Color Usage Guide
See Adelphi University’s primary and secondary color palettes and get information on usage and best practices.
Primary Colors
Gold and brown are Adelphi’s school colors and are the essential palette for accents on all materials. Gold and white should be used as the primary and dominant colors in accents and large headlines; brown and black can be used to create emphasis and for smaller type.
Gold
Pantone: 7549 C and 7548 U
Hex: #ffb500
CMYK: 0, 22, 100, 2
RGB: 255, 181, 0
Brown
Pantone: 4625 C
Hex: #4f2c1d
CMYK: 30, 72, 74, 80
RGB: 79, 44, 29
Black
Hex: #000000
CMYK: 70, 35, 40, 100
RGB: 0, 0, 0
White
Hex: #ffffff
CMYK: 0, 0, 0, 0
RGB: 255, 255, 255
Secondary Colors
The following colors can be used as backgrounds and accents.
Dark Grey
Hex: #4f4942
CMYK: 61, 58, 64, 42
RGB: 79, 73, 66
Dark Brown
Hex: #524940
CMYK: 58, 58, 66, 42
RGB: 82, 73, 64
Light Brown
Pantone: 7531 C
Hex: #7a6855
CMYK: 16, 29, 38, 53
RGB: 122, 104, 85
Light Brown at 65%
Hex: #9f9081
CMYK: 0, 9, 19, 38
RGB: 159, 144, 129
Light Brown at 35%
Hex: #c5bbb1
CMYK: 0, 5, 10, 23
RGB: 197, 187, 177
Light Brown at 5%
Hex: #f1efed
CMYK: 4, 4, 4, 0
RGB: 241, 239, 237
Accessibility Requirements
Some people with visual impairments interpret color and contrast differently, making it difficult to access information communicated only by color. Making colors accessible usually means creating color combinations that provide enough contrast that the content is clearly distinguishable from the surrounding page.
Based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), we require a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large or bolded text.
| Accessible Color Combinations | Contrast Ratio | |
|---|---|---|
| Gold and Brown | 6.93:1 | |
| Gold and Black | 11.86:1 | |
| White and Black | 21:1 | |
| Brown and White | 12.27:1 | |
| Light Brown and White | 5.33:1 |
|
| Light Brown at 65% and Black | 6.78:1 |
|
| Light Brown at 35% and Black | 11.11.1 |
|
| Light Brown at 35% and Brown | 6.49:1 |
|
| Light Brown at 5% and Black | 18.3:1 |
|
| Light Brown at 5% and Brown | 10.7:1 |
|
| Dark Grey and White | 8.88:1 |
|
| Dark Grey and Light Brown at 5% | 7.74:1 |
|
| Dark Grey and Light Brown at 35% | 4.7:1 |
|
| Dark Grey and Gold | 5.01:1 |
|
| Dark Brown and White | 8.8:1 |
|
| Dark Brown and Light Brown at 5% | 7.67:1 |
|
| Dark Brown and Light Brown at 35% | 4.65:1 |
|
| Dark Brown and Gold | 4.97:1 |
|
Please note, gold and white have 1.77:1 contrast ratio and is therefore not an accessible web color combination.