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Complementary color
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A circular RYB color wheel divided into twelve segments, showing a progression of colors from red, orange, and yellow to green, blue, and violet.
A close up image of a digital color-picker, showing shades of greens, yellows, reds, pinks, and blues.
(Left) Additive and (right) subtractive methods of colour combination
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A circular RYB color wheel divided into twelve segments, showing a progression of colors from red, orange, and yellow to green, blue, and violet.
Color wheel The RYB color model is being illustrated on a color wheel.

Complementary color

art and science
Also known as: complementary colour
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Complementary color, one of a pair of colors that are opposite each other on the traditional color wheel.

A close up image of a digital color-picker, showing shades of greens, yellows, reds, pinks, and blues.
Who Created the Color Wheel?For centuries, people believed that all colors were a mixture of black and white. How did we learn otherwise?
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The complementary color to one of the primary hues—red, yellow, and blue—is the mixture of the other two; complementary to red, for example, is green, which is blue mixed with yellow. When complementary pairs are juxtaposed, mutual enhancement of color intensity results. For instance, red and green are more intense when they are next to each other than either would be if surrounded by harmonious hues. The 19th-century physicist Michel-Eugène Chevreul referred to this mutual exaltation of opposites as the law of simultaneous contrast.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Alicja Zelazko.