Brand Colors
Aside from our logo, our brand colors are the most identifiable element of our university's visual identity. Used accurately and consistently, they visually reinforce our personality and values, and both connect and strengthen the impact of our visual communications.
Our colors are black and gold. They are a required element in all visual communications and should feature more prominently than any other colors.
Always reproduce our brand colors faithfully and accurately, using the values below.
CU Black
HEX #000000
RGB 0 / 0 / 0
CMYK 0 / 0 / 0 / 100
CMYK 40 / 40 / 40 / 100 (Rich Black)
PMS Black
CU Gold
HEX #CFB87C
RGB 207 / 184 / 124
CMYK 0 / 10 / 48 / 22
PMS 4525
Thread color: Vegas Gold
Accent colors
The following accent shades of CU Black and CU Gold may be used to expand the range of color in visual communications. Accent colors should be used sparingly and never as replacements for the official brand colors.
Gold -1
HEX #7B6F4B
RGB 123 / 111 / 75
CMYK 27 / 29 / 88 / 41
PMS 4485
CU Gold
HEX #CFB87C
RGB 207 / 184 / 124
CMYK 0 / 10 / 48 / 22
PMS 4525
Gold +1
HEX #D6CCA6
RGB 214 / 204 / 166
CMYK 4 / 5 / 31 / 4
PMS 4545
White
HEX #FFFFFF
RGB 0 / 0 / 0
CMYK 0 / 0 / 0 / 0
PMS n/a
CU Black
HEX #000000
RGB 0 / 0 / 0
CMYK 0 / 0 / 0 / 100
PMS Black
Black +1
HEX #595955
RGB 89 / 89 / 85
CMYK 61 / 50 / 78 / 70
PMS 419
Black +2
HEX #7C7E7F
RGB 124 / 126 / 127
CMYK 25 / 18 / 15 / 51
PMS 425
Black +3
HEX #9EA1A2
RGB 158 / 161 / 162
CMYK 12 / 5 / 8 / 28
PMS 422
Use of accent colors other than those shown above are expressly prohibited for CU Denver visual communications, signage or advertising.
Action colors
In select cases, colors beyond our accent colors may be used to indicate important information and/or recommended user action. Action color use is rare and limited to the following shades and/or circumstances:
- Red = warning, danger, no, not permitted
- Green = safety, approval, go, yes
- Orange = caution, construction
Color swatches
Download Adobe Swatch Exchange (.ase) files with our brand and accent color values, for use in Adobe Creative Cloud applications.