Portsmouth Blue Color

#5b7074

Portsmouth Blue is pale, cool-toned shade of mid cyan. It is better contrasting with white. This color combines beautifully with mid red, yellow green or mid magenta

Inverse Color #a48f8b
Complementary Color #745f5a
Color Shade: mid cyan (189.6° hue)
Color Temperature: cool
Lightness: 40.59% (better contrasting with white)
Portsmouth Blue Color Sample
Portsmouth Blue Color Sample

Better Alternatives To #5b7074

If you're looking for a similar mid cyan shade, there are some better alternatives to Portsmouth Blue Color. The Shadow Effect color for instance is a lighter and a bit more faded option, however this color has a warm cyan bias. Consider a lighter and more saturated alternative called Horizon (#648894) for more energetic effect. Try Urbanite as it also a bit more faded and calm.

Complementary Palette

#745f5a is the best complementary color to Portsmouth Blue. Mid red shades generally complement the mid cyan hues best as they are found on the opposite end of the color wheel. The most popular #5b7074 complementary color is Russett, as it offers maximum contrast and grab the viewer's attention.

Analogous Palette

The analogous palette of green cyan, mid cyan, and blue cyan colors offers a soft combination of similar cool shades. The analogous colors of Nevada are #5a746b and #5a6374. Thus found on the left and right of #5b7074 on the color wheel with a 30° gap. Consider matching Corduroy and Shuttle Gray colors as they work well with Portsmouth Blue.

Split-complementary Palette

The split-complementary Portsmouth Blue palette consists of #746b5a and #745a63 colors. They can be found 30° apart on either side of the complementary color (#745f5a). Try Crocodile and Falcon colors in combination with #5b7074, as they are not as contrasting as a complementary color, hence, giving more hue variety to make your design stand out.

Triadic Palette

The triadic palette of #5b7074 offers a combination of mid yellow and mid magenta shades and equally high contrast between the three of them. Find triadic colors at the 120° distance from the Portsmouth Blue. Thus Kokoda and Old Lavender giving maximum hue separation to use all three together.

Square Palette

The square color palette of Portsmouth Blue contains three additional colors. Thus, complementary Russett, Salt Box, and Willow Grove split by 90° on the color wheel. #5b7074 square combo is a palette of mid cyan, violet, mid red and yellow green shades that work together well.

Tetradic Palette

The tetradic palette is a bit more complex than the square and has more of a rectangle shape. Portsmouth Blue tetradic combo consists of mid red complementary color (#745f5a) and two others. The Old Lavender is positioned 120° clockwise from the primary color and Finlandia – 120° from the complementary Russett. This palette is not recommended to use as-is. Try to tweak the saturation and brightness of #745a6f and #5a745f.

Conversion Table

In a RGB color space, hex #5b7074 is made of 29% red, 35% green and 36% blue. In a HSL mode Portsmouth Blue has a hue angle of 189.6°, a saturation of 12.08% and a lightness of 40.59%. In a CMYK space (used in printing only), hex #5b7074 is made of 9.8% cyan, 1.57% magenta, 0% yellow and 54.51% black ink.

HEX #5b7074
RGB Decimal rgb(91,112,116)
RGB Percentage 29%, 35%, 36%
CMYK 9.8, 1.57, 0, 54.51
HSL hsl(189.6,12.08%,40.59%)
HSV (or HSB) hsv(189.6,21.55%,45.49%)
CIE-LAB lab(45.7346,-6.77,-4.7982)
XYZ xyz(13.2609,15.0734,18.7335)
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