Colours

Our colours

Oxford blue is the key colour for the University, which is recognised worldwide as our identifying colour.

Please note that the CMYK value for Oxford blue has been updated to match more closely with the RBG equivalent. You don’t need to change anything retrospectively, but you should use these new values going forward.

Oxford blue

oxford blue

 

 

 

RGB 0, 33, 71
CMYK 100, 87, 42, 51
#002147
Pantone 282

We also have a range of secondary and neutral colours in our supporting colour palette to complement Oxford blue. 

 

oxford mauve

Oxford mauve
RGB 119, 104, 133
CMYK 58, 60, 27, 10
#776885
Pantone: 667C

oxford peach

Oxford peach
RGB 224, 141, 121
CMYK 2, 58, 51, 0
#E08D79
Pantone: 4051C

oxford potters pink

Oxford potters pink
RGB 237, 147, 144
CMYK 0, 57, 34, 0
#ED9390
Pantone: 2339C

 

 

oxford lilac

Oxford dusk
RGB 196, 162, 158
CMYK 20, 40, 31, 5
#C4A29E
Pantone: 6030C

oxford lilac

Oxford lilac
RGB 209, 189, 213
CMYK 18, 30, 4, 0
#D1BDD5
Pantone: 524C

 

 

 

oxford sienna

Oxford sienna
RGB 153, 70, 54
CMYK 25, 82, 80, 19
#994636
Pantone: 4036C

oxford ccb red

Oxford Red
RGB 190, 15, 52
CMYK 18, 100, 74, 8
#AA1A2D
Pantone: 187C

oxford plum

Oxford plum
RGB 127, 5, 95
CMYK 48, 100, 19, 15
#7F055F
Pantone: 2425C

oxford coral

Oxford coral
RGB 254, 97, 90
CMYK 0, 79, 56, 0
#FE615A
Pantone: 178C

 

oxford lavender

Oxford lavender
RGB 212, 205, 244
CMYK 19, 22, 0, 0
#D4CDF4
Pantone: 2635C

oxford orange

Oxford orange
RGB 251, 86, 7
CMYK 0, 76, 95, 0
#FB5607
Pantone: 1655C

oxford pink

Oxford pink
RGB 230, 0, 126
CMYK 0, 100, 0, 0
#E6007E
Pantone: 2385C

 

 

oxford green

Oxford green
RGB 66, 106, 90
CMYK 79, 35, 64, 26
#426A5A
Pantone: 5545C

oxford ocean grey

Oxford ocean grey
RGB 120, 158, 158
CMYK 61, 22, 37, 4
#789E9E
Pantone: 2211C

oxford yellow ochre

Oxford yellow ochre
RGB 226, 192, 68
CMYK 10, 23, 93, 1
#E2C044
Pantone: 4016C

 

 

oxford cool grey

Oxford cool grey
RGB 228, 240, 239
CMYK 15, 0, 8, 0
#E4F0EF
Pantone: 7541C

oxford sky blue

Oxford sky blue
RGB 185, 214, 242
CMYK 34, 6, 0, 0
#B9D6F2
Pantone: 277C

oxford sage green

Oxford sage green
RGB 160, 175, 132
CMYK 45, 19, 58, 3
#A0AF84
Pantone: 7494C

 

 

oxford viridian

Oxford viridian
RGB 21, 97, 109
CMYK 92, 36, 43, 27
#15616D
Pantone: 5473C

oxford royal blue

Oxford royal blue
RGB 29, 66, 166
CMYK 96, 75, 0, 0
#1D42A6
Pantone: 2126C

oxford aqua

Oxford aqua
RGB 0, 170, 180
CMYK 84, 0, 33, 0
#00AAB4
Pantone: 7710C

oxford vivid green

Oxford vivid green
RGB 101, 229, 174
CMYK 56, 0, 46, 0
#65E5AE
Pantone: 3385C

 

oxford lime green

Oxford lime green
RGB 149, 193, 31
CMYK 54, 0, 100, 0
#95C11F
Pantone: 2292C

oxford cerulean blue

Oxford cerulean blue
RGB 73, 182, 255
CMYK 68, 11, 0, 0
#49B6FF
Pantone: 292C

oxford yellow

Oxford lemon yellow
RGB 247, 239, 102
CMYK 8, 0, 69, 0
#F7EF66
Pantone: 3935C

 

 

Neutrals

oxford charcoal

Oxford charcoal
RGB 33, 29, 28
CMYK 70, 67, 61, 81
#211D1C
Pantone 419 C

oxford ash grey

Oxford ash grey
RGB 97, 97, 95
CMYK 57, 46, 48, 36
#61615F
Pantone 6215 C

oxford umber

Oxford umber
RGB 137, 130, 122
CMYK 43, 39, 43, 22
#89827A
Pantone 403 C

 

 

oxford stone grey

Oxford stone grey
RGB 217, 216, 214
CMYK 17, 13, 15, 0
#D9D8D6
Pantone Cool Gray 1 C

oxford shell grey

Oxford shell grey
RGB 241, 238, 233
CMYK 6, 6, 9, 0
#F1EEE9
Pantone Warm Gray 1 C

oxford off white

Oxford off white
RGB 242, 240, 240
CMYK 6, 6, 6, 0
#F2F0F0
Pantone 663 C

 

Metallic

oxford gold

Gold
Pantone 10122C

oxford silver

Silver
Pantone 10103C

 

 

 

Using our colours

You must:

  • always use some Oxford blue
  • use the correct colour references (RGB for digital and CMYK for print)

The Pantone references specified are approximate matches for guidance. You should discuss any specific colour matching requirements with your printing supplier. 

You should:

  • use no more than 3 complementary colours – if you need more than that, use one of our theme packs
  • use neutrals additionally to balance out the design as required
  • use accessible combinations – check with a colour contrast tool if you’re planning to use a combination not shown here

Accessible colour combinations

We’ve tested all of our colours with Oxford blue and white. Do not use secondary colour for text. Only use white (#ffffff), Oxford blue (#002147) or black text over secondary colour backgrounds.

These are the colour combinations that are accessible to AA standard with Oxford blue. These are reversible – eg yellow will be accessible on top of Oxford blue. 

accessible with oxford blue text

These are the colour combinations that are accessible to AA standard with white.

accessible with white text

Our theme packs

Each of our 5 theme packs contains a collection of curated colour groups from the colour palette to encompass a specific mood.

 

Contact

For more information contact brandanddesign@admin.ox.ac.uk.