibility": {
    "pairContrastRatio": 1.16,
    "textRecommendation": "Do not use this pair for text; use it for neighboring palette colors, decoration, or low-emphasis surfaces.",
    "safeText": [
      {
        "color": "Zaffre",
        "background": "#0014A8",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 12.61
      },
      {
        "color": "Smalt",
        "background": "#003399",
        "foreground": "#FFFFFF",
        "label": "white text",
        "ratio": 10.86
      }
    ]
  },
  "useCases": {
    "chooseFirstWhen": "Zaffre is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #0014A8.",
    "chooseSecondWhen": "Smalt is better when the design needs jewel tone blue character, cool temperature, and the specific HEX value #003399.",
    "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/zaffre-vs-smalt.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/zaffre.json",
    "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/colors/smalt.json"
  ],
  "url": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/compare/zaffre-vs-smalt/",
  "apiUrl": "https://www.colorsencyclopedia.com/api/compare/zaffre-vs-smalt.json"
}