Visual Identity System

Color

The Iowa State University color palette reflects the clarity and depth of our community's values, and it is deeply rooted in the university's land-grant mission. Consistent and appropriate use of these colors will create a strong and consistent graphic image for the university. This established system of colors for graphic communications ties all the colleges, institutes, centers and units of our university together.

Iowa State's color palette consists of three sets of colors: a primary palette, a secondary palette, and an athletic palette.

To ensure the consistency of our visual identity, specifications for each color are provided for use in print, web, and electronic presentation applications:

  • Pantone Matching System (PMS) colors and CMYK values are provided for color printing applications.*
  • Web safe Hexdecimal (HEX) values are provided for web use.
  • RGB values are listed for electronic presentation applications.

* Caution: Pantone has changed the process color builds of its spot color library due to new printing technology. The formulas listed below for our color palette are Pantone's new builds. Please refer to Pantone's web site regarding the change.

Iowa State's color palette consists of three sets of colors: a primary palette, a secondary palette, and an athletic palette.

Primary Palette

The primary palette consists of 12 colors. These colors may be used extensively both for large areas of color or as an accent color. The nameplate should be printed only in red, warm gray, khaki, or black against a white or light-colored background whenever possible. The nameplate may be reversed out to white against a full-bleed photograph or against a background printed with any of the darker primary colors. Please visit the Nameplate section for detailed information about how to apply color to the nameplate.

Screens or tints of the primary colors may be used to achieve a desired effect, however, screening the red shades will result in pink, which should be used sparingly or avoided altogether.

Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 614
0/0/20/4
234/226/183
ffffcc		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 186
0/100/81/4
206/17/38
cc0000
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 452
24/18/42/0
196/183/150
999966		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 142
0/28/76/0
242/191/73
ffcc66
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 555
75/0/60/55
7/109/84
006666		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 471
0/59/100/18
188/94/30
cc6600
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 285
89/43/0/0
58/117/196
0066cc		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 484
0/95/100/29
155/48/28
993333
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 7462
100/50/0/10
37/96/145
006699		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 449
65/55/100/28
84/71/38
666633
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 548
100/24/0/64
0/68/89
003366		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 412
0/30/66/98
61/48/40
330000

Secondary Palette

The colors of the secondary palette have been selected to compliment the primary colors. Their understated tones were chosen to work well as a subtle background behind typography or other graphics, or in other situations where a restrained use of color is desired. The secondary colors should not be applied to the nameplate.

Screens or tints of the secondary colors may be used to achieve a desired effect, however, screening the red shades will result in pink, which should be used sparingly or avoided altogether.

Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 4535
0/4/30/11
219/206/165
ffcc99		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 451
33/28/58/0
173/160/122
999966
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 464
10/49/100/35
135/96/40
996633		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 723
0/43/97/17
186/117/48
cc9933
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 465
20/32/58/0
193/168/117
cc9966		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 1815
0/90/100/51
124/33/30
993300
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 7403
0/10/50/0
236/209/122
ffcc99		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 5425
30/4/0/31
132/153/165
9999cc
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 5777
10/0/49/28
170/173/117
99cc66		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 7463
100/43/0/65
21/62/94
003366
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 5743
33/0/85/82
63/73/38
333300		   Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 424
0/0/0/61
130/127/119
666666

Athletic Palette

The Iowa State University athletic color palette was created to foster recognition, strength, and loyalty for our athletic teams. The primary colors of the athletic palette are cardinal red and cardinal gold and are restricted for use on the athletic marks and communications associated with the department of athletics.

These colors were carefully chosen based on the requirements of sports apparel licensees and broadcast reproduction quality under various sports arena lighting conditions. The athletic marks cannot appear in any other colors. Within the athletic color palette, navy is used only as an accent color and should be avoided for large areas of color. White is included in the color palette and is used in the athletic marks when they are reproduced on a color background.

The university has registered all athletic marks as trademarks. Contact the Office of Trademark Licensing for guidelines.

Athletic Colors Primary Palette

Cyclone
Pantone
CMYK
RGB		 Red
200
0/100/65/15
196/30/58		   Cyclone
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 Gold
130
0/27.5/100/0
234/175/15
ffcc00

Athletic Colors Secondary Palette

Cyclone
Pantone
CMYK
RGB
Web safe:		 Navy
282
100/72/0/56
0/38/84
003366		   White

Color combinations to avoid

Color is one of the most powerful ways a university can identify itself. Used consistently, the colors chosen to represent Iowa State create a strong identifying image. Conversely, some colors and color combinations can be confusing.

Colors associated with other public institutions in the state should not be used. Even though gold is one of Iowa State's primary colors, use of black and gold together should be avoided. Purple is not within any of Iowa State's color palettes and should never be used.