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blue · cool

#059cf3

a balanced, electric blue · cool · closest name: Dodger Blue

Token name suggestion: Atlas Harbour

RGB
5, 156, 243
HSL
202°, 96%, 49%
CMYK
98, 36, 0, 5
Luminance
0.3028

#059cf3 is a balanced electric blue, 202° on the wheel and 97/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.06:1). As text it scores 2.98:1 on white — use #047CC1 instead. Nearest name is Dodger Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(202 96% 49%)rgb(5 156 243)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #059cf3 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#059cf3
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
96%
electric
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3028
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
7.06:1
Closest name
Dodger Blue
ΔE2000 5.7
Chroma
52.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.669
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 4.7
Web-safe
#0099FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation96%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #059cf3.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Luminance by channel
Red0%
Green79%
Blue21%

Green carries most of what the eye calls brightness — that is why WCAG weights it 0.7152.

Every format

HEX#059cf3
HEX (8-digit)#059cf3ff
RGBrgb(5, 156, 243)
RGBArgba(5, 156, 243, 1)
HSLhsl(202, 96%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(202, 98%, 95%)
HWBhwb(202 2% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(98%, 36%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(61.9 -2.6 -52.8)
LCHlch(61.9 52.9 267.2)
OKLCHoklch(0.669 0.167 244.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(28.12, 30.28, 89.14)
Decimal367859
Display P3color(display-p3 0.020 0.612 0.953)
Web-safe#0099FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #059cf3;
background-color: #059cf3;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #059cf3;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#059cf3] bg-[#059cf3]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #059cf3;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.020, green: 0.612, blue: 0.953)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.020, green: 0.612, blue: 0.953, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#059CF3</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF059CF3)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF059CF3)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(243, 156, 5)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(5, 156, 243)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(5, 156, 243)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 5, 156, 243)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0196f, 0.6118f, 0.9529f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{5,156,243}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #059cf3 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #059cf3 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#03507D, #D3E4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #059cf3 h s calc(l - 7));

Design tokens

The same ramp in the four formats a team actually needs. Paste one and the whole palette lands with it.

css custom propertiesclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1F9FD;
  --brand-100: #E4F3FC;
  --brand-200: #C1E6FA;
  --brand-300: #91D5FD;
  --brand-400: #5AC1FC;
  --brand-500: #23ACFB;
  --brand-600: #059cf3;
  --brand-700: #0480C8;
  --brand-800: #0367A0;
  --brand-900: #074C73;
  --brand-950: #042F48;
  --brand: #059cf3;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DCED;
  --brand-hover: #0486D0;
  --brand-pressed: #046FAD;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F1F9FD',
        100: '#E4F3FC',
        200: '#C1E6FA',
        300: '#91D5FD',
        400: '#5AC1FC',
        500: '#23ACFB',
        600: '#059cf3',
        700: '#0480C8',
        800: '#0367A0',
        900: '#074C73',
        950: '#042F48',
        DEFAULT: '#059cf3',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F1F9FD,
  '100': #E4F3FC,
  '200': #C1E6FA,
  '300': #91D5FD,
  '400': #5AC1FC,
  '500': #23ACFB,
  '600': #059cf3,
  '700': #0480C8,
  '800': #0367A0,
  '900': #074C73,
  '950': #042F48,
);
$brand-base: #059cf3;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F1F9FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4F3FC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C1E6FA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#91D5FD", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5AC1FC", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#23ACFB", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#059cf3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0480C8", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0367A0", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#074C73", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#042F48", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#000000", "$type": "color" }
  }
}

Best text color

Only one of black and white can be right. This is the one, with the number that proves it.

Readable at a glance#000000 on #059cf3 · 7.06:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.98:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.06:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #059cf3 as text scores 2.98:1 on white and 7.06:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #03507D at 2.88:1.

Make it accessible

A contrast checker tells you that you failed. This tells you what to ship instead — same hue, same saturation, lightness moved only as far as WCAG demands.

The quick fox
#047CC1 · 4.51:1
AA on white−10% L
#047CC1
The quick fox
#035C8F · 7.16:1
AAA on white−20% L
#035C8F
The quick fox
#059cf3 · 7.06:1
AA on blackalready passes
#059cf3
The quick fox
#059cf3 · 7.06:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#059cf3

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #0599EE is enough for headings on white. Non-text elements such as icons, chart strokes and focus rings also sit at 3:1 under WCAG 2.2 (1.4.11).

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#059cf3 on white: 2.98:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#059cf3 on black: 7.06:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #059cf3 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #059cf3.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.98:1AaAa
Slate 502.84:1AaAa
Slate 1002.72:1AaAa
Slate 2002.41:1AaAa
Slate 3002.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5001.60:1AaAa
Slate 6002.55:1AaAa
Slate 7003.48:1AaAa
Slate 8004.92:1AaAa
Slate 9006.00:1AaAa
Black7.06:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #71A0F7
deuteranopia · #518DF1
tritanopia · #00B1BC

Roughly one man in twelve has some form of colour vision deficiency. If any of the three panels above is hard to tell apart from a neighbouring colour in your palette, add a shape, an icon or a label so the meaning does not rest on hue alone.

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #059cf3 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1F9FD
#E4F3FC
#C1E6FA
#91D5FD
#5AC1FC
#23ACFB
#059cf3
#0480C8
#0367A0
#074C73
#042F48
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F1F9FDDarkest = 950 · #042F48Text step on white = 800
Perceptual ramp — OKLCH

The same eleven steps expressed in OKLCH, where equal lightness numbers actually look equally spaced. HSL ramps go muddy in the yellows and washed out in the blues; this one does not. Modern browsers render it natively — the hex ramp above is the fallback.

50100200300400500600700800900950
oklch tokensclick to select
:root {
  --brand-50: oklch(0.97 0.042 244.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.067 244.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.100 244.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.130 244.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.153 244.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.167 244.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.167 244.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.157 244.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.140 244.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.117 244.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.092 244.8);
}

Colors that work with #059cf3

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#000000
Black wins here
Surface#F4F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0DCED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7E9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F81D00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#03507D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F6FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#0486D0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#046FAD
Two steps down
Disabled#A4B8C5
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#0DA7FF
Offset from the fill so it reads
Light mode
Everything in its place

Surface, border, heading and body all derive from this one hue, so the screen stays coherent without a second palette.

Primary actionSecondaryBadge
Dark mode
Same hue, inverted

Lightness flips, hue holds. The accent stays the anchor in both themes.

Primary actionSecondaryAccent

In real components

The same eight roles, wired into the interface patterns you will actually build with them. Every state below is a computed value, not a mock-up.

Buttons and states
Save changesHoverPressedDisabled
OutlineSubtleLinkFocused
Form field
you@company.com

Focus ring uses the light variant so the field still reads as one shape.

Send me product updates
Notice
Your export is ready

The file stays available for seven days. Download it before it expires.

NewBetaDraft
Data
Storage used68%
Acme LtdActive
NorthwindTrial
GlobexActive

How to use #059cf3

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Primary buttons and calls to action
  • Focus rings, active and selected states
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #03507D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #0599EE

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight51/100
  • TemperatureCool
  • ApproachabilityReserved

Colour associations are cultural and vary by market. Treat these as a starting point for a conversation with your audience, not a finding about them.

Similar colors

One move away from this hex in each direction. Every swatch is its own page.

Color relationships

The wheel positions with their names attached, so you can grab the one you actually need.

Complementary#F35C05
Analogous left#05F3D3
Analogous right#0525F3
Split-complement 1#F30525
Split-complement 2#F3D305
Triadic 1#F3059C
Triadic 2#9CF305
Tetradic#D305F3
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°202°

#059cf3 sits at 202°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red2.0%
Green61.2%
Blue95.3%
R · 0–255
5
0x05
G · 0–255
156
0x9c
B · 0–255
243
0xf3

CMYK percentages

Cyan97.9%
Magenta35.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)4.7%

Total ink coverage is 138%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#059cf3 text on a black background

contrast 7.06:1

Card sample

#059cf3 text on a white background

contrast 2.98:1

Card sample

#059cf3 on grey

2.72:1

#059cf3 on its own surface

2.79:1

#059cf3 on its dark surface

5.69:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #059cf3;
Background color
Panel with #059cf3 background
background-color: #059cf3;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #059cf3;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(5, 156, 243, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(5, 156, 243, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #059cf3;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #059cf3, #0C05F3);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #059cf3, #4805F3);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #059cf3;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #059cf3;
caret-color: #059cf3;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #059cf3;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6F6FE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #059cf3;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#059cf3 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #059cf3 over white; the bottom row is the same alpha over a checkerboard, so you can see what survives on a photo or a video.

Bottom row of hexes is the flattened result over white — use those when a design tool refuses transparency, or when you need a solid fallback.

alpha in every syntaxclick to select
rgba(5, 156, 243, 0.5)
rgb(5 156 243 / 50%)
#059cf380
hsl(202 96% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #059cf3 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#059cf31a#E6F5FE
20%#059cf333#CDEBFD
40%#059cf366#9BD7FA
60%#059cf399#69C4F8
80%#059cf3cc#37B0F5

Gradients from #059cf3

Six recipes, each built from this hex and shown with the exact CSS that produced it.

Elevation
Same hue, three lightnesses — safe anywhere
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3AB5FB, #059cf3 45%, #03507D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #059cf3, #1C04D5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #059cf3, #F35C05);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #58C0FC 0%, #059cf3 45%, #03507D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F8FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #30FBCF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #1C28FA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #03507D 0%, transparent 65%), #059cf3;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #059cf3

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

Tones — desaturated

Color harmonies

Nearest named colors

Ranked with CIEDE2000 across all 139 CSS keywords. Under ΔE 2 the eye stops telling them apart; over ΔE 10 they are plainly different colors.

#059cf3 in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 7.06:1.

Explore nearby colors

Small, deliberate steps away from this hex — useful when you are hunting for the version of a colour that finally feels right.

#059cf3, answered

What color is #059cf3?

#059cf3 is a balanced electric blue, closest to Dodger Blue (ΔE2000 5.7). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 96% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #059cf3?

rgb(5, 156, 243) — 5 red, 156 green and 243 blue out of 255, or 2% / 61.2% / 95.3% by channel.

What is #059cf3 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(202, 96%, 49%) and hsv(202, 98%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #059cf3 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3028 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 7.06:1.

Should I use black or white text on #059cf3?

Black. It scores 7.06:1 against #059cf3, versus 2.98:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #059cf3 accessible on a white background?

#059cf3 on white scores 2.98:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #047CC1 to reach 4.5:1, or #035C8F for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #059cf3?

#F35C05 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F30525 and #F3D305, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #059cf3?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DCED for borders, #4B7E9B for secondary text, #F81D00 as an accent and #03507D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #05F3D3 and #0525F3 stays calm, while #F35C05 is the loudest partner.

What is #059cf3 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(98%, 36%, 0%, 5%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #059cf3 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #05F3F3; nudged cooler, #027DDC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #059cf3?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 4.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #059cf3 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #059cf3 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#059cf3] or text-[#059cf3], or register the whole ramp under theme.extend.colors.brand so you get bg-brand-500 and friends. The generated 50–950 scale on this page is ready to paste into your config.

What is #059cf3 with 50% opacity?

rgba(5, 156, 243, 0.5), or #059cf380 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #82CEF9; over black, #034E7A.

Is #059cf3 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #0099FF, ΔE2000 2.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #059cf3 mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #059cf3?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #3AB5FB, #059cf3 45%, #03507D). For more colour, a short hue run to #1C04D5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #059cf3 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #059cf3 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.