United States flag colors
There is no single official set of digital colors for the American flag. The specification that governs flags bought by federal agencies defines them as dyed silk swatches, "Old Glory Red" No. 70180 and "Old Glory Blue" No. 70075, with no screen equivalent, and three different federal bodies publish three different sets of hex values. The pair below is the most widely cited, and the one Texas wrote into law in 2001.
Every color
| Color | Role | Hex | RGB | HSL | Pantone | CMYK | Preview |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Glory Red | primary | #BF0A30 | 191, 10, 48 | 347, 90%, 39% | PMS 193C | 0, 95, 75, 25 | Fill screen |
| White | background | #FFFFFF | 255, 255, 255 | 0, 0%, 100% | -- | 0, 0, 0, 0 | Fill screen |
| Old Glory Blue | secondary | #00205B | 0, 32, 91 | 219, 100%, 18% | PMS 281C | 100, 65, 0, 64 | Fill screen |
Contrast pairs
Old Glory Red passes AA for body text on white, at 6.4 to 1.
Of 18 ordered pairs in this palette, 12 clear 4.5 to 1 for body text and 14 clear 3 to 1 for large text. Row is the text color, column is the background.
| Text color | Old Glory Red | White | Old Glory Blue | White | Black |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Glory Red | 6.4Old Glory Red on White, passes AA for body text | 2.4Old Glory Red on Old Glory Blue, fails AA for body text | 6.4Old Glory Red on White, passes AA for body text | 3.3Old Glory Red on Black, fails AA for body text | |
| White | 6.4White on Old Glory Red, passes AA for body text | 15.5White on Old Glory Blue, passes AA for body text | 21.0White on Black, passes AA for body text | ||
| Old Glory Blue | 2.4Old Glory Blue on Old Glory Red, fails AA for body text | 15.5Old Glory Blue on White, passes AA for body text | 15.5Old Glory Blue on White, passes AA for body text | 1.4Old Glory Blue on Black, fails AA for body text | |
| White | 6.4White on Old Glory Red, passes AA for body text | 15.5White on Old Glory Blue, passes AA for body text | 21.0White on Black, passes AA for body text | ||
| Black | 3.3Black on Old Glory Red, fails AA for body text | 21.0Black on White, passes AA for body text | 1.4Black on Old Glory Blue, fails AA for body text | 21.0Black on White, passes AA for body text |
Other values you will see
The palette above is what the United States publishes. Below is what you will actually meet elsewhere, and where the two part company it is worth knowing which one you are looking at.
As drawn in the reference artwork
How the flag is actually drawn in the reference artwork almost every piece of software renders. The blue is the visible departure, sitting well away from all three federal specifications.
- Red#B31942
- White#FFFFFF
- Blue#0A3161
An area measurement of the reference artwork, retrieved 2026-07-31
U.S. Government Printing Office
The GPO prefers a brighter red and a lighter blue than the Pantone pair. This set was recorded by the U.S. embassy in Stockholm in 2001 as the printing office's own preference.
- Red#C8102EPMS 186C
- White#FFFFFF
- Blue#002D72PMS 288C
Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-30
U.S. Department of State
The State Department recognises Pantone 193C and 282C but publishes its own RGB conversions, which land on different values again: a darker, slightly purple red and the darkest blue of the three.
- Red#BB133E
- White#FFFFFF
- Blue#002147
Wikipedia, retrieved 2026-07-30
Sources
- The palette above: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_United_States