Skip to main content

University Colors

Consistent use of South Dakota State University's official colors is critical to building brand consistency and awareness in the marketplace. Many well-known brands use color as a primary visual identifier; UPS brown and Coca-Cola red are excellent examples of this concept. 

The South Dakota State University brand color palette consists of primary, secondary and accent colors.

Primary Colors

The university’s primary colors are SDSU Yellow and Blue, which must be a prominent and integral part of all university communications produced in color.

   

SDSU Yellow
PMS 109
0c 9m 100y 0k
255r 209g 0b
#FFD100

SDSU Blue
PMS 286
100c 75m 0y 0k
0r 51g 160b
#0033A0

Secondary Colors

The university’s secondary colors are SDSU Campanile Blue, SDSU Navy, SDSU Dark Yellow, SDSU Light Yellow and SDSU Light Blue. These do not have to appear on every communication containing color, but their use is strongly encouraged. However, with the exception of campanile blue, these colors should not be used as the dominant colors of a publication.

         

SDSU Navy
PMS 289
100c 76m 12y 70k
12r 35g 64b
#0C2340

SDSU Campanile Blue
PMS 287
100c 75m 2y 18k
0r 48g 135b
#003087

SDSU Dark Yellow
PMS 117
6c 27m 100y 12k
201r 151g 0b
#C99700

SDSU Light Yellow
PMS 600
2c 0m 39y 0k
241r 235g 156b
#F1EB9C

SDSU Light Blue
PMS 2706
19c 10m 0y 0k
203r 211g 235b
#CBD3EB

The university’s graphic standards provide a number of accent colors to augment SDSU Blue and Yellow. This range of colors may be used in limited quantities and should never appear as the dominant color in any communication vehicle. The intended use of the accent colors is to provide highlight options for text and graphics.

     

PMS 1795
0c 96m 93y 2k
210r 38g 48b
#D22630

PMS 185
0c 93m 79y 0k
228r 0g 43b
#E4002B

PMS 186 (PRT)
2c 100m 85y 6k
200r 16g 46b
#C8102E

PMS 200 (USD)
3c 100m 70y 12k
186r 12g 47b
#BA0C2F

PMS 416
28c 18m 29y 51k
126r 127g 116b
#7E7F74

     

PMS 430
33c 18m 13y 40k
124r 135g 142b
#7C878E

PMS 444
45c 16m 25y 50k
113r 124g 125b
#717C7D

PMS 542
60c 19m 1y 4k
123r 175g 212b
#7BAFD4

PMS 549
56c 8m 9y 21k
107r 164g 184b
#6BA4B8

PMS 5493
47c 4m 16y 16k
127r 169g 174b
#7FA9AE

     

PMS 123
0c 19m 89y 0k
255r 199g 44b
#FFC72C

PMS 012
0c 2m 98y 0k
225r 215g 0b
#FFD700

PMS 118
7c 28m 100y 30k
172r 132g 0b
#AC8400

PMS 137
0c 41m 100y 0k
255r 163g 0b
#FFA300

PMS 110
2c 22m 100y 8k
218r 170g 0b
#DAAA00

     

PMS 335
97c 6m 69y 18k
0r 123g 95b
#007B5F

PMS 347 (4-H)
100c 0m 86y 3k
0r 161g 96b
#00A160

PMS 348
96c 2m 100y 12k
0r 132g 61b
#00843D

PMS 349
90c 12m 95y 40k
4r 106g 56b
#046A38

PMS 359
40c 0m 50y 0k
161r 216g 132b
#A1D884

     

PMS 376
54c 0m 100y 0k
132r 189g 0b
#84BD00

PMS 377
50c 1m 100y 20k
122r 154g 1b
#7A9A01

PMS 383
29c 1m 100y 18k
168r 173g 0b
#A8AD00

PMS 389
21c 0m 85y 0k
208r 223g 0b
#D0DF00

PMS 575
55c 9m 95y 45k
103r 130g 58b
#67823A

     

PMS 7494
35c 5m 42y 14k
156r 175g 136b
#9CAF88

PMS 462
28c 48m 71y 73k
92r 70g 43b
#5C462B

PMS 464
11c 53m 94y 53k
139r 91g 41b
#8B5B29

PMS 471
5c 71m 100y 23k
184r 97g 37b
#B86125

PMS 513
53c 99m 0y 0k
147r 50g 142b
#93328E

     

PMS 520
67c 95m 4y 16k
100r 47g 108b
#642F6C

PMS 525
69c 100m 4y 45k
87r 44g 95b
#572C5F

PMS 526
73c 100m 0y 0k
112r 47g 138b
#702F8A

PMS 527
69c 99m 0y 0k
128r 49g 167b
#8031A7

The university’s official logos should always maintain maximum visibility over any background color or image. Where the color contrast is not high enough to distinguish the logo clearly, use the outline version of any logo.

  • Avoid the use of color combinations that are commonly identified with other colleges and universities such as black and yellow, blue and orange, etc.
  • Red is to be used extremely sparingly.
  • Use the SDSU brand colors only according to the formulas provided in this manual.
  • For printed documents, never rely on the output produced by a desktop color printer or by the appearance of colors on a computer monitor for true color accuracy.
    • Pantone matching system colors should be used whenever possible.
    • Lighting conditions in offices in addition to printer and monitor calibration typically do not match the Pantone matching system colors used by offset printers.
    • When printing projects in full color (i.e. four-color printing using CMYK process colors) it is strongly recommended to add a fifth color and use PMS 286 or 287 rather than build it through the CMYK process.
    • CMYK process blue should never be screened to a percentage less than 100 percent. If a screened background of the university blue is necessary, PMS 286 is the best option.