This is the UC Santa Barbara color palette. Inspired by the Santa Barbara coast, the palette is grounded in the experience of living and working in our surrounding environment.

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Primary Color Palette

The primary color palette is intended for printed materials. Each color in the primary color palette is assigned a PMS and CMYK value. Please use the PMS value when printing with Pantone inks and the CMYK values for 4-color printing. 

If you are looking for information on colors for use in digital applications, use our Digital Color Palette.

 

Navy

PMS 2955 C
C100 M60 Y10 K53

 

Gold

PMS 7549 C
C0 M28 Y100 K0

 

Aqua

PMS 633 C
C98 M6 Y10 K29

 

Moss

PMS 7496 C
C46 M6 Y100 K42

 

Sea Green

PMS 7716 C
C83 M0 Y40 K11

 

Coral

PMS 7597 C
C0 M85 Y100 K4

 

Mist

PMS 5493 C
C47 M4 Y16 K16

 

Clay

PMS Warm Gray 1C
C3 M3 Y6 K7

 

Sandstone

PMS 4525 C
C9 M12 Y47 K18

 

Light Gray

PMS 428 C
C10 M4 Y4 K14

 

White

White
C0 M0 Y0 K0

 

Black

PMS Process Black
C0 M0 Y0 K100

 

 


 

Digital Color Palette

The digital color palette includes additional tints and shades for increased usability on websites and devices. The background color and text color combinations shown here conform to the WCAG AA level contrast standard, which requires that color combinations (background + text) meet a minimum contrast ratio. These combinations are recommended so as to align to the university color palette while also meeting the AA contrast standard. Note that a darker variation of coral is provided to meet required ADA compliant contrast ratios for white text on color. A lighter variation of light gray, clay, sandstone, and mist is provided to meet required ADA compliant contrast ratios for dark text on color. These color variations should only be used in web or interactive applications.

The hexadecimal codes are provided for each color and are a fast and easy way to get the correct colors into any digital application from the Microsoft Office suite to Google apps. Just copy and paste the code or try using one of our premade templates which have the color scheme built in.

 
Background color:
Navy
#003660

RGB 0, 54, 96
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
Background color:
Gold
#FEBC11

RGB 254, 188, 17
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82
 
Background color:
Light gray darken 80
#111517

RGB 17, 21, 23
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
 
Background color:
Light gray
#DCE1E5

RGB 220, 225, 229
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82

Background color:
Light light gray 
#EEF0F2

RGB 238, 240, 242
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82
 
Background color:
White
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82
 
Background color:
Sea green web
#09847A

RGB 9, 132, 122
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
Background color:
Aqua web
#047C91

RGB 4, 124, 145
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
Background color:
Moss web
#6D7D33

RGB 109, 125, 51
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
 
Background color:
Coral
#EF5645

RGB 239, 86, 69
 
Text Color:
#011517

RGB 1, 21, 23

Background color:
Dark Coral
#C43424

RGB 196, 52, 36
 
Text Color:
#FFFFFF

RGB 255, 255, 255
 
 
Background color:
Clay
#DCD6CC

RGB 220, 214, 204
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82

Background color:
Light Clay
#F1EEEA

RGB 241, 238, 234
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82
 
 
Background color:
Sandstone
#C9BF9D

RGB 201, 191, 157
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82

Background color:
Light Sandstone
#EDEADF

RGB 237, 234, 223
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82
 
 
Background color:
Mist
#9CBEBE

RGB 156, 190, 190
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82

Background color:
Light Mist
#DAE6E6

RGB 218, 230, 230
 
Text Color:
#3D4952

RGB 61, 73, 82

Incorrect Usage

The impact of our color is dependent on proper, consistent use. Any changes to the color usage will change or diminish the important values, ideas, and meanings with which UC Santa Barbara is associated. Alter them, and they can subtly shift perceptions of the institutions they stand for. For this reason, strict adherence to the correct usage and implementation is critical. For ideas around best practice application, see the Color section of our PDF guidelines. Below are some examples of incorrect usage. 

DO NOT CREATE GRADIENTS

Do not create gradients

DO NOT CREATE TINTS

Do not create tints

DO NOT CREATE NEW COLORS

Do not create new colors

 

DO NOT ASSIGN MULTIPLE COLORS TO INDIVIDUAL LETTERFORMS

Do not assign multiple colors to individual letterforms

DO NOT SET TEXT IN POORLY CONTRASTED COLOR

Do not set text in poorly contrasted color

DO NOT USE FOUR OR MORE FULL BLEED COLORS

Do not use four or more full bleed colors

Keep 'em handy
Download the PDF

The guidelines featured on this website represent a subset of the official UC Santa Barbara Identity Guidelines. Download the full set of guidelines for access to additional resources, best practice application examples, and more.