Colour is central to the Waterloo brand.
By using colours consistently and appropriately, we build awareness, recognition and trust with our audiences. This page explains how to properly apply the University and faculty colour palettes.
About the Waterloo colours
The full Waterloo colour palette contains a total of ten colours with associated hues and shades, selected to follow best practices in design, readability and accessibility. The primary colours are the most frequently used, while the various shades provide more flexibility across applications.
- The main University colours, which consist of multiple shades of yellow, shades of black, and white. (gold/yellow, black/grey, white)
- The six faculty colours of the six faculties (orange, pink, purple, blue, teal, green).
- The school and satellite campus colour (red).
Colour levels
Within the palette, there are four levels of each colour. These levels offer various shades and hues for flexibility across applications.
Accessibility
The primary colour is typically level 3 for print and level 4 for digital. Using these levels wherever appropriate ensures we meet colour contrast requirements mandated by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).
Updated November 2023.
Where appropriate, you can combine the main University colours with faculty colours.
For generic University communications, you can incorporate faculty colours in addition to the University colours, as long as you use two or more faculty palettes in the layout.
If the University communication is specific to a single faculty, you can use the University palette in conjunction with a single faculty palette.
Sample application
Gold/Yellow
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
Level 1 |
PMS
600 |
CMYK
1 0 44 0 |
RGB
242 237 168 |
HEX #F2EDA8 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Colour
Level 2 |
PMS Yellow | CMYK
0 0 100 0 |
RGB
250 225 0 |
HEX #FAE100 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Colour
Level 3 (primary) |
PMS
122 |
CMYK
0 9 80 0 |
RGB
254 211 76 |
HEX #FED34C | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Colour
Level 4 |
PMS 124 | CMYK
0 29 100 1 |
RGB
235 171 0 |
HEX #EAAB00 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Black/Grey
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
Level 1 |
PMS 15% Black | CMYK 0 0 0 15 | RGB 223 223 223 | HEX #DFDFDF | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 #787878 >14 PT |
Colour
Level 2 |
PMS 35% Black | CMYK 0 0 0 35 | RGB 162 162 162 | HEX #A2A2A2 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Colour
Level 3 |
PMS 50% Black | CMYK 0 0 0 50 | RGB 120 120 120 | HEX #787878 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 #FFFFFF >14 PT #DFDFDF >14 PT |
Colour
Level 4 (primary colour) |
PMS Black | CMYK 0 0 0 100 | RGB 0 0 0 | HEX #000000 | Accessible Colour Combinations #FFFFFF #787878 #A2A2A2 #DFDFDF |
White
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX |
---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
White |
PMS White | CMYK 0 0 0 0 | RGB 255 255 255 | HEX #FFFFFF |
Arts - orange
Use the colour orange to identify content and communications from the Faculty of Arts.
In order to meet AODA colour contrast requirements, there is a digital variation for level 4 orange, indicated in the table below.
Colour |
PMS | CMYK | RBG | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour Level 1 |
PMS 155 | CMYK
0 13 35 0 |
RBG
239 210 171 |
HEX #EFD2AB | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour Level 2 |
PMS 7408 | CMYK
0 20 98 0 |
RBG
247 191 10 |
HEX #F7BF0A | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour Level 3 (print primary colour) |
PMS 144 | CMYK
0 49 100 0 |
RBG
237 140 0 |
HEX #ED8C00 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour Level 4 |
PMS
166 |
CMYK
0 76 100 0 |
RBG
227 83 15 |
HEX #E3530F | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 |
Colour Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
PMS NA | CMYK NA | RBG 217 63 0 | HEX #D93F00 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Engineering - purple
Use the colour purple in communications pertaining to the Faculty of Engineering.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RBG | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
264 |
23 34 0 0 |
194 168 240 |
#C2A8F0 | #FFFFFF
|
Level 2 |
7441 |
45 71 0 0 |
180 93 203 |
#A05DCB | #000000
|
Level 3 (print primary colour) |
2081 |
52 70 0 0 |
134 93 164 |
#865DA4 | #FFFFFF
|
Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
2597 |
82 100 0 4 |
93 0 150 |
#5D0096 | #FFFFFF
|
Environment - green
In Faculty of Environment communications, use the colour green.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
372 |
15 0 53 0 |
212 237 152 |
#D4ED98 | NA |
Level 1 (digital) |
NA | NA | 218 245 130 | #DAF582 | #000000
|
Level 2 |
381 |
18 0 99 0 |
206 222 0 |
#CEDE00 | #000000
|
Level 3 (print primary colour) |
390 |
20 0 100 8 |
132 191 0 |
#B6BF00 | #000000
|
Level 4 |
7496 |
35 0 100 37 |
119 137 33 |
#778921 | #000000 |
Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
NA | NA | 96 112 0 | #607000 | #FFFFFF
|
Health - teal
To distinguish content and communications from the Faculty of Health, use the colour teal.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
635 |
32 0 1 0 |
164 219 247 |
#A4DBF7 | #000000
|
Level 2 |
3115 |
70 0 13 0 |
0 194 222 |
#00C2DE | #000000
|
Level 3 (print primary colour) |
320 |
100 0 36 1 |
0 156 168 |
#009CAB | #000000
|
Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
5473 |
86 24 33 43 |
17 94 107 |
#115E6B | #FFFFFF
|
Math - pink
Use the colour pink to represent content and communications from the Faculty of Math.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
2365 |
3 29 0 0 |
239 187 240 |
#EFBBF0 | #000000
|
Level 2 |
2038 |
0 72 1 0 |
239 96 173 |
#EF60AD | #000000
|
Level 3 (print primary colour) |
225 |
4 90 0 0 |
223 26 160 |
#DF1AA0 | #000000
|
Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
234 |
16 100 0 17 |
162 0 110 |
#A2006E | #000000 >14 PT
|
Science - blue
Use the colour blue to identify Faculty of Science communications and content.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level 1 |
2708 |
25 12 0 0 |
185 205 251 |
#B9CDFB | #000000
|
Level 2
|
652 |
52 27 0 1 |
126 156 204 |
#7E9CCC | #000000
|
Level 3 (print primary colour) |
285 |
90 47 0 0 |
0 114 218 |
#0072DA |
#000000 >14 PT
|
Level 4 (digital primary colour) |
661 |
100 81 0 13 |
0 53 153 |
#003599 | #FFFFFF
|
Use the colour red to identify University of Waterloo schools and satellite campuses. Alternatively, you can use the main University colours or the affiliated faculty colours, as long as you choose one approach and use it consistently.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
Level 1 |
PMS 7422 | CMYK
0 18 2 0 |
RGB
244 206 223 |
HEX #F4CEDF | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour
Level 2 |
PMS 1925 | CMYK
0 100 52 0 |
RGB
225 0 84 |
HEX #E10054 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour
Level 3
|
PMS 200 | CMYK
0 100 76 13 |
RGB
187 15 51 |
HEX #BB0F33 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 >14 PT
|
Colour
Level 4 |
PMS 188 | CMYK
5 96 56 54 |
RGB
120 36 52 |
HEX #782434 | Accessible Colour Combinations #FFFFFF
|
The affiliated and federated institutions of Waterloo use the yellow colour bar in combination with their own brand colours.
Conrad Grebel University College
Use Conrad Grebel red in communications for the university college
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
Conrad Grebel red |
PMS 1797 | CMYK
0 92 72 6 |
RGB
203 51 64 |
HEX #CB3340 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 >14 PT
|
Renison University College
Use Renison green, red and gold in content and communications for Renison University College.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
Renison green |
PMS 349 | CMYK
85 3 91 44 |
RGB
7 107 59 |
HEX
#076B3B |
Accessible Colour Combinations #000000 >14 PT
|
Colour
Renison red
|
PMS 179 | CMYK
0 88 85 0 |
RGB
224 60 57 |
HEX #E03C39 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
Colour
Renison gold |
PMS 467 | CMYK
11 19 42 2 |
RGB
212 190 151 |
HEX #D4BE97 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
St. Jerome's University
When designing St. Jerome’s University communications, use St. Jerome’s green and gold
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
St. Jerome's green |
PMS 343 | CMYK
87 13 72 56 |
RGB
16 87 66 |
HEX #105742 | Accessible Colour Combinations #FFFFFF
|
Colour
St. Jerome's gold
|
PMS 139 | CMYK
0 48 100 26 |
RGB
175 110 5 |
HEX
#AF6E05 |
Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|
United College
Use United College's blue for communications relating to the college.
Colour | PMS | CMYK | RGB | HEX | Accessible Colour Combinations |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Colour
United College blue |
PMS 2190 C | CMYK
61 5 0 0 |
RGB
85 183 240 |
HEX #55B7F0 | Accessible Colour Combinations #000000
|