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#11ceeb

a balanced, electric cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

RGB
17, 206, 235
HSL
188°, 87%, 49%
CMYK
93, 12, 0, 8
Luminance
0.5026

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #11ceeb is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#11ceeb
Hue
188°
cyan
Saturation
87%
electric
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5026
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.05:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 8.3
Where it sits
Hue188° of 360°
Saturation87%
Lightness49%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#11ceeb
RGBrgb(17, 206, 235)
HSLhsl(188, 87%, 49%)
CMYKcmyk(93%, 12%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(76.2 -31.5 -26.1)
LCHlch(76.2 40.9 219.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.783 0.135 212.7)
Decimal1167083
Display P3color(display-p3 0.067 0.808 0.922)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #11ceeb;
background-color: #11ceeb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#11ceeb] bg-[#11ceeb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #11ceeb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.067, green: 0.808, blue: 0.922)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#11ceeb")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF11CEEB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(235, 206, 17)

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 #11ceeb · 11.05:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.05:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #11ceeb as text scores 1.90:1 on white and 11.05:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#11ceeb on white: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#11ceeb on black: 11.05:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B8C7ED
deuteranopia · #9EB4EB
tritanopia · #00D9D7

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #11ceeb 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.

#F2FBFD
#E5F7FA
#C4F0F7
#96EAF7
#62E0F4
#2ED6F0
#11ceeb
#0EA7BE
#0B8598
#0C616E
#083D45
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F2FBFDDarkest = 950 · #083D45
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2FBFD;
  --brand-100: #E5F7FA;
  --brand-200: #C4F0F7;
  --brand-300: #96EAF7;
  --brand-400: #62E0F4;
  --brand-500: #2ED6F0;
  --brand-600: #11ceeb;
  --brand-700: #0EA7BE;
  --brand-800: #0B8598;
  --brand-900: #0C616E;
  --brand-950: #083D45;
  --brand: #11ceeb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #11ceeb

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#F4FAFA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E7ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B909B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F00C27
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#096877
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7FAFD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #11ceeb

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
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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#EB2E11
Analogous left#11EB9B
Analogous right#1161EB
Split-complement 1#EB1161
Split-complement 2#EB9B11
Triadic 1#EB11CE
Triadic 2#CEEB11
Tetradic#9B11EB

RGB percentages

Red6.7%
Green80.8%
Blue92.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan92.8%
Magenta12.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.8%

Color previews

#11ceeb text on a black background

contrast 11.05:1

Card sample

#11ceeb text on a white background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #11ceeb;
Background color
Panel with #11ceeb background
background-color: #11ceeb;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #11ceeb;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(17, 206, 235, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(17, 206, 235, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #11ceeb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #11ceeb, #113DEB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #11ceeb

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.

#11ceeb 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.

#11ceeb, answered

What color is #11ceeb?

#11ceeb is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 8.3). It sits at 188° on the hue wheel with 87% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #11ceeb?

rgb(17, 206, 235) — 17 red, 206 green and 235 blue out of 255, or 6.7% / 80.8% / 92.2% by channel.

Is #11ceeb a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5026 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 11.05:1.

Should I use black or white text on #11ceeb?

Black. It scores 11.05:1 against #11ceeb, versus 1.90:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #11ceeb?

#EB2E11 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EB1161 and #EB9B11, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #11ceeb?

For interface work: #F4FAFA as the surface, #C0E7ED for borders, #4B909B for secondary text, #F00C27 as an accent and #096877 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #11EB9B and #1161EB stays calm, while #EB2E11 is the loudest partner.

What is #11ceeb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(93%, 12%, 0%, 8%). 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 #11ceeb warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #11EBB8; nudged cooler, #0EA6ED.

Work with #11ceeb in the Color Lab