BLUES

Empire Blue

#5A90B3

RGB 90, 144, 179 · HSL 204°, 37%, 53% · CMYK 50, 20, 0, 30

Empire Blue is #5A90B3 in HEX — rgb(90, 144, 179), hsl(204°, 37%, 53%), cmyk(50%, 20%, 0%, 30%).

Empire Blue pulls into the mid-tone end of the blues spectrum — HSL 204°, 37%, 53%. The muted saturation makes it quiet but present, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices — for calm, focused environments. Reads best alongside warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware.

Color Codes

HEX#5A90B3

RGB90, 144, 179

HSL204°, 37%, 53%

HSV204°, 50%, 70%

CMYK50, 20, 0, 30

Decimal5935283

CSS RGBrgb(90, 144, 179)

CSS HSLhsl(204, 37%, 53%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Behr

Empire Blue MQ5-56

Exact match

Dulux

Scuba S36F4

ΔE 2.3 · #6395B7

PPG

Vanity 1157-5

ΔE 2.6 · #5692B2

Benjamin Moore

Lazy 803 · CC-846

ΔE 2.9 · #5F90B7

Dunn-Edwards

Blueberry Muffin DE5851

ΔE 3.1 · #5588AB

Valspar

Blue China 5001-8B

ΔE 3.9 · #5087A7

Vista Paint

Bird's Egg Blue K-138

ΔE 4.1 · #6198C0

Farrow & Ball

Cook's Blue 237

ΔE 4.6 · #6A90B4

Hallman-Lindsay

Heavenly Sky 618

ΔE 4.7 · #6B90B3

Kilz

Blue Eyed Beauty RD120-01

ΔE 6 · #4289A8

Sherwin-Williams

Jacaranda SW6802

ΔE 6 · #5A9EC0

IKEA

IKEA086 86

ΔE 8.2 · #748DAC

Kobra

Blue 29

ΔE 12.3 · #1882B4

Dutch Boy

Celestial Horizon DCP-0589

ΔE 13.7 · #8FA4BF

RAL

Light Blue 5012

ΔE 14.6 · #3B83BD

Colorhouse

Water .05 Water-05

ΔE 18.7 · #82979D

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

25/100

Medium

0 · DarkLight · 100

Balanced reflectance — holds colour without washing out. Versatile for most rooms and the most forgiving range for true-to-chip results.

Undertone

TemperatureCool MasstoneBlue UndertoneViolet

Reads as a cool blue with a violet undertone showing through, especially in daylight. Pair trim and adjacent colours to either calm or amplify that undertone.

Color Theory

Complementary

#5A90B3

#B37E5B

Analogous

#5BB3AB

#5A90B3

#5B64B3

Triadic

#5A90B3

#B35B90

#90B35B

Split-Complementary

#5A90B3

#B35B64

#B3AB5B

Tetradic

#5A90B3

#AB5BB3

#B37E5B

#64B35B

Monochromatic

#253F50

#3D6885

#5A90B3

#8FB3CC

#C4D7E4

Rectangle

#5A90B3

#7E5BB3

#B37E5B

#90B35B

Compound

#5A90B3

#5B64B3

#B37E5B

#B3AB5B

Variations

Lighter

#7CA6C3

#A0BCCE

#CAD7E0

Darker

#427596

#2C5069

#192F3E

Saturation

#7A8A94

#5B90B3

#3598D9

Interior Use

Best Rooms

bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices

Best Uses

main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry

Pairs With

warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

3.46:1

AA Large

vs Black

6.07:1

Deuteranopia

#5A90B3

#7585B4

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#5A90B3

#8989AF

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#5A90B3

#569690

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Focused · Cooling

Empire Blue lowers the temperature of a room — useful in south-facing rooms that overheat visually, and in home offices where you want a clear head. Pair with warm wood and brass to keep it from reading clinical.

SymbolismTrust, depth, stability

PersonalityClear-headed, dependable, contemplative

focustrustcalmofficebedroomdepth

How it looks under different light

#8399A1

Warm Bulb 2700K

Incandescent / soft white LED — pulls colour toward yellow/amber.

#5A90B3

Daylight 5500K

Midday natural light or daylight-spec LED — closest to the paint chip.

#709EC6

Cool Bulb 6500K

Cool white LED / overcast daylight — pulls colour toward blue.

Pairs With

#E9EBEC

Trim

Matched off-white

Same hue at 92% lightness — trim reads coordinated, not stark.

#F7F7F8

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#976C4F

Accent

Complementary punch

Hue +180°, slightly muted for paint vs. screen — use on a door, frame, or single piece.

#574738

Floor

Walnut neutral

Warm mid-brown grounds the scheme regardless of hero hue.

Paint Info

Brand · Product Line

Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior

Recommended Finishes

Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)

Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Cabinetry · Trim · Soft furniture

Coverage & Dry Time

Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.

Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.

Primer

Standard primer is adequate.

Application Tip

Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.

Paint Calculator

Wall area (m²)

Coats

Coverage (m² / L)

You'll need

4.0 litres

1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.

Code Snippets

CSS — color

color: #5A90B3;

CSS — background

background-color: #5A90B3;

CSS Variable

--color-empire-blue: #5A90B3;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'empire-blue': '#5A90B3' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#5A90B3] text-[#5A90B3]

SCSS

$empire-blue: #5A90B3;

Similar Colors

Lazy Sunday

#5E8FB6 · ΔE 2.9

Poolside

#5394B4 · ΔE 3.7

Sailor's Sea Blue

#4A93BE · ΔE 5.6

Blue Daisy

#548DA7 · ΔE 5.7

Electric Blue

#3E90B8 · ΔE 6.1

Mariner's Tale

#6B8DB3 · ΔE 6.1

Finley Blue

#4580A8 · ΔE 7.0

Blue Nose

#63879F · ΔE 7.8

Built by DSGN.HOUSE Updated 2026

Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.

Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #5A90B3?

#5A90B3 is Empire Blue, a mid-tone blue with a cool undertone.

Is #5A90B3 warm or cool?

Empire Blue reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Empire Blue?

Empire Blue works well in bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices. Designers typically use it for main walls, ceilings, trim, cabinetry.

What colors pair well with Empire Blue?

Empire Blue pairs naturally with warm white trim, oak or walnut, brass or matte black hardware. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Empire Blue?

You can download Empire Blue on DSGN.HOUSE in 15 designer formats including CSS gradient, Figma, Procreate swatches, Tailwind config, Adobe ASE, SVG, and 4K wallpapers — all free.

What's the hex code for Empire Blue?

The hex code is #5A90B3. In RGB it's 90, 144, 179, and in HSL it's 204°, 37%, 53%.

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