New colour palette - our decision making

[CharlotteDowns]

In October 2025, we ran an audit of how we use colour within the Design System. This work includes improvements, and how we map our existing colours to the new brand palette.

Mapping our old palette to the new

The following table shows our existing colours that we display in the styles guidance of the Design System website and how the colours can be aligned to the new brand guidelines. We matched current colour use with the new colour by eye.

Old colour	Old colour swatch	New colour	New colour swatch	Colour changed? (Yes/No)
Light pink #f499be		Magenta tint 50% #e59abe		Yes
Pink #d53880		Primary magenta #ca357c		Yes
Red $govuk-error-colour #d4351c		Primary red #ca3535		Yes
Orange #f47738		Primary orange #f47738		No
Yellow $govuk-focus-colour #ffdd00		Primary yellow #ffdd00		No
Light green #85994b		Green tint 25% #4b9b7d		Yes
Green $govuk-success-colour #00703c		Primary green #0f7a52		Yes
Turquoise #28a197		Primary teal #158187		Yes
Light blue #5694ca		Blue tint 25% #5694ca		No
Blue $govuk-link-colour $govuk-brand-colour #1d70b8		Primary blue #1d70b8		No
Dark blue $govuk-link-hover-colour #003078		Blue shade 50% #0f385c		Yes
Light purple #6f72af		Purple tint 25% #7f65b7		Yes
Purple $govuk-link-visited-colour #4c2c92		Primary purple #54319f		Yes
Bright purple #912b88		Magenta shade 25% #98285d		Yes
Brown #b58840		Primary brown #99704a		Yes
Black $govuk-text-colour $govuk-link-active-colour $govuk-input-border-colour $govuk-focus-text-colour #0b0c0c		Black #0b0c0c		No
Dark grey $govuk-secondary-text-colour #505a5f		Black tint 25% #484949		Yes
Mid grey $govuk-border-colour #b1b4b6		Black tint 80% #cecece		Yes
Light grey #f3f2f1		Black tint 95% #f3f3f3		Yes
White #ffffff		White #ffffff		No

Some colours did not have a direct match to the new palette, in these cases we've had to find the most logical swatch at the time.

You can also see changes in naming, lighter colours are 'tints', darker colours are 'shades' of their 'Primary' colour. The new palette also does not have:

• Turquoise, and now refers to colours in that range as Teal
• Pink, and now refers to colours in that range as Magenta
• Bright purple, and now refers to shades of Magenta

[LydiaValtindOC]

Have all these colours been tested for contrast against type? Can the results be shared for accessible colour combinations?

[CharlotteDowns]

Thank you for your question @LydiaValtindOC, the colours are coming from the recent GOV.UK brand update, there is reference in the brand guidelines documentation on how to use the colours and check combinations pass for accessibility, page 61 onwards (a web version of the guidelines is also being worked on too 💪🏻).