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cyan · cool

#199cdd

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Lagoon

RGB
25, 156, 221
HSL
200°, 80%, 48%
CMYK
89, 29, 0, 13
Luminance
0.2920

#199cdd is a balanced electric cyan, 200° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.84:1). As text it scores 3.07:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Dodger Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(200 80% 48%)rgb(25 156 221)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #199cdd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#199cdd
Hue
200°
cyan
Saturation
80%
electric
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2920
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
6.84:1
Closest name
Dodger Blue
ΔE2000 8.3
Chroma
43.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.658
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 2.8
Web-safe
#0099CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue200° of 360°
Saturation80%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #199cdd.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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%
Green81%
Blue18%

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

Every format

HEX#199cdd
HEX (8-digit)#199cddff
RGBrgb(25, 156, 221)
RGBArgba(25, 156, 221, 1)
HSLhsl(200, 80%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(200, 89%, 87%)
HWBhwb(200 10% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(89%, 29%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(61.0 -9.9 -42.1)
LCHlch(61.0 43.3 256.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.658 0.141 238.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(25.34, 29.20, 72.69)
Decimal1678557
Display P3color(display-p3 0.098 0.612 0.867)
Web-safe#0099CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #199cdd;
background-color: #199cdd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #199cdd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#199cdd] bg-[#199cdd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #199cdd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.098, green: 0.612, blue: 0.867)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.098, green: 0.612, blue: 0.867, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#199CDD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF199CDD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF199CDD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(221, 156, 25)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(25, 156, 221)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(25, 156, 221)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 25, 156, 221)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.0980f, 0.6118f, 0.8667f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{25,156,221}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #199cdd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #199cdd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#0D5173, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #199cdd 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: #F3F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E6F3F9;
  --brand-200: #C7E6F5;
  --brand-300: #9AD6F4;
  --brand-400: #68C1EE;
  --brand-500: #35ADE8;
  --brand-600: #199cdd;
  --brand-700: #1581B7;
  --brand-800: #116793;
  --brand-900: #104C6A;
  --brand-950: #0A3042;
  --brand: #199cdd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DEED;
  --brand-hover: #1585BD;
  --brand-pressed: #126F9D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F9FC',
        100: '#E6F3F9',
        200: '#C7E6F5',
        300: '#9AD6F4',
        400: '#68C1EE',
        500: '#35ADE8',
        600: '#199cdd',
        700: '#1581B7',
        800: '#116793',
        900: '#104C6A',
        950: '#0A3042',
        DEFAULT: '#199cdd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F9FC,
  '100': #E6F3F9,
  '200': #C7E6F5,
  '300': #9AD6F4,
  '400': #68C1EE,
  '500': #35ADE8,
  '600': #199cdd,
  '700': #1581B7,
  '800': #116793,
  '900': #104C6A,
  '950': #0A3042,
);
$brand-base: #199cdd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F9FC", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E6F3F9", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C7E6F5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9AD6F4", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#68C1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#35ADE8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#199cdd", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1581B7", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#116793", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#104C6A", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0A3042", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #199cdd · 6.84:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.07:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.84:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #199cdd as text scores 3.07:1 on white and 6.84:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #0D5173 at 2.80:1.

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
#147CAF · 4.63:1
AA on white−10% L
#147CAF
The quick fox
#0F5E86 · 7.08:1
AAA on white−19% L
#0F5E86
The quick fox
#199cdd · 6.84:1
AA on blackalready passes
#199cdd
The quick fox
#199FE1 · 7.09:1
AAA on black+1% L
#199FE1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #199CDD 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
#199cdd on white: 3.07:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#199cdd on black: 6.84:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #199cdd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #199cdd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.07:1AaAa
Slate 502.93:1AaAa
Slate 1002.80:1AaAa
Slate 2002.49:1AaAa
Slate 3002.07:1AaAa
Slate 4001.20:1AaAa
Slate 5001.55:1AaAa
Slate 6002.47:1AaAa
Slate 7003.37:1AaAa
Slate 8004.77:1AaAa
Slate 9005.82:1AaAa
Black6.84:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7C9CE0
deuteranopia · #638CDC
tritanopia · #00ADB3

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. #199cdd 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.

#F3F9FC
#E6F3F9
#C7E6F5
#9AD6F4
#68C1EE
#35ADE8
#199cdd
#1581B7
#116793
#104C6A
#0A3042
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0A3042Text 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 0.035 238.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.056 238.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.084 238.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.110 238.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.129 238.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.141 238.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.141 238.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.132 238.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.118 238.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.098 238.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.077 238.2);
}

Colors that work with #199cdd

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#C0DEED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B809B
Captions on the surface
Accent#E22514
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D5173
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F6FC
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#1585BD
One step down in lightness
Pressed#126F9D
Two steps down
Disabled#A2B9C4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#18AAF2
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 #199cdd

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
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #0D5173
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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

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

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#DD5A19
Analogous left#19DDBC
Analogous right#193ADD
Split-complement 1#DD193A
Split-complement 2#DDBC19
Triadic 1#DD199C
Triadic 2#9CDD19
Tetradic#BC19DD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°200°

#199cdd sits at 200°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red9.8%
Green61.2%
Blue86.7%
R · 0–255
25
0x19
G · 0–255
156
0x9c
B · 0–255
221
0xdd

CMYK percentages

Cyan88.7%
Magenta29.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)13.3%

Total ink coverage is 131%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#199cdd text on a black background

contrast 6.84:1

Card sample

#199cdd text on a white background

contrast 3.07:1

Card sample

#199cdd on grey

2.80:1

#199cdd on its own surface

2.87:1

#199cdd on its dark surface

5.47:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #199cdd;
Background color
Panel with #199cdd background
background-color: #199cdd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #199cdd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(25, 156, 221, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(25, 156, 221, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #199cdd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #199cdd, #1919DD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #199cdd, #4A19DD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #199cdd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #199cdd;
caret-color: #199cdd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #199cdd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E8F6FC;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #199cdd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#199cdd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #199cdd 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(25, 156, 221, 0.5)
rgb(25 156 221 / 50%)
#199cdd80
hsl(200 80% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #199cdd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#199cdd1a#E8F5FC
20%#199cdd33#D1EBF8
40%#199cdd66#A3D7F1
60%#199cdd99#75C4EB
80%#199cddcc#47B0E4

Gradients from #199cdd

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, #49B5EA, #199cdd 45%, #0D5173);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #199cdd, #2416C1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #199cdd, #DD5A19);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #64C0EE 0%, #199cdd 45%, #0D5173 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%, #3FE9BF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #2D3DE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #0D5173 0%, transparent 65%), #199cdd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #199cdd

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.

#199cdd 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 6.84:1.

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.

#199cdd, answered

What color is #199cdd?

#199cdd is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Dodger Blue (ΔE2000 8.3). It sits at 200° on the hue wheel with 80% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #199cdd?

rgb(25, 156, 221) — 25 red, 156 green and 221 blue out of 255, or 9.8% / 61.2% / 86.7% by channel.

What is #199cdd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(200, 80%, 48%) and hsv(200, 89%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #199cdd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2920 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 6.84:1.

Should I use black or white text on #199cdd?

Black. It scores 6.84:1 against #199cdd, versus 3.07:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #199cdd accessible on a white background?

#199cdd on white scores 3.07:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #147CAF to reach 4.5:1, or #0F5E86 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #199cdd?

#DD5A19 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DD193A and #DDBC19, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #199cdd?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DEED for borders, #4B809B for secondary text, #E22514 as an accent and #0D5173 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #19DDBC and #193ADD stays calm, while #DD5A19 is the loudest partner.

What is #199cdd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(89%, 29%, 0%, 13%). 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 #199cdd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #19DDD6; nudged cooler, #147BC8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #199cdd?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 2.8 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #199cdd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#199cdd] or text-[#199cdd], 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 #199cdd with 50% opacity?

rgba(25, 156, 221, 0.5), or #199cdd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #8CCEEE; over black, #0D4E6F.

Is #199cdd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #0099CC, ΔE2000 4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #199cdd 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 #199cdd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #49B5EA, #199cdd 45%, #0D5173). For more colour, a short hue run to #2416C1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #199cdd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #199cdd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.