Colours

The colours used to signify identity are based on the eight Nordic flags and consist of: dark blue, blue, red, and yellow. These clear and obvious colours make up the primary palette. Blue and white are consistently used as main colours in formal contexts, e.g. on letters, flags and podiums.

The accent palette is inspired by Nordic light. These are subtle colours that provide a contrast to the bold flag colours.

These primary and accent colours, combined with a scale of neutral grey tones, make up the colour universe for official Nordic co-operation.

The primary colours are combined with the accent colours.

White can also be combined with the primary colours (except with dark yellow and dark grey). According to the Web Accessibility Guidelines the contrast between two colour that are combined should be high, white comes in very handy together with the primary colours an photographs.

HEX: #385988

RGB: 56-89-136

CMYK: 100–55–3–25

HEX: #266d51

RGB: 38-109-81

CMYK: 85–35–70–25

HEX: #006eb6

RGB: 0-110-182

CMYK: 100–40–0–6

HEX: #f42941

RGB: 244-41-65

CMYK: 0–100–90–0

HEX: #fdcf41

RGB: 253-207-65

CMYK: 0–13–100–0

HEX: #454547

RGB: 69-69-71

CMYK: 0–0–0–88

The accent colors are specially adapted to digital use and online publications. The accent colors should always be combined with the primary colors.

According to EU requirements for web design and accessibility, the contrast between colors should be high. The accent colors should therefore be used on a background of a primary color.

HEX: #d3d5ed

RGB: 211-213-237

CMYK: 20–15–0–0

HEX: #e2fae1

RGB: 226-250-225

CMYK: 15–0–20–0

HEX: #d4e9f9

RGB: 212-233-249

CMYK: 20–3–0–0

HEX: #fbdce7

RGB: 251-220-231

CMYK: 0–20–3–0

HEX: #fff0be

RGB: 255-240-190

CMYK: 0–2–35–0

HEX: #ecedee

RGB: 236-237-238

CMYK: 4–3–6–7

The alternative accent colors can be used for printing of for example backdrops for events and fot the usage of colors in graphs (like curve diagrams in online publications).

The accent colors, which are lighter in shade than the alternative ones, are specially adapted to digital use and online publications, as the contrast between dark and light color must be high, for example in text. The accent colors becomes too light for print and graphs - and therefore we have the alternative colors.

HEX: #bcbde2

RGB: 188-189-226

CMYK: 30–25–0–0

HEX: #cde4c4

RGB: 205-228-196

CMYK: 25–0–30–0

HEX: #afdbf6

RGB: 175-219-245

CMYK: 35–3–0–0

HEX: #f8c9db

RGB: 248-201-219

CMYK: 0–30–3–0

HEX: #ffed99

RGB: 255-237-153

CMYK: 0–3–50–0

HEX: #c8cacc

RGB: 201-202-204

CMYK: 0–0–0–24

You can use among these grey tones when making info graphics and graphs.

Grey tones can also be used in typography, if you wish a softer expression. The dark grey and the light grey can also be used on front pages for publications.

HEX: #ffffff

RGB: 255-255-255

CMYK: 0–0–0–0

HEX: #ecedee

RGB: 236-237-238

CMYK: 4–3–6–7

HEX: #c8cacc

RGB: 201-202-204

CMYK: 0–0–0–24

HEX: #a7a9ab

RGB: 167-169-171

CMYK: 0–0–0–40

HEX: #87898c

RGB: 135-137-140

CMYK: 0–0–0–56

HEX: #696a6c

RGB: 105-106-108

CMYK: 0–0–0–72

HEX: #454547

RGB: 69-69-71

CMYK: 0–0–0–88

HEX: #000000

RGB: 0-0-0

CMYK: 0–0–0–100

Always use a combination of a primary colour and an accent colour on background, title and logo, on all of the main forms of communication (covers on publications, websites, posters, etc.). See examples below.

For reasons of legibility, the primary yellow should only be used for text on photos, or as a background colour overlaid with text in a dark shade of grey.