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cyan · cool

#239fd8

a balanced, vivid cyan · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

Token name suggestion: True Teal

RGB
35, 159, 216
HSL
199°, 72%, 49%
CMYK
84, 26, 0, 15
Luminance
0.3011

#239fd8 is a balanced vivid cyan, 199° on the wheel and 95/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.02:1). As text it scores 2.99:1 on white — use #1B7BA8 instead. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(199 72% 49%)rgb(35 159 216)Base step 600AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #239fd8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#239fd8
Hue
199°
cyan
Saturation
72%
vivid
Lightness
49%
balanced
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3011
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.02:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 9.2
Chroma
40.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.664
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 2.7
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue199° of 360°
Saturation72%
Lightness49%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #239fd8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool95% 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%
Green82%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#239fd8
HEX (8-digit)#239fd8ff
RGBrgb(35, 159, 216)
RGBArgba(35, 159, 216, 1)
HSLhsl(199, 72%, 49%)
HSV / HSBhsv(199, 84%, 85%)
HWBhwb(199 14% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(84%, 26%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(61.8 -12.7 -38.1)
LCHlch(61.8 40.2 251.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.664 0.132 234.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(25.48, 30.11, 69.42)
Decimal2334680
Display P3color(display-p3 0.137 0.624 0.847)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #239fd8;
background-color: #239fd8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #239fd8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#239fd8] bg-[#239fd8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #239fd8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.137, green: 0.624, blue: 0.847)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.137, green: 0.624, blue: 0.847, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#239FD8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF239FD8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF239FD8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(216, 159, 35)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(35, 159, 216)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(35, 159, 216)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 35, 159, 216)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1373f, 0.6235f, 0.8471f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{35,159,216}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #239fd8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #239fd8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#12516E, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #239fd8 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: #E7F3F8;
  --brand-200: #C9E6F3;
  --brand-300: #9ED6EF;
  --brand-400: #6EC1E8;
  --brand-500: #3EADE0;
  --brand-600: #239fd8;
  --brand-700: #1C81B0;
  --brand-800: #17678C;
  --brand-900: #154C66;
  --brand-950: #0D3040;
  --brand: #239fd8;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DFED;
  --brand-hover: #1E88B9;
  --brand-pressed: #19729A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F9FC',
        100: '#E7F3F8',
        200: '#C9E6F3',
        300: '#9ED6EF',
        400: '#6EC1E8',
        500: '#3EADE0',
        600: '#239fd8',
        700: '#1C81B0',
        800: '#17678C',
        900: '#154C66',
        950: '#0D3040',
        DEFAULT: '#239fd8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F9FC,
  '100': #E7F3F8,
  '200': #C9E6F3,
  '300': #9ED6EF,
  '400': #6EC1E8,
  '500': #3EADE0,
  '600': #239fd8,
  '700': #1C81B0,
  '800': #17678C,
  '900': #154C66,
  '950': #0D3040,
);
$brand-base: #239fd8;
$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": "#E7F3F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C9E6F3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9ED6EF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#6EC1E8", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3EADE0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#239fd8", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1C81B0", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#17678C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#154C66", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0D3040", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #239fd8 · 7.02:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.99:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #239fd8 as text scores 2.99:1 on white and 7.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #12516E at 2.89:1.

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
#1B7BA8 · 4.72:1
AA on white−11% L
#1B7BA8
The quick fox
#155E80 · 7.13:1
AAA on white−20% L
#155E80
The quick fox
#239fd8 · 7.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#239fd8
The quick fox
#239fd8 · 7.02:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#239fd8

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #229CD4 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
#239fd8 on white: 2.99:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#239fd8 on black: 7.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #239fd8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #239fd8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.99:1AaAa
Slate 502.86:1AaAa
Slate 1002.73:1AaAa
Slate 2002.43:1AaAa
Slate 3002.01:1AaAa
Slate 4001.17:1AaAa
Slate 5001.59:1AaAa
Slate 6002.53:1AaAa
Slate 7003.46:1AaAa
Slate 8004.89:1AaAa
Slate 9005.97:1AaAa
Black7.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #839EDB
deuteranopia · #6B8ED7
tritanopia · #00AEB3

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. #239fd8 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
#E7F3F8
#C9E6F3
#9ED6EF
#6EC1E8
#3EADE0
#239fd8
#1C81B0
#17678C
#154C66
#0D3040
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0D3040Text 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 0.033 234.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.053 234.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.079 234.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.103 234.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.121 234.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.132 234.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.132 234.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.124 234.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.111 234.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.092 234.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.072 234.9);
}

Colors that work with #239fd8

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#C0DFED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B829B
Captions on the surface
Accent#DD2A1E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#12516E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F6FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#1E88B9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#19729A
Two steps down
Disabled#A5BCC6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#26ACEA
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 #239fd8

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #12516E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #229CD4

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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • 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#D85C23
Analogous left#23D8B6
Analogous right#2344D8
Split-complement 1#D82344
Split-complement 2#D8B623
Triadic 1#D8239F
Triadic 2#9FD823
Tetradic#B623D8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°199°

#239fd8 sits at 199°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red13.7%
Green62.4%
Blue84.7%
R · 0–255
35
0x23
G · 0–255
159
0x9f
B · 0–255
216
0xd8

CMYK percentages

Cyan83.8%
Magenta26.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)15.3%

Total ink coverage is 125%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#239fd8 text on a black background

contrast 7.02:1

Card sample

#239fd8 text on a white background

contrast 2.99:1

Card sample

#239fd8 on grey

2.73:1

#239fd8 on its own surface

2.80:1

#239fd8 on its dark surface

5.61:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #239fd8;
Background color
Panel with #239fd8 background
background-color: #239fd8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #239fd8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(35, 159, 216, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(35, 159, 216, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #239fd8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #239fd8, #2326D8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #239fd8, #4D23D8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #239fd8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #239fd8;
caret-color: #239fd8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #239fd8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F6FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #239fd8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#239fd8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #239fd8 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(35, 159, 216, 0.5)
rgb(35 159 216 / 50%)
#239fd880
hsl(199 72% 49% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #239fd8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#239fd81a#E9F5FB
20%#239fd833#D3ECF7
40%#239fd866#A7D9EF
60%#239fd899#7BC5E8
80%#239fd8cc#4FB2E0

Gradients from #239fd8

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, #55B6E3, #239fd8 45%, #12516E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #239fd8, #291FBE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #239fd8, #D85C23);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #6FC2E8 0%, #239fd8 45%, #12516E 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%, #4CE2BA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #3A4BDF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #12516E 0%, transparent 65%), #239fd8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #239fd8

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.

#239fd8 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 7.02:1.

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.

#239fd8, answered

What color is #239fd8?

#239fd8 is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 9.2). It sits at 199° on the hue wheel with 72% saturation and 49% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #239fd8?

rgb(35, 159, 216) — 35 red, 159 green and 216 blue out of 255, or 13.7% / 62.4% / 84.7% by channel.

What is #239fd8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(199, 72%, 49%) and hsv(199, 84%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #239fd8 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3011 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 7.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #239fd8?

Black. It scores 7.02:1 against #239fd8, versus 2.99:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #239fd8 accessible on a white background?

#239fd8 on white scores 2.99:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #1B7BA8 to reach 4.5:1, or #155E80 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #239fd8?

#D85C23 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #D82344 and #D8B623, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #239fd8?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DFED for borders, #4B829B for secondary text, #DD2A1E as an accent and #12516E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #23D8B6 and #2344D8 stays calm, while #D85C23 is the loudest partner.

What is #239fd8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(84%, 26%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #239fd8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 95 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #23D8CF; nudged cooler, #208BDA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #239fd8?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 2.7 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #239fd8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#239fd8] or text-[#239fd8], 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 #239fd8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(35, 159, 216, 0.5), or #239fd880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #91CFEC; over black, #12506C.

Is #239fd8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 2.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #239fd8 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 #239fd8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #55B6E3, #239fd8 45%, #12516E). For more colour, a short hue run to #291FBE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #239fd8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #239fd8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.