Colour

VU Amsterdam’s colour system changed in 2021. The sender-oriented colour coding, where each faculty had its own colour, has been replaced by an organisation-wide colour palette. The colour palette consists of blue, orange-red, green and purple. Blue is a recognisable house style colour for VU Amsterdam. The other colours support and create a warmer look.   

Please note that due to WCAG 2.1 guidelines, the colour composition of VU blue in the layout of communications is different from the VU logo.

Colour codes

Primary colours

CMYK
RGB
HEX
RAL

100/30/0/0
0/119/179
0077B3
5015

CMYK
RGB
HEX
RAL

14/84/104
204/65/0
CC4100
2001

 

CMYK
RGB
HEX
RAL

86/24/79/10
0/128/83
008053
6029

CMYK
RGB
HEX
RAL

95/100/18/6
59/33/113
3B2171
5002

Secondary colours

CMYK
RGB
HEX

61/16/9/0
102/175/202
66AFD4

CMYK
RGB
HEX

3/6987/0
232/105/45
E8692D

CMYK
RGB
HEX

70/0/89/0
79/175/72
4FAF48

CMYK
RGB
HEX

55/78/0/0
142/77/164
8E4DA4

Tertiary colours

CMYK
RGB
HEX

15/0/0/0
223/242/253
DFF2FD

CMYK
RGB
HEX

0/22/30/0
252/211/182
FCD3B6

CMYK
RGB
HEX

11/0/30/50
235/240/198
EBF0C6

CMYK
RGB
HEX

16/27/0/0
221/198/238
DDC6EE

Neutral colours

CMYK
RGB
HEX

5/5/5/00
250/247/245
FAF7F5

CMYK
RGB
HEX

10/10/11/00
242/239/237
F2EFED

CMYK
RGB
HEX

18/16/17/0
216/211/208
D8D3D0

CMYK
RGB
HEX

69/60/56/66
255, 255, 255
333333

Additional colours

Dark blue is an additional colour for student recruitment.   
Use yellow only in images: illustrations, infographics and graphs. Never use yellow as a text colour.  

CMYK
RGB
HEX

100/55/0/18
0/86/152
005698

CMYK
RGB
HEX

5/29/0/87
242/186/47
F2BA2F

Colour application

Use of colour and accessibility guidelines 

We aim to comply with accessibility guidelines (WCAG 2.1 guidelines) as much as possible in our house style. 

Applying primary VU colours

There are four primary colours: blue, orange-red, green and purple. According to WCAG 2.1 guidelines, these colours are also suitable as background colours with white text on the foreground or as text colours on a white background.

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Fixed elements, such as help and action buttons on the website, are always in blue. 

For subheadings and quotes, use primary colours. Subheadings are alternately in a different primary VU colour and in a fixed order: blue, orange-red, green and purple. Blue is always the starting point for the colour sequence system. You can use black for titles and body text. 

Using secondary VU colours

Secondary colours are lighter versions of primary colours. You can use these colours in the background and in tables and graphics. If you use the secondary colours as background for white or coloured text, check the contrast first for good readability according to WCAG 2.1 guidelines. Colour checker

Application of tertiary VU colours

Combine the tertiary colours with the primary colours of the same colour range. For example, the dark primary VU colour purple is combined with the light tertiary VU purple. 

Light neutral colours

Light neutral colours are background colours. For example, to indicate lines and/or columns in tables. The text colour is dark grey and or black. 

Colours for tables and graphs

For tables and charts, use secondary colours, neutral colours and yellow. 

Colour use tables and graphs

The following colours apply to tables and graphs. In order: blue, green, orange-red, purple, yellow, light grey and dark grey, dark blue. 

Texts in tables and graphs ​

Place numbers and text outside colour areas to comply with WCAG 2.1 guidelines. 

CMYK 100/30/0/0
RGB 0/119/179
HEX 0077B3

CMYK 70/0/89/0
RGB 79/175/72
HEX 4FAF48

CMYK 3/69/87/0
RGB 232/105/45
HEX E8692D

CMYK 55/78/0/0
RGB 142/77/164
HEC 8E4DA4

CMYK 5/29/0/87
RGB 242/186/47
HEX F2BA2F

CMYK 20/20/20/0
RGB 212/202/200
HEX D4CAC8

CMYK 0/0/0/8
RGB 87/87/86
HEX 575756

CMYK 100/55/0/18
RGB 0/86/152
HEX 003F6C

 

Examples of colour use in (off- and online) brochures

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