Skip to content
cyan · cool

#189ccc

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

Token name suggestion: Dusk Lagoon

RGB
24, 156, 204
HSL
196°, 79%, 45%
CMYK
88, 24, 0, 20
Luminance
0.2833

#189ccc is a dark electric cyan, 196° on the wheel and 94/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.67:1). As text it scores 3.15:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(196 79% 45%)rgb(24 156 204)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #189ccc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#189ccc
Hue
196°
cyan
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
45%
dark
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
54%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2833
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
94/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
6.67:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 10.4
Chroma
37.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.650
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 5.4
Web-safe
#0099CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue196° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness45%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #189ccc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool94% 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
Red1%
Green84%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#189ccc
HEX (8-digit)#189cccff
RGBrgb(24, 156, 204)
RGBArgba(24, 156, 204, 1)
HSLhsl(196, 79%, 45%)
HSV / HSBhsv(196, 88%, 80%)
HWBhwb(196 9% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(88%, 24%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(60.2 -16.1 -33.9)
LCHlch(60.2 37.5 244.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.650 0.125 230.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(23.16, 28.33, 61.36)
Decimal1613004
Display P3color(display-p3 0.094 0.612 0.800)
Web-safe#0099CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #189ccc;
background-color: #189ccc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #189ccc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#189ccc] bg-[#189ccc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #189ccc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.094, green: 0.612, blue: 0.800)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.094, green: 0.612, blue: 0.800, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#189CCC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF189CCC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF189CCC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 156, 24)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(24, 156, 204)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(24, 156, 204)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 24, 156, 204)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0941f, 0.6118f, 0.8000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{24,156,204}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #189ccc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #189ccc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0D5772, #D3E7EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #189ccc 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: #F3FAFC;
  --brand-100: #E6F4F9;
  --brand-200: #C7E9F5;
  --brand-300: #9BDCF3;
  --brand-400: #68CAED;
  --brand-500: #36B8E7;
  --brand-600: #189ccc;
  --brand-700: #168CB6;
  --brand-800: #117092;
  --brand-900: #11526A;
  --brand-950: #0A3342;
  --brand: #189ccc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E1ED;
  --brand-hover: #1484AC;
  --brand-pressed: #116B8C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142024;
    --brand-ink: #D3E7EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3FAFC',
        100: '#E6F4F9',
        200: '#C7E9F5',
        300: '#9BDCF3',
        400: '#68CAED',
        500: '#36B8E7',
        600: '#189ccc',
        700: '#168CB6',
        800: '#117092',
        900: '#11526A',
        950: '#0A3342',
        DEFAULT: '#189ccc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3FAFC,
  '100': #E6F4F9,
  '200': #C7E9F5,
  '300': #9BDCF3,
  '400': #68CAED,
  '500': #36B8E7,
  '600': #189ccc,
  '700': #168CB6,
  '800': #117092,
  '900': #11526A,
  '950': #0A3342,
);
$brand-base: #189ccc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3FAFC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F4F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C7E9F5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9BDCF3", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#68CAED", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#36B8E7", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#189ccc", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#168CB6", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#117092", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#11526A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0A3342", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #189ccc · 6.67:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.15:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.67:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #189ccc as text scores 3.15:1 on white and 6.67:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0D5772 at 2.54:1.

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
#137DA3 · 4.68:1
AA on white−9% L
#137DA3
The quick fox
#0E5D7A · 7.33:1
AAA on white−18% L
#0E5D7A
The quick fox
#189ccc · 6.67:1
AA on blackalready passes
#189ccc
The quick fox
#19A3D5 · 7.24:1
AAA on black+2% L
#19A3D5

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #189CCC 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
#189ccc on white: 3.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#189ccc on black: 6.67:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #189ccc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #189ccc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.15:1AaAa
Slate 503.01:1AaAa
Slate 1002.88:1AaAa
Slate 2002.56:1AaAa
Slate 3002.12:1AaAa
Slate 4001.23:1AaAa
Slate 5001.51:1AaAa
Slate 6002.41:1AaAa
Slate 7003.29:1AaAa
Slate 8004.64:1AaAa
Slate 9005.67:1AaAa
Black6.67:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #839ACE
deuteranopia · #6D8ACB
tritanopia · #00A9AC

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. #189ccc 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.

#F3FAFC
#E6F4F9
#C7E9F5
#9BDCF3
#68CAED
#36B8E7
#189ccc
#168CB6
#117092
#11526A
#0A3342
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3FAFCDarkest = 950 · #0A3342Text 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 0.031 230.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.050 230.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.075 230.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.097 230.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.115 230.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.125 230.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.125 230.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.117 230.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.105 230.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.087 230.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.069 230.0);
}

Colors that work with #189ccc

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#C0E1ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B859B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D01713
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D5772
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F7FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
Dark-mode background
Hover#1484AC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#116B8C
Two steps down
Disabled#97B3BD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#0EB0EB
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 #189ccc

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #0D5772
Safe as a 1px border on white
Yes

Meaning and mood

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

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The low lightness adds weight and formality.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityHigh
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight55/100
  • 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#CC4818
Analogous left#18CCA2
Analogous right#1842CC
Split-complement 1#CC1842
Split-complement 2#CCA218
Triadic 1#CC189C
Triadic 2#9CCC18
Tetradic#A218CC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°196°

#189ccc sits at 196°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red9.4%
Green61.2%
Blue80.0%
R · 0–255
24
0x18
G · 0–255
156
0x9c
B · 0–255
204
0xcc

CMYK percentages

Cyan88.2%
Magenta23.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Total ink coverage is 132%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#189ccc text on a black background

contrast 6.67:1

Card sample

#189ccc text on a white background

contrast 3.15:1

Card sample

#189ccc on grey

2.88:1

#189ccc on its own surface

2.97:1

#189ccc on its dark surface

5.28:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #189ccc;
Background color
Panel with #189ccc background
background-color: #189ccc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #189ccc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(24, 156, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(24, 156, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #189ccc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #189ccc, #1824CC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #189ccc, #3918CC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #189ccc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #189ccc;
caret-color: #189ccc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #189ccc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8F7FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #189ccc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#189ccc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #189ccc 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(24, 156, 204, 0.5)
rgb(24 156 204 / 50%)
#189ccc80
hsl(196 79% 45% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #189ccc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#189ccc1a#E8F5FA
20%#189ccc33#D1EBF5
40%#189ccc66#A3D7EB
60%#189ccc99#74C4E0
80%#189ccccc#46B0D6

Gradients from #189ccc

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, #39B9E8, #189ccc 45%, #0D5772);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #189ccc, #1715B1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #189ccc, #CC4818);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #55C3EB 0%, #189ccc 45%, #0D5772 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #30E7AD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #1E3CE4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0D5772 0%, transparent 65%), #189ccc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #189ccc

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.

#189ccc 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.

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 6.67:1.

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.

#189ccc, answered

What color is #189ccc?

#189ccc is a dark electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 10.4). It sits at 196° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 45% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #189ccc?

rgb(24, 156, 204) — 24 red, 156 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 9.4% / 61.2% / 80% by channel.

What is #189ccc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(196, 79%, 45%) and hsv(196, 88%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #189ccc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2833 and perceived brightness is 54%, so black text on it reaches 6.67:1.

Should I use black or white text on #189ccc?

Black. It scores 6.67:1 against #189ccc, versus 3.15:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #189ccc accessible on a white background?

#189ccc on white scores 3.15:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #137DA3 to reach 4.5:1, or #0E5D7A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #189ccc?

#CC4818 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CC1842 and #CCA218, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #189ccc?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E1ED for borders, #4B859B for secondary text, #D01713 as an accent and #0D5772 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #18CCA2 and #1842CC stays calm, while #CC4818 is the loudest partner.

What is #189ccc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(88%, 24%, 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 #189ccc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 94 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #18CCBA; nudged cooler, #1684CE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #189ccc?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 5.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #189ccc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #189ccc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#189ccc] or text-[#189ccc], 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 #189ccc with 50% opacity?

rgba(24, 156, 204, 0.5), or #189ccc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #8CCEE6; over black, #0C4E66.

Is #189ccc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #0099CC, ΔE2000 1.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #189ccc mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #189ccc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #39B9E8, #189ccc 45%, #0D5772). For more colour, a short hue run to #1715B1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #189ccc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #189ccc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.