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.
Studio
Taking Pale King's Blue 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.
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...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
See price on Amazon -
...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.
Pentel
Fude Touch brush sign pen
Listed on Amazon as Pentel Fude Touch Sign Pen, Black, Felt Pen Like Brush Stroke (SES15C-A) 3 Pieces
See price on Amazon
Amazon Associates affiliate links — your price is unchanged and a small commission keeps the archive free. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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.
Questions about Pale King's Blue
- What is the hex code for Pale King's Blue?
- Pale King's Blue is #a7d4e4. It appears in 9 historical color combinations from Sanzo Wada's 1933 "A Dictionary of Color Combinations".
- What does Pale King's Blue look like on white and black backgrounds?
- Pale King's Blue (#a7d4e4) has a WCAG contrast ratio of 1.59:1 against white (#FFFFFF) and 13.18:1 against black (#000000). WCAG AA requires 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text.
- Where does the color Pale King's Blue come from?
- Pale King's Blue is documented in Sanzo Wada's "A Dictionary of Color Combinations" (1933, Seigensha Art Publishing 2010 reprint). Wada catalogued blue pigments and historical Japanese color terms. The source work is in the public domain.
- Can I use Pale King's Blue in my own design or brand?
- Yes. The color name and hex value (#a7d4e4) 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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