Color Wheels

Interactive color wheel explorer with harmony rules

The Color Wheel

The color wheel is a circular diagram that organizes colors by their hue. First developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, it maps the visible spectrum into a circle, showing how colors relate to each other. Click any segment below to explore its harmonies.

0°
Hue0°
ColorNameHueHex
Red0°#ff0000
Orange30°#ff8000
Yellow60°#ffff00
Chartreuse90°#80ff00
Green120°#00ff00
Spring150°#00ff80
Cyan180°#00ffff
Azure210°#007fff
Blue240°#0000ff
Violet270°#7f00ff
Magenta300°#ff00ff
Rose330°#ff0080

Color Harmonies for 0°

Based on the selected hue (Red), here are the standard color harmony combinations:

Opposite on the wheel (180°). Maximum contrast.

#ff0000
#00ffff180°

Adjacent colors (±30°). Harmonious and natural.

#ff0080330°
#ff0000
#ff800030°

Three colors equally spaced (120° apart). Vibrant and balanced.

#ff0000
#00ff00120°
#0000ff240°

Base + two adjacent to its complement (150°, 210°). Less tension than complementary.

#ff0000
#00ff80150°
#007fff210°

Understanding the Color Wheel

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The modern color wheel is based on the HSL (Hue, Saturation, Lightness) model. The hue component ranges from 0° to 360° and maps directly to the position on the color wheel.

Why 12 Segments?

The traditional color wheel divides 360° into 12 equal segments of 30° each. This gives us the 3 primary colors, 3 secondary colors, and 6 tertiary colors. While there are infinite hues, the 12-segment wheel provides a practical framework for understanding color relationships.

💡
Use the hslToHex() function in your code to convert any hue angle to a hex color: hslToHex(210, 1, 0.5) gives you a pure blue.