Color can play a powerful role in design by drawing attention, setting the tone for a message and guiding the direction of the viewer. Duke’s color palette was designed to support the brand identity and provide visual cohesion across channels and publications throughout the university. It was updated in 2018 to include Hex codes for web design and an accessibility guide to help Duke materials meet the needs of all viewers.
Communicator Toolkit
Find the resources and best-practices you need to successfully apply the Duke visual brand identity to your project.
Inside this resource:
Official Duke Blue
The official Duke blue is a shade of navy blue that has been in use for decades. Called “Duke Navy Blue” in our palette, it is sometimes referred to as “Academic Blue.” The Pantone color for print materials is PMS 280 U / C and the Hex color for web design is #012169.
“Duke Royal Blue” is the other shade of blue in the palette and has been in use since 2009 for athletics, apparel and promotional materials. The Pantone color for Duke Royal Blue is 287 U / C and the Hex color for web design is #00539B.
Both shades of blue represent the Duke brand and at least one of them should be used somewhere in any project. Any adjustment to the opacity or saturation of these colors is prohibited, and projects must adhere to accessibility standard regarding contrast ratios with these colors.
PMS 280 U / C
HEX #012169
RGB 1, 33, 105
CMYK 100, 85, 5, 22
PMS 287 U / C
HEX #00539B
RGB 0, 83, 155
CMYK 100, 53, 2, 16
Extended Palette
The colors in Duke’s extended palette are intended for use as secondary and tertiary colors in design projects. They were selected to complement Duke Navy Blue and should be used for a range of elements including graphic accents, typography, backgrounds, call-to-action buttons and more.
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Copper | PMS 166 U / C | Hex #C84E00 | CMYK 0, 76, 100, 0 | RGB 200, 78, 0 |
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Persimmon | PMS 1375 U / C | Hex #E89923 | CMYK 0, 45, 95, 0 | RGB 232, 153, 35 |
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Dandelion | PMS 114 U / 121 C | Hex #FFD960 | CMYK 0, 8, 70, 0 | RGB 255, 217, 96 |
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Piedmont | PMS 382 U / 376 C | Hex #A1B70D | CMYK 54, 0, 100, 0 | RGB 161, 183, 13 |
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Eno | PMS 3262 U / 326 C | Hex #339898 | CMYK 81, 0, 39, 0 | RGB 51, 152, 152 |
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Magnolia | PMS 328 U / 323 C | Hex #1D6363 | CMYK 96, 16, 42, 57 | RGB 29, 99, 99 |
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Prussian Blue | PMS 301 U / 7692 C | Hex #005587 | CMYK 100, 45, 0, 45 | RGB 0, 85, 135 |
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Shale Blue | PMS Pantone Process Blue U / 7461 C |
Hex #0577B1 | CMYK 100, 0, 1, 3 | RGB 5, 119, 177 |
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Ironweed | PMS Pantone Purple U / 248 C |
Hex #993399 | CMYK 35, 95, 0, 0 | RGB 153, 51, 153 |
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Hatteras | PMS 649 U / 656 C | Hex #E2E6ED | CMYK 10, 2, 0, 0 | RGB 226, 230, 237 |
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Whisper Gray | PMS Cool Gray 1 U / C | Hex #F3F2F1 | CMYK 4, 2, 4, 8 | RGB 243, 242, 241 |
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Ginger Beer | PMS 9060 U / C | Hex #FCF7E5 | CMYK 0, 2, 15, 0 | RGB 252, 247, 229 |
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Dogwood | PMS 7530 U / C | Hex #988675 | CMYK 10, 18, 25, 32 | RGB 152, 134, 117 |
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Shackleford | PMS 7527 U / 2527 C | Hex #DAD0C6 | CMYK 3, 4, 14, 8 | RGB 218, 208, 198 |
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Cast Iron | PMS Black 3 U / C | Hex #262626 | CMYK 67, 44, 67, 95 | RGB 38, 38, 38 |
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Graphite | PMS Cool Gray 10 U / C | Hex #666666 | CMYK 40, 30, 20, 66 | RGB 102, 102, 102 |
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Granite | PMS 421 U / C | Hex #B5B5B5 | CMYK 13, 8, 11, 26 | RGB 181, 181, 181 |
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Limestone | PMS Cool Gray 2 U / C | Hex #E5E5E5 | CMYK 5, 3, 5, 11 | RGB 229, 229, 229 |
Text Accessibility
Duke is committed to meeting WCAG 2.0 AA accessibility guidelines. Please use our Color Accessibility Guide to identify color combinations that are compliant.