Complementary colour palettes

Two hues from opposite sides of the wheel, one leading, with neutrals to hold them apart. Explore 598 palettes.

Browse all 78 palette collections

Colour pairings & usage tips

Use these colours.

Give one side of the colour wheel the larger area and use the opposite hue for a smaller accent. Neutral colours can separate the two without adding another competing hue.

Text & contrast.

Opposite hues may still have similar lightness. Use the measured contrast pair for text and reserve equal-strength complements for decoration when their contrast is weak.

A pairing to start with.

In Raspberry & Spruce, #24524D against #E498B4 has a contrast ratio of 3.96:1. Use this pair for large text (24px, or about 19px bold); it falls below the normal-text threshold. This checks opaque colours only; other pairings, transparency and gradients need their own checks.

The five swatches span 40–76% OKLCH lightness. Try different colour roles in the palette generator.