Showa era
Lemon Yellow & Deep Slate Olive +1
Plate 189 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Lemon Yellow, Deep Slate Olive, Venice Green.
#253122
green · 10 palettes
Deep Slate Olive
About Deep Slate Olive
Deep Slate Olive is a deep, near-neutral green tone. Its hex value is #253122 — that is
RGB 37, 49, 34, or HSL 108°, 18%, 16%.
It holds 13.6:1 contrast against white, so Deep Slate Olive works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 13.6:1; on black 1.5:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Deep Slate Olive appears in 10 combinations — most often paired with Neutral Gray, Light Brown Drab and Sulpher Yellow.
Colours that go with Deep Slate Olive
From a standard colour wheel, Deep Slate Olive anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#253122 #2E2231
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#253122 #2D3122 #223127
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#253122 #222531 #312225
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#253122 #272231 #31222D
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Deep Slate Olive
Deep Slate Olive is a deep, muted tone (HSL 108°, 18%, 16%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (13.6:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#2E2231) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#2D3122 and #223127) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Studio
Taking Deep Slate Olive off the screen
A hex code is an instruction to a screen, not a colour. Where this one is going decides what it needs next.
Affiliate links — as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
-
...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Listed on Amazon as Pantone GP6102B Color Bridge Guide Set Coated & Uncoated, Multi-Colour
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...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
ColorChecker Studio spectrophotometer
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Studio Spectrophotometer for Complete Color Management for Display, Projector, Printer and Scanner Profiling
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...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 24 — Art Nouveau
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
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Palettes with Deep Slate Olive
Deep Slate Olive appears in 10 combinations from the archive. Each pairing reveals how the same color shifts character depending on its neighbours. For how usage like this compares across the whole dictionary, see the data analysis of all 348 plates.
Questions about Deep Slate Olive
- What is the hex code for Deep Slate Olive?
- Deep Slate Olive is #253122. It appears in 10 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Deep Slate Olive look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Deep Slate Olive (#253122) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 13.63:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 1.54:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Deep Slate Olive come from?
- Deep Slate Olive is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued green pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Deep Slate Olive in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#253122) are factual data — not copyrightable. Our curation and descriptions are CC BY 4.0 licensed.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 SVG plates (348 Wada + 30 editorial) — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
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