The description of the color Steel blue
Table of Contents
Blue with a shade of black or grey
Steel blue is a shade of the color blue. Usually a blue with reduced chroma. It is a blue with a more or less increased proportion of black or gray and is therefore usually considered as blue-gray color. The term Steel blue goes back to the fact that the hue has a similarity with the color of the heated and tarnished steel.
Definitions of Steel blue
The designated web color Steelblue
Steel blue was recorded in 1987 as a named color in the color list of the X window system. Since the establishment of the World Wide Web, Steel blue is a named web color with the CSS-designation Steelblue.
Color coordinates
Hex: #4682b4 sRGB: 70, 130,180 HLC: 256, 52,34 CMYK: 61, 28, 0, 29 HSV: 207°, 61%, 71%
The RAL classic tint Steel blue
In the color catalog of RAL classic, Steel blue is a defined color. It has the number 5011. Steel blue in the RAL classic color catalog differs in its shade from the named web color.
Color coordinates
Hex: #282f41 sRGB: 40, 47,65 HLC: 273, 19, 13 CMYK: 3, 28, 0, 86 HSV: 223°, 38%, 25%
The color range
The color name is found also in the hue fans of several paint manufacturers. The tints listed there under the name Steel blue differ in their color values, as well as by the named web color. Therefor, Steel blue doesn't refer to single color tone defined by measured values, but to a series of color nuances in the blue-gray color range.
Figure 1: The hue range of Steel blue. For representing, accordingly named shades from different paint or colorant manufacturers served as source material.
Colorants and pigments
Steel blue (and iron blue) is a common name for pigments and colorants, of which the production is based on the use of iron(II,III), such as Prussian blue, Berlin blue, or Paris blue. The trade name of a certain type of Prussian blue was also Steel blue. 1
Scientific use
In the sciences, the term for Steel blue is chalybeus. Usually the term is used as a particularistic additive to a generic term.
A color scheme with Steel blue
Web links
References
- Joseph A. Sisteno: Feriferrocyanide Pigments. In: Temple C. Button: Pigment Handbook. Volume I, I-C-d