Skip to content

#08a7cd

a dark, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

RGB
8, 167, 205
HSL
192°, 93%, 42%
CMYK
96, 19, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3210

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #08a7cd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#08a7cd
Hue
192°
cyan
Saturation
93%
electric
Lightness
42%
dark
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
57%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3210
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
7.42:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 9.3
Where it sits
Hue192° of 360°
Saturation93%
Lightness42%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% cool

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

Every format

HEX#08a7cd
RGBrgb(8, 167, 205)
HSLhsl(192, 93%, 42%)
CMYKcmyk(96%, 19%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(63.4 -22.3 -29.4)
LCHlch(63.4 36.9 232.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.675 0.124 221.9)
Decimal567245
Display P3color(display-p3 0.031 0.655 0.804)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #08a7cd;
background-color: #08a7cd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#08a7cd] bg-[#08a7cd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #08a7cd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.031, green: 0.655, blue: 0.804)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#08a7cd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF08A7CD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 167, 8)

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 #08a7cd · 7.42:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.83:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.42:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #08a7cd as text scores 2.83:1 on white and 7.42:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#08a7cd on white: 2.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#08a7cd on black: 7.42:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #91A3CF
deuteranopia · #7A92CD
tritanopia · #00B3B3

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #08a7cd is pinned to step 700; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F2FBFD
#E4F7FB
#C3EFF9
#93E7FB
#5DDBF9
#27CEF7
#09C0EC
#08a7cd
#06809D
#095D71
#063A47
Base = 700Lightest = 50 · #F2FBFDDarkest = 950 · #063A47
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FBFD;
  --brand-100: #E4F7FB;
  --brand-200: #C3EFF9;
  --brand-300: #93E7FB;
  --brand-400: #5DDBF9;
  --brand-500: #27CEF7;
  --brand-600: #09C0EC;
  --brand-700: #08a7cd;
  --brand-800: #06809D;
  --brand-900: #095D71;
  --brand-950: #063A47;
  --brand: #08a7cd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #08a7cd

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E4ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8B9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D1040F
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#05647B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F9FE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #08a7cd

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
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Black text placed on it
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#CD2E08
Analogous left#08CD91
Analogous right#0844CD
Split-complement 1#CD0844
Split-complement 2#CD9108
Triadic 1#CD08A7
Triadic 2#A7CD08
Tetradic#9108CD

RGB percentages

Red3.1%
Green65.5%
Blue80.4%

CMYK percentages

Cyan96.1%
Magenta18.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Color previews

#08a7cd text on a black background

contrast 7.42:1

Card sample

#08a7cd text on a white background

contrast 2.83:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #08a7cd;
Background color
Panel with #08a7cd background
background-color: #08a7cd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #08a7cd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(8, 167, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(8, 167, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #08a7cd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #08a7cd, #0824CD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #08a7cd

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#08a7cd in the real world

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

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

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

#08a7cd, answered

What color is #08a7cd?

#08a7cd is a dark electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 9.3). It sits at 192° on the hue wheel with 93% saturation and 42% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #08a7cd?

rgb(8, 167, 205) — 8 red, 167 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 3.1% / 65.5% / 80.4% by channel.

Is #08a7cd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3210 and perceived brightness is 57%, so black text on it reaches 7.42:1.

Should I use black or white text on #08a7cd?

Black. It scores 7.42:1 against #08a7cd, versus 2.83:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #08a7cd?

#CD2E08 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD0844 and #CD9108, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #08a7cd?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E4ED for borders, #4B8B9B for secondary text, #D1040F as an accent and #05647B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #08CD91 and #0844CD stays calm, while #CD2E08 is the loudest partner.

What is #08a7cd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(96%, 19%, 0%, 20%). 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 #08a7cd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #08CDAB; nudged cooler, #0687CF.

Work with #08a7cd in the Color Lab