Navy blue emerged through its connection to the British Royal Navy's uniforms in the 18th century, and is now a cornerstone of professional and military attire worldwide. Modern psychology associates navy blue with trustworthiness, stability, and confidence—and its balance between the depth of darkness and the vibrancy of blue creates an aura of dependability that resonates across diverse contexts, including corporate identities and formal wear.
In digital design, navy blue is precisely defined by the hexadecimal code #001F3F, though variations can range depending on desired depth and brightness. The RGB values typically fall around R:0, G:0, B:128, creating this deep blue through careful manipulation of blue light with minimal red and green components. Professional printing relies on CMYK values approximately at C:100%, M:98%, Y:0%, K:50%, though these may be adjusted based on specific printing requirements and paper types. Navy blue maintains excellent readability when used as a background for light text, scoring high on accessibility tests with proper contrast ratios.
Other related colors to navy blue: