Heian era
Lapis & Chalk— 瑠璃と胡粉
Lapis lazuli blue against oyster-shell white — the color of Buddhist scripture.
#1E4B8A
blue · 1 palette
Ruri
瑠璃
Lapis lazuli
About Ruri
Ruri (瑠璃) is a deep, vivid blue tone. Its hex value is #1E4B8A — that is
RGB 30, 75, 138, or HSL 215°, 64%, 33%.
Lapis lazuli.
It holds 8.6:1 contrast against white, so Ruri works best for body text, headings, and UI labels. (On white it scores 8.6:1; on black 2.4:1.)
Across Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations, Ruri appears in 1 combination — most often paired with Gofun and Kogane.
The story of Ruri
Ruri (瑠璃) is the vivid deep blue of lapis lazuli — the gemstone, not the dye. The colour is named after the stone, and the Buddhist Pure Land ('Eastern Lapis Realm') is where the pigment's cultural weight comes from. Where ai is everyday-blue, ruri is jewel-blue: saturated, slightly cool, and traditionally reserved for ceremonial textiles, religious paintings, and the most expensive lacquerware inlays.
Modern usage: luxury hospitality, premium beauty, anywhere the brief asks for a blue that reads as precious rather than functional. Ruri pulls darker and more saturated than hanada (the half-indigo blue), brighter than kon (deep navy), and richer than asagi.
Colours that go with Ruri
From a standard colour wheel, Ruri anchors these four classic schemes. Each swatch is computed from its exact hue, so every hex is a real, usable pairing.
Complementary
#1E4B8A #8A5D1E
the hue directly opposite — the highest-contrast pairing, good for a single bold accent.
Analogous
#1E4B8A #1E818A #271E8A
the two neighbours on the wheel — a calm, cohesive scheme that feels effortless.
Triadic
#1E4B8A #8A1E4B #4B8A1E
two hues an even third of the wheel away — balanced and lively without clashing.
Split-complementary
#1E4B8A #8A271E #818A1E
the two colours either side of the complement — the contrast of a complement, softened.
How to use Ruri
Ruri is a deep, vivid tone (HSL 215°, 64%, 33%), which makes it a grounding background or strong accent. For text it passes WCAG AA for body text against a light background (8.6:1) — safe for paragraphs, buttons and labels. When you do set type on it, use light lettering. Pair it with its complement (#8A5D1E) for a focal accent, or with its analogous neighbours (#1E818A and #271E8A) for a quieter, harmonious feel.
Palettes with Ruri
Ruri appears in 1 combination from the archive.
From the archive
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