Denim vs Indigo
Can you tell them apart?
#1560BD
#4B0082
Perceptual difference (ΔE): 43.2 — clearly different.
Denim blue and indigo are connected by history — original blue jeans were dyed with indigo plant pigment — but visually they've diverged considerably. Denim blue is a mid-bright blue, open and casual, the colour of a well-washed pair of jeans: considerably lighter and more purely blue than its source material. Indigo the colour (as named in the visible spectrum and used in traditional colour systems) is a dark, almost navy blue-purple, much deeper and with significant purple lean. Denim is the faded, laundered copy; indigo is the deep, saturated original dye.
How to tell them apart
Indigo is much darker and more purple-blue; denim is lighter, brighter, and more purely mid-blue. If it looks like jeans fabric or a casual sport shirt, it's denim; if it looks like midnight blue or a rich dark spectrum colour, it's indigo.
Color values
| HEX | #1560BD |
|---|---|
| RGB | 21, 96, 189 |
| HSL | 213°, 80%, 41% |
| CMYK | 89, 49, 0, 26 |
| HEX | #4B0082 |
|---|---|
| RGB | 75, 0, 130 |
| HSL | 275°, 100%, 25% |
| CMYK | 42, 100, 0, 49 |
FAQ
- Is denim the same colour as indigo?
- No. Denim is a lighter, brighter blue named after the fabric; indigo is a deep dark blue-purple close to navy.
- Is indigo darker than denim?
- Much darker. Indigo is nearly as dark as navy; denim is a clearly visible mid-blue.