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cyan · cool

#259ccc

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

Token name suggestion: True Lagoon

RGB
37, 156, 204
HSL
197°, 69%, 47%
CMYK
82, 24, 0, 20
Luminance
0.2853

#259ccc is a balanced vivid cyan, 197° on the wheel and 95/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.71:1). As text it scores 3.13:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(197 69% 47%)rgb(37 156 204)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #259ccc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#259ccc
Hue
197°
cyan
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
47%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2853
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
95/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
6.71:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 10.3
Chroma
36.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.652
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 5
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue197° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness47%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #259ccc.

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%
Green83%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#259ccc
HEX (8-digit)#259cccff
RGBrgb(37, 156, 204)
RGBArgba(37, 156, 204, 1)
HSLhsl(197, 69%, 47%)
HSV / HSBhsv(197, 82%, 80%)
HWBhwb(197 15% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(82%, 24%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(60.4 -15.1 -33.6)
LCHlch(60.4 36.8 245.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.652 0.122 231.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(23.55, 28.53, 61.38)
Decimal2464972
Display P3color(display-p3 0.145 0.612 0.800)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #259ccc;
background-color: #259ccc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #259ccc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#259ccc] bg-[#259ccc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #259ccc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.145, green: 0.612, blue: 0.800)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.145, green: 0.612, blue: 0.800, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#259CCC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF259CCC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF259CCC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 156, 37)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(37, 156, 204)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(37, 156, 204)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 37, 156, 204)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1451f, 0.6118f, 0.8000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{37,156,204}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #259ccc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #259ccc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#14536C, #D3E6EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #259ccc 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: #F3F9FB;
  --brand-100: #E7F3F8;
  --brand-200: #CAE6F2;
  --brand-300: #A0D7EE;
  --brand-400: #71C4E5;
  --brand-500: #41B0DD;
  --brand-600: #259ccc;
  --brand-700: #1F84AD;
  --brand-800: #196A8A;
  --brand-900: #164E64;
  --brand-950: #0E313F;
  --brand: #259ccc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C0E0ED;
  --brand-hover: #2085AE;
  --brand-pressed: #1A6E90;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142024;
    --brand-ink: #D3E6EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F9FB',
        100: '#E7F3F8',
        200: '#CAE6F2',
        300: '#A0D7EE',
        400: '#71C4E5',
        500: '#41B0DD',
        600: '#259ccc',
        700: '#1F84AD',
        800: '#196A8A',
        900: '#164E64',
        950: '#0E313F',
        DEFAULT: '#259ccc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F9FB,
  '100': #E7F3F8,
  '200': #CAE6F2,
  '300': #A0D7EE,
  '400': #71C4E5,
  '500': #41B0DD,
  '600': #259ccc,
  '700': #1F84AD,
  '800': #196A8A,
  '900': #164E64,
  '950': #0E313F,
);
$brand-base: #259ccc;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F9FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F3F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CAE6F2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A0D7EE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#71C4E5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#41B0DD", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#259ccc", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#1F84AD", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#196A8A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#164E64", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E313F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #259ccc · 6.71:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.13:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.71:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #259ccc as text scores 3.13:1 on white and 6.71:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #14536C at 2.70:1.

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
#1E7FA5 · 4.53:1
AA on white−9% L
#1E7FA5
The quick fox
#165E7A · 7.20:1
AAA on white−19% L
#165E7A
The quick fox
#259ccc · 6.71:1
AA on blackalready passes
#259ccc
The quick fox
#26A0D1 · 7.03:1
AAA on black+1% L
#26A0D1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #259CCC 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
#259ccc on white: 3.13:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#259ccc on black: 6.71:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #259ccc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #259ccc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.13:1AaAa
Slate 502.99:1AaAa
Slate 1002.86:1AaAa
Slate 2002.54:1AaAa
Slate 3002.11:1AaAa
Slate 4001.22:1AaAa
Slate 5001.52:1AaAa
Slate 6002.42:1AaAa
Slate 7003.31:1AaAa
Slate 8004.67:1AaAa
Slate 9005.70:1AaAa
Black6.71:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #849ACE
deuteranopia · #6E8BCB
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. #259ccc 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.

#F3F9FB
#E7F3F8
#CAE6F2
#A0D7EE
#71C4E5
#41B0DD
#259ccc
#1F84AD
#196A8A
#164E64
#0E313F
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FBDarkest = 950 · #0E313FText 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 0.030 231.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.049 231.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.073 231.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.095 231.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.112 231.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.122 231.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.122 231.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.114 231.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.102 231.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.085 231.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.067 231.0);
}

Colors that work with #259ccc

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#C0E0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B849B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D12720
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#14536C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F6FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
Dark-mode background
Hover#2085AE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1A6E90
Two steps down
Disabled#9FB8C2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#20ADE5
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 #259ccc

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 #14536C
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.

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
  • Weight53/100
  • 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#CC5525
Analogous left#25CCA9
Analogous right#2549CC
Split-complement 1#CC2549
Split-complement 2#CCA925
Triadic 1#CC259C
Triadic 2#9CCC25
Tetradic#A925CC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°197°

#259ccc sits at 197°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red14.5%
Green61.2%
Blue80.0%
R · 0–255
37
0x25
G · 0–255
156
0x9c
B · 0–255
204
0xcc

CMYK percentages

Cyan81.9%
Magenta23.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

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

Color previews

#259ccc text on a black background

contrast 6.71:1

Card sample

#259ccc text on a white background

contrast 3.13:1

Card sample

#259ccc on grey

2.86:1

#259ccc on its own surface

2.95:1

#259ccc on its dark surface

5.31:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #259ccc;
Background color
Panel with #259ccc background
background-color: #259ccc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #259ccc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(37, 156, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(37, 156, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #259ccc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #259ccc, #252DCC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #259ccc, #4725CC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #259ccc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #259ccc;
caret-color: #259ccc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #259ccc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F6FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #259ccc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#259ccc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #259ccc 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(37, 156, 204, 0.5)
rgb(37 156 204 / 50%)
#259ccc80
hsl(197 69% 47% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #259ccc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#259ccc1a#E9F5FA
20%#259ccc33#D3EBF5
40%#259ccc66#A8D7EB
60%#259ccc99#7CC4E0
80%#259ccccc#51B0D6

Gradients from #259ccc

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, #4FB6DF, #259ccc 45%, #14536C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #259ccc, #2620B2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #259ccc, #CC5525);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #69C1E4 0%, #259ccc 45%, #14536C 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%, #47DEB1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #354BDA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #14536C 0%, transparent 65%), #259ccc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #259ccc

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.

#259ccc 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 6.71:1.

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.

#259ccc, answered

What color is #259ccc?

#259ccc is a balanced vivid cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 10.3). It sits at 197° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 47% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #259ccc?

rgb(37, 156, 204) — 37 red, 156 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 14.5% / 61.2% / 80% by channel.

What is #259ccc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(197, 69%, 47%) and hsv(197, 82%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #259ccc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2853 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 6.71:1.

Should I use black or white text on #259ccc?

Black. It scores 6.71:1 against #259ccc, versus 3.13:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #259ccc accessible on a white background?

#259ccc on white scores 3.13:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #1E7FA5 to reach 4.5:1, or #165E7A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #259ccc?

#CC5525 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CC2549 and #CCA925, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #259ccc?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E0ED for borders, #4B849B for secondary text, #D12720 as an accent and #14536C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #25CCA9 and #2549CC stays calm, while #CC5525 is the loudest partner.

What is #259ccc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(82%, 24%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #259ccc 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 #25CCBF; nudged cooler, #2387CF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #259ccc?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #259ccc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #259ccc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#259ccc] or text-[#259ccc], 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 #259ccc with 50% opacity?

rgba(37, 156, 204, 0.5), or #259ccc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #92CEE6; over black, #134E66.

Is #259ccc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #259ccc 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 #259ccc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #4FB6DF, #259ccc 45%, #14536C). For more colour, a short hue run to #2620B2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #259ccc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #259ccc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.