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What Color Is Ivory?

Ivory is a very pale, warm off-white with a slight yellow cast. Here is how to define it precisely in a vector logo palette and what that means for screen and print.

Published

Contents
  1. The Standard Digital Definition of Ivory
  2. How Ivory Differs From White, Cream and Beige
  3. Specifying Ivory in a Vector Logo Palette
  4. Practical Implications for Logo Use
  5. Checking the Actual Color in a Logo File

Ivory is a very pale, warm off-white: essentially white with a faint yellow tint. It sits just off pure white, so it reads as soft and slightly aged rather than stark. In logo and brand work, "ivory" names a color direction, not one universal value. To use it reliably in vector artwork, you need to pin it to a specific numeric value in your palette.

The Standard Digital Definition of Ivory

The most widely documented fixed definition comes from the named colors used in CSS and SVG. There, the keyword "ivory" equals hexadecimal FFFFF0. The red and green channels are at full strength and blue is slightly reduced. That small blue reduction is what produces the warm, faintly yellow cast.

Notation | Value for the CSS/SVG named color "ivory"
Hex | #FFFFF0
RGB | 255, 255, 240
HSL (calculated from RGB) | approximately 60°, 100%, 97%
CSS/SVG keyword | ivory

The HSL figures show why ivory looks almost white. The hue is yellow (60°) and saturation is technically at maximum, but lightness is so high that only a trace of that yellow is visible.

Paint makers, print color systems and design-tool swatch libraries may all label different values "ivory." No Pantone, spot-color or manufacturer reference was supplied for this article. If your brand needs a matched print ink, confirm it against the relevant physical swatch guide instead of assuming it equals the CSS value.

How Ivory Differs From White, Cream and Beige

These neighboring colors are often confused. The descriptions below are general color relationships, not standardized boundaries:

  • White: no tint. Pure white in RGB is 255, 255, 255, while ivory pulls blue down slightly.
  • Cream: usually warmer and more saturated than ivory, with a more noticeable yellow or buttery tone.
  • Beige: darker and more muted than ivory, often with brown or gray in the mix.
  • Off-white: a broad umbrella term. Ivory is one kind of off-white, distinguished by its yellowish warmth rather than a gray or pink tint.

Specifying Ivory in a Vector Logo Palette

Calling a color "ivory" in a brand guide leaves too much open to interpretation. A dependable logo palette entry should give the exact value for each output:

  • Screen: record the hex and RGB values, for example #FFFFF0 if you are adopting the CSS definition.
  • Print (process color): record a CMYK value produced with a named color profile. The conversion depends on the profile and paper, so do not copy a CMYK figure from an unrelated source.
  • Print (spot color): if you need a consistent ink, choose a spot color from a physical guide and record its reference. This article does not supply one.
  • Swatch name: use the same swatch name throughout your vector files so fills can be found and changed globally.

In SVG artwork, ivory can be written as the keyword or as the hex value. Both render identically in standards-compliant viewers. The explicit hex value is easier to audit and to carry over into other tools.

<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 200 80">
  <rect width="200" height="80" fill="#1F1F1F"/>
  <path d="M20 60 L60 20 L100 60 Z" fill="#FFFFF0"/>
</svg>

Practical Implications for Logo Use

Ivory is so close to white that it behaves mostly as a light or reversed color. It works best on dark or mid-dark backgrounds, where it gives a softer, warmer alternative to pure white. On white paper or a white web page, an ivory logo element can nearly disappear. Check contrast for every background the logo will appear on rather than assuming it will hold up.

Printing adds another caveat. Very light tints can be hard to reproduce consistently, and the paper's own shade strongly affects how ivory appears. An ivory element printed on cream or natural stock may look different from the same element on bright white stock. A physical proof is the reliable way to confirm the result.

Checking the Actual Color in a Logo File

If you receive a logo described as ivory, confirm the value inside the artwork itself. A thumbnail, PNG preview or embedded raster image can shift slightly through color management or compression. It also doesn't tell you whether the file contains editable vector shapes.

Open the file in a vector editor and select the shapes. Confirm they are true paths and not a placed image. Then read the fill value directly. A filename or extension such as .svg, .ai or .eps does not on its own guarantee editable vector paths or a correctly defined swatch.

Being able to download a logo file also does not mean you may recolor or modify it. Changing a brand's colors, fonts or artwork, or using its trademark, depends on the owner's terms and applicable law, not on file access.