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Complementary colours
Complementary colours are pairs on opposite sides of the colour wheel that create strong contrast.
Complementary colours, schematic. Shapes are drawn for illustration.
What the sources say
| Point | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Effect | Placed side by side, complements make each other appear brighter | Wikipedia |
| Mixing | Combined or mixed, they cancel each other out | Wikipedia |
| RGB and CMY pairs | Red and cyan, green and magenta, blue and yellow | Wikipedia |
| Which wheel | The pairs depend on the wheel used, so state which wheel you mean; the RGB and CMY pairs are listed above | Wikipedia |
| Scheme | A complementary scheme uses colours opposite each other on the wheel | University of Georgia |
For wall art
In a room, a small complementary accent can lift a large neutral or single-colour wall; see the colour-matching guide for the hue-angle arithmetic.
Where the sources stop
On the traditional red-yellow-blue wheel the pairs differ from the RGB and CMY pairs, so always say which wheel is meant.
Sources
- Wikipedia: Complementary colors (fetched 2026-11-12)
- Sessions College: a guide to color theory (fetched 2026-11-12)
- University of Georgia Extension: landscape basics, color theory (fetched 2026-11-12)
Figures from these pages are paraphrased; each page was fetched and read on 2026-11-12. Where two sources differ, both are shown.