Wikipedia:WikiProject Elections and Referendums/USA legend colors/proposals

2023 proposal A

This is an extension of the 2022 proposal to new hues. It should be nearly visually indistinguishable from the 2022 proposal on the colors that the 2022 ramp provided. The only difference is the hues have been normalized to be identical per ramp and a <30% bin has been added (in practice, this should be used very rarely, but it is necessary for compatibility with the current downballot scheme).

In addition, this proposal produces ramps for each of the 360 possible hues, allowing us to both decide on precise hues for each party and also use this to select reasonable hues for primary candidates. In some cases, this could take the form of selecting a known associated color (e.g., Bernie Sanders is often represented with a cyan-ish blue), and in others it could just mean selecting several colors not associated with any major party (e.g., in Trump vs Cruz vs Rubio, none should be given red/green/blue/yellow as these all have inapplicable ideological implications).

The technique I used to generate these ramps, as well as several example maps, can be found at the github repository for this proposal [1]. Also included are maps made with the 2022 proposal and current presidential/downballot ramps for comparison.

Here are the ramps present in the 2022 proposal as well as a few selected others. Ramps for every hue are available on this subpage

Democratic [220]

Hex code	Percentage
#eef3fd	<30%
#dee8fb	30–40%
#b4c7ec	40–50%
#8da9e2	50–60%
#678cd7	60–70%
#4170cd	70–80%
#3358a2	80–90%
#244079	>90%

Republican [2]

Hex code	Percentage
#fdeeee	<30%
#fbdedd	30–40%
#f1b4b2	40–50%
#ed8783	50–60%
#e55651	60–70%
#d02923	70–80%
#b00600	80–90%
#850400	>90%

Green [134]

Hex code	Percentage
#ebf7ee	<30%
#d6efdc	30–40%
#a3d5af	40–50%
#73bc84	50–60%
#3fa457	60–70%
#008c21	70–80%
#006e1a	80–90%
#005113	>90%

Orange [32]

Hex code	Percentage
#fcf0e2	<30%
#f9e1c6	30–40%
#e8ba85	40–50%
#d79346	50–60%
#c56900	60–70%
#b25f00	70–80%
#904d00	80–90%
#6e3b00	>90%

Purple [280]

Hex code	Percentage
#f8effe	<30%
#f2dffc	30–40%
#dcb7ef	40–50%
#c88fe4	50–60%
#b368d9	60–70%
#9d40cc	70–80%
#7c31a2	80–90%
#5c2378	>90%

Yellow [48]

Hex code	Percentage
#f8f2de	<30%
#f0e6be	30–40%
#d7c477	40–50%
#c0a32f	50–60%
#a88600	60–70%
#907300	70–80%
#735c00	80–90%
#564500	>90%

Gray

Hex code	Percentage
#f3f3f3	<30%
#e7e7e7	30–40%
#c6c6c6	40–50%
#a9a9a9	50–60%
#8d8d8d	60–70%
#737373	70–80%
#5a5a5a	80–90%
#424242	>90%

Cyan [180]

Hex code	Percentage
#ecfafa	<30%
#daf5f5	30–40%
#ace1e1	40–50%
#81d0d0	50–60%
#53bfbf	60–70%
#1eafaf	70–80%
#178a8a	80–90%
#106666	>90%

Magenta [300]

Hex code	Percentage
#feeffe	<30%
#fcdffc	30–40%
#efb6ef	40–50%
#e68ce6	50–60%
#dc63dc	60–70%
#cd39cd	70–80%
#a526a5	80–90%
#7b1b7b	>90%

Magenta [336]

Hex code	Percentage
#fcebf2	<30%
#fad6e4	30–40%
#eea3c1	40–50%
#e66f9e	50–60%
#db3577	60–70%
#c6175d	70–80%
#a60042	80–90%
#7e0032	>90%

Alt Democratic [210]

Hex code	Percentage
#eef6fd	<30%
#deedfb	30–40%
#b4d0ec	40–50%
#8db8e2	50–60%
#679fd7	60–70%
#4187cd	70–80%
#336aa2	80–90%
#244e79	>90%

Alt Democratic [230]

Hex code	Percentage
#eef1fd	<30%
#dee3fb	30–40%
#b4beec	40–50%
#8d9be2	50–60%
#677ad7	60–70%
#4158cd	70–80%
#3345a2	80–90%
#243279	>90%

Alt Democratic [240]

Hex code	Percentage
#eeeefd	<30%
#dedefb	30–40%
#b5b5ed	40–50%
#8e8ee3	50–60%
#6767d8	60–70%
#4141cd	70–80%
#3232a2	80–90%
#242479	>90%

Alt Green [90]

Hex code	Percentage
#eef8e4	<30%
#ddf0ca	30–40%
#b1d68d	40–50%
#87be51	50–60%
#63a61f	60–70%
#478e00	70–80%
#387100	80–90%
#2a5400	>90%

Alt Green [160]

Hex code	Percentage
#ecf9f4	<30%
#d8f3ea	30–40%
#a8dccb	40–50%
#7bc7ae	50–60%
#4ab390	60–70%
#0fa070	70–80%
#0c7e58	80–90%
#085d41	>90%

Alt Orange [25]

Hex code	Percentage
#fcefe5	<30%
#f9dfcb	30–40%
#eab58f	40–50%
#dc8c53	50–60%
#cc5f11	60–70%
#b95107	70–80%
#973f00	80–90%
#733000	>90%

2022 proposal

The differences between the "presidential" and "downballot" color schemes have been frequently remarked upon. What should a new standard look like? Proposed solutions usually begin with some simple mathematics in HSV space. This makes sense, because an effective color ramp needs to have a smooth and linear change in lightness. However, simple approximations in HSV space often yield strange results, with saturation peaking in the rarely-used 0-20% or 80%-100% portions of the ramp. This does not facilitate human readability.

The following color ramps have been transformed into CIELAB color space, giving them a consistent and mathematically ideal lightness. However, they maintain a "conventional" saturation and value - i.e. they don't look too far off from traditional election color schemes used around the internet. In particular, their saturation peaks in the 50%-70% range, where a strong colour contrast is most needed on typical election maps.

Democratic

Hex code	Percentage
#dee8fb	30–40%
#b4c7ec	40–50%
#8da9e2	50–60%
#678cd7	60–70%
#416fcd	70–80%
#3357a2	80–90%
#244079	>90%

Republican

Hex code	Percentage
#fbe0dd	30–40%
#f1b5b2	40–50%
#ed8883	50–60%
#e55751	60–70%
#d02823	70–80%
#b00000	80–90%
#850000	>90%

Green

Hex code	Percentage
#d6efda	30–40%
#a3d5ac	40–50%
#73bc80	50–60%
#3fa455	60–70%
#008c29	70–80%
#006e1f	80–90%
#005116	>90%

Orange

Hex code	Percentage
#f9e4c6	30–40%
#e8bf85	40–50%
#d79c46	50–60%
#c57a00	60–70%
#b25700	70–80%
#904100	80–90%
#6e2c00	>90%

Purple

Hex code	Percentage
#f2dffc	30–40%
#dcb7ef	40–50%
#c88fe4	50–60%
#b368d9	60–70%
#9d40cc	70–80%
#7c31a2	80–90%
#5c2378	>90%

Yellow

Hex code	Percentage
#f0e8be	30–40%
#d7c877	40–50%
#c0a92f	50–60%
#a88c00	60–70%
#906f00	70–80%
#735700	80–90%
#563f00	>90%

Gray

Hex code	Percentage
#e7e7e7	30–40%
#c6c6c6	40–50%
#a9a9a9	50–60%
#8d8d8d	60–70%
#737373	70–80%
#5a5a5a	80–90%
#424242	>90%