Cerulean is calm, cool-toned shade of cool cyan. It is better contrasting with white. This color combines beautifully with warm red, warm green or warm magenta
| Inverse Color | #a51 |
| Complementary Color | #ee9854 |
| Color Shade: | cool cyan (206.67° hue) |
| Color Temperature: | cool |
| Lightness: | 63.33% (better contrasting with white) |
If you're looking for a similar cool cyan shade, there are some better alternatives to Cerulean Color. The United Nations Blue color for instance is a darker and a bit more faded option, however this color has a mid cyan bias. Consider a lighter and more saturated alternative called Malibu (#7dc8f7) for more energetic effect. Try The Oregon Blue as it also a bit more faded and calm.
#ee9854 is the best complementary color to Cerulean. Warm red shades generally complement the cool cyan hues best as they are found on the opposite end of the color wheel. The most popular #5ae complementary color is Sandy brown, as it offers maximum contrast and grab the viewer's attention.
The analogous palette of warm cyan, cool cyan, and cool blue colors offers a soft combination of similar cool shades. The analogous colors of White are #54eee5 and #545dee. Thus found on the left and right of #5ae on the color wheel with a 30° gap. Consider matching Turquoise Blue and Royal Blue colors as they work well with Cerulean.
The split-complementary Cerulean palette consists of #eee554 and #ee545d colors. They can be found 30° apart on either side of the complementary color (#ee9854). Try Confetti and Burnt Sienna colors in combination with #5ae, as they are not as contrasting as a complementary color, hence, giving more hue variety to make your design stand out.
The triadic palette of #5ae offers a combination of cool yellow and warm magenta shades and equally high contrast between the three of them. Find triadic colors at the 120° distance from the Cerulean. Thus Conifer and Brilliant Rose giving maximum hue separation to use all three together.
The square color palette of Cerulean contains three additional colors. Thus, complementary Sandy brown, Heliotrope, and Screamin' Green split by 90° on the color wheel. #5ae square combo is a palette of cool cyan, cool magenta, warm red and warm green shades that work together well.
The tetradic palette is a bit more complex than the square and has more of a rectangle shape. Cerulean tetradic combo consists of warm red complementary color (#ee9854) and two others. The Brilliant Rose is positioned 120° clockwise from the primary color and Screamin' Green – 120° from the complementary Sandy brown. This palette is not recommended to use as-is. Try to tweak the saturation and brightness of #ee54aa and #54ee98.
In a RGB color space, hex #55aaee is made of 17% red, 34% green and 48% blue. In a HSL mode Cerulean has a hue angle of 206.67°, a saturation of 81.82% and a lightness of 63.33%. In a CMYK space (used in printing only), hex #55aaee is made of 60% cyan, 26.66% magenta, 0% yellow and 6.67% black ink.
| HEX | #55aaee |
| RGB Decimal | rgb(85,170,238) |
| RGB Percentage | 17%, 34%, 48% |
| CMYK | 60, 26.66, 0, 6.67 |
| HSL | hsl(206.67,81.82%,63.33%) |
| HSV (or HSB) | hsv(206.67,64.29%,93.33%) |
| CIE-LAB | lab(67.1672,-5.1032,-41.6499) |
| XYZ | xyz(33.5537,36.8538,86.2339) |