Colors

Color unifies our marketing and embraces the Mizzou brand to ensure a cohesive message. Our official primary colors are black and MU gold. A supporting color palette was designed to complement our primary colors. Supporting colors should be used as accents within your design, but should never become the main colors used.

Jump to:

Definitions & Tips | Primary Colors | Secondary Colors | Accessibility & Color

 

Definitions & Tips:

  • CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) is the 4-color build for printing.
  • RGB (red, green, blue) and HEX (hexadecimal) codes are for screens and websites.
  • The CMYK, RGB and HEX values for MU gold differ from the defaults in most design programs. It is necessary to create these formulas within your document rather than relying on the program’s built-in conversion from spot color to process color.
  • Tints of our secondary colors are useful when designing charts, graphs and diagrams.
  • MU gold on white and white on MU gold has a low visual contrast and may be hard for people to see and/or read.

 

Primary Color Palette

BLACK

Digital
RGB: 0, 0, 0
HEX: #000000

Print
CMYK: 35/24/24/100
When using a single ink print 100K.

MU GOLD

Coated Paper
PMS 124
CMYK: 0/31/98/0

Uncoated Paper
PMS 7406 U

CMYK: 0/19/100/0

Digital
RGB: 241, 184, 45
HEX: #F1B82D

 

Metallics and Foils

When your budget allows, you may want to incorporate metallic inks or foils. Pantone® 10123C (a premium metallic) is preferred, but 871C is acceptable when 10123C is unavailable. When using metallic foils, the closest available match to MU Gold should be selected.

 

Secondary Color Palette

Keep the following guidelines in mind when using the secondary color palette:

  • All pieces should include black and gold as the dominant colors.
  • Limit the number of secondary colors used in a single piece so it does not break from the Mizzou brand.
  • Be mindful of color combinations that represent other universities.
WARM GRAY
PMS: WARM GRAY 8

CMYK: 15/20/22/42
RGB: 143, 136, 132
HEX: #8F8884
LIGHT WARM GRAY
PMS: WARM GRAY 1

CMYK: 2/3/7/8
RGB: 219, 213, 205
HEX: #DBD5CD
GRAY
CMYK: 0/0/0/60
RGB: 125, 125, 125
HEX: #7D7D7D
LIGHT GRAY
CMYK: 0/0/0/20
RGB: 215, 215, 215
HEX: #D7D7D7
LIGHT BLUE
PMS: 629

CMYK: 30/0/9/0
RGB: 228, 241, 250
HEX: #E4F1FA
BLUE
PMS: 7698

CMYK: 65/9/0/53
RGB: 28, 94, 144
HEX: #1C5E90
GREEN
PMS: 7495

CMYK: 42/5/98/29
RGB: 105, 144, 29
HEX: #69901D

RED
PMS: 1815
CMYK: 16/97/86/54
RGB: 144, 0, 0
HEX: #900000

ORANGE
PMS: 471
CMYK: 5/71/100/23
RGB: 189, 92, 44
HEX: #BD5C2C

 

Accessibility & Color

Color Contrast Chart

These charts show the contrast between backgrounds and text using the Mizzou brand colors. When developing digital materials and websites, make sure to review the Accessible Text & Color guidelines.

Contrast Ratios

#F1B82D

#000000

#FFFFFF

#8F8884

#DBD5CD

#7D7D7D

#D7D7D7

#900000

#BD5C2C

#69901D

#E4F1FA

#1C5E90

0.00 11.63 1.81 1.93 1.24 2.28 1.25 5.32 2.46 2.07 1.57 3.81
11.63 0.00 21.00 6.02 14.41 5.1 14.59 2.19 4.73 5.61 18.26 3.05
1.81 21.00 0.00 3.49 1.46 4.12 1.44 9.61 4.44 3.74 1.15 6.88
1.93 6.02 3.49 0.00 2.39 1.18 2.42 2.76 1.27 1.07 3.03 1.97
1.24 14.41 1.46 2.39 0.00 2.82 1.01 6.59 3.05 2.57 1.27 4.72
2.28 5.1 4.12 1.18 2.82 0.00 2.86 2.33 1.08 1.10 3.58 1.67
1.25 14.59 1.44 2.42 1.01 2.86 0.00 6.68 3.08 2.60 1.25 4.78
5.32 2.19 9.61 2.76 6.59 2.33 6.68 0.00 2.16 2.57 8.35 1.40
2.46 4.73 4.44 1.27 3.05 1.08 3.08 2.16 0.00 1.19 3.86 1.55
2.07 5.61 3.74 1.07 2.57 1.10 2.60 2.57 1.19 0.00 3.26 1.84
1.57 18.26 1.15 3.03 1.27 3.58 1.25 8.35 3.86 3.26 0.00 5.98
3.81 3.05 6.88 1.97 4.72 1.67 4.78 1.40 1.55 1.84 5.98 0.00

 

Is it compliant?

#F1B82D

#000000

#FFFFFF

#8F8884

#DBD5CD

#7D7D7D

#D7D7D7

#900000

#BD5C2C

#69901D

#E4F1FA

#1C5E90

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