Showa era
Vandyke Red & Pale King's Blue
Plate 16 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Vandyke Red, Pale King's Blue.
#a7d4e4
blue · 9 palettes
Pale King's Blue
About Pale King's Blue
Pale King's Blue is a light, muted blue tone. Its hex value is #a7d4e4 — that is
RGB 167, 212, 228, or HSL 196°, 53%, 77%.
It holds 13.2:1 contrast against dark, so Pale King's Blue works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 1.6:1; on black 13.2:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Pale King's Blue appears in 9 combinations — most often paired with Vandyke Red, Blue and Sulpher Yellow.
Colours that go with Pale King's Blue
From a standard colour wheel, Pale King's Blue anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#a7d4e4 #E4B7A7
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#a7d4e4 #A7E4D6 #A7B5E4
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#a7d4e4 #E4A7D4 #D4E4A7
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#a7d4e4 #E4A7B5 #E4D6A7
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Pale King's Blue
Pale King's Blue is a light, muted tone (HSL 196°, 53%, 77%), which makes it a soft background or a light accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a dark background (13.2:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use dark lettering. Pair it with its complement (#E4B7A7) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#A7E4D6 and #A7B5E4) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Pale King's Blue
Pale King's Blue appears in 9 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.
From the archive
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