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cyan · cool

#263f48

a deep, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Dark Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: Midnight Teal

RGB
38, 63, 72
HSL
196°, 31%, 22%
CMYK
47, 13, 0, 72
Luminance
0.0443

#263f48 is a deep soft cyan, 196° on the wheel and 89/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (11.13:1). As text it scores 11.13:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Dark Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is gray.

hsl(196 31% 22%)rgb(38 63 72)Base step 900AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #263f48 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#263f48
Hue
196°
cyan
Saturation
31%
soft
Lightness
22%
deep
Brightness
28%
HSV value
Perceived
23%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.0443
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
89/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
White
11.13:1
Closest name
Dark Slate Gray
ΔE2000 8
Chroma
10.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.351
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
gray
500 · ΔE 21
Web-safe
#333333
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue196° of 360°
Saturation31%
Lightness22%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #263f48.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool89% 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
Red9%
Green80%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#263f48
HEX (8-digit)#263f48ff
RGBrgb(38, 63, 72)
RGBArgba(38, 63, 72, 1)
HSLhsl(196, 31%, 22%)
HSV / HSBhsv(196, 47%, 28%)
HWBhwb(196 15% 72%)
CMYKcmyk(47%, 13%, 0%, 72%)
LABlab(25.1 -6.8 -8.5)
LCHlch(25.1 10.9 231.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.351 0.035 222.8)
XYZ (D65)xyz(3.75, 4.43, 6.79)
Decimal2506568
Display P3color(display-p3 0.149 0.247 0.282)
Web-safe#333333

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #263f48;
background-color: #263f48;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #263f48;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#263f48] bg-[#263f48]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #263f48;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.149, green: 0.247, blue: 0.282)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.149, green: 0.247, blue: 0.282, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#263F48</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF263F48)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF263F48)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(72, 63, 38)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(38, 63, 72)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(38, 63, 72)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 38, 63, 72)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1490f, 0.2471f, 0.2824f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{38,63,72}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #263f48 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #263f48 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2C4953, #D7E5EA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #263f48 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: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-100: #ECF1F3;
  --brand-200: #D5E2E7;
  --brand-300: #B6CFD8;
  --brand-400: #91B7C5;
  --brand-500: #6C9FB1;
  --brand-600: #558CA0;
  --brand-700: #467586;
  --brand-800: #385D6B;
  --brand-900: #263f48;
  --brand-950: #1B2B31;
  --brand: #263f48;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-border: #CADCE3;
  --brand-hover: #1A2B31;
  --brand-pressed: #0D1619;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142024;
    --brand-ink: #D7E5EA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F9',
        100: '#ECF1F3',
        200: '#D5E2E7',
        300: '#B6CFD8',
        400: '#91B7C5',
        500: '#6C9FB1',
        600: '#558CA0',
        700: '#467586',
        800: '#385D6B',
        900: '#263f48',
        950: '#1B2B31',
        DEFAULT: '#263f48',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F9,
  '100': #ECF1F3,
  '200': #D5E2E7,
  '300': #B6CFD8,
  '400': #91B7C5,
  '500': #6C9FB1,
  '600': #558CA0,
  '700': #467586,
  '800': #385D6B,
  '900': #263f48,
  '950': #1B2B31,
);
$brand-base: #263f48;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECF1F3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5E2E7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B6CFD8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#91B7C5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6C9FB1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#558CA0", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#467586", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#385D6B", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#263f48", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2B31", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$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#ffffff on #263f48 · 11.13:1
Use #ffffffAAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 11.13:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Aa
Black text · 1.89:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #263f48 as text scores 11.13:1 on white and 1.89:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #EEF4F6 at 10.02:1.

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
#263f48 · 11.13:1
AA on whitealready passes
#263f48
The quick fox
#263f48 · 11.13:1
AAA on whitealready passes
#263f48
The quick fox
#4B7C8E · 4.57:1
AA on black+21% L
#4B7C8E
The quick fox
#6B9EB1 · 7.15:1
AAA on black+34% L
#6B9EB1

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #263F48 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
#263f48 on white: 11.13:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#263f48 on black: 1.89:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #263f48 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #263f48.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White11.13:1AaAa
Slate 5010.64:1AaAa
Slate 10010.16:1AaAa
Slate 2009.03:1AaAa
Slate 3007.50:1AaAa
Slate 4004.34:1AaAa
Slate 5002.34:1AaAa
Slate 6001.47:1AaAa
Slate 7001.07:1AaAa
Slate 8001.31:1AaAa
Slate 9001.60:1AaAa
Black1.89:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #3A3E48
deuteranopia · #353A48
tritanopia · #184242

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. #263f48 is pinned to step 900; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F6F8F9
#ECF1F3
#D5E2E7
#B6CFD8
#91B7C5
#6C9FB1
#558CA0
#467586
#385D6B
#263f48
#1B2B31
Base = 900Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2B31Text step on white = 700
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 0.009 222.8);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.014 222.8);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.021 222.8);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.027 222.8);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.032 222.8);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.035 222.8);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.035 222.8);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.032 222.8);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.029 222.8);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.024 222.8);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.019 222.8);
}

Colors that work with #263f48

Not a palette — a role sheet. Each swatch answers one question you will hit while building the component.

Text on it#ffffff
White wins here
Surface#F5F8FA
Tinted page background
Border#CADCE3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4F8396
Captions on the surface
Accent#4A2424
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2C4953
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF4F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
Dark-mode background
Hover#1A2B31
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0D1619
Two steps down
Disabled#577B88
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#274E5C
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 #263f48

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Headers, footers and dark-mode surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text on black or near-black surfaces
  • 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
Any size
Safe as a fill behind white type
Yes
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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight78/100
  • 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#482F26
Analogous left#264840
Analogous right#262E48
Split-complement 1#48262E
Split-complement 2#484026
Triadic 1#48263F
Triadic 2#3F4826
Tetradic#402648
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°196°

#263f48 sits at 196°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red14.9%
Green24.7%
Blue28.2%
R · 0–255
38
0x26
G · 0–255
63
0x3f
B · 0–255
72
0x48

CMYK percentages

Cyan47.2%
Magenta12.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)71.8%

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

Color previews

#263f48 text on a black background

contrast 1.89:1

Card sample

#263f48 text on a white background

contrast 11.13:1

Card sample

#263f48 on grey

10.16:1

#263f48 on its own surface

10.43:1

#263f48 on its dark surface

1.50:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #263f48;
Background color
Panel with #263f48 background
background-color: #263f48;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #263f48;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(38, 63, 72, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(38, 63, 72, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #263f48;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #263f48, #262848);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #263f48, #2C2648);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #263f48;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #263f48;
caret-color: #263f48;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #263f48;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF4F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #263f48;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#263f48 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #263f48 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(38, 63, 72, 0.5)
rgb(38 63 72 / 50%)
#263f4880
hsl(196 31% 22% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #263f48 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#263f481a#E9ECED
20%#263f4833#D4D9DA
40%#263f4866#A8B2B6
60%#263f4899#7D8C91
80%#263f48cc#51656D

Gradients from #263f48

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, #3B6270, #263f48 45%, #2C4953);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #263f48, #1C1B34);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #263f48, #482F26);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #467484 0%, #263f48 45%, #2C4953 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F8FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #38695A 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #31375C 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2C4953 0%, transparent 65%), #263f48;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #263f48

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.

#263f48 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

Very dark values collapse into each other on cheap panels — leave more lightness between your darkest steps than the numbers suggest.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 1.89:1 — lift it to #4B7C8E for body text, or reserve it for fills.

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.

#263f48, answered

What color is #263f48?

#263f48 is a deep soft cyan, closest to Dark Slate Gray (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 196° on the hue wheel with 31% saturation and 22% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #263f48?

rgb(38, 63, 72) — 38 red, 63 green and 72 blue out of 255, or 14.9% / 24.7% / 28.2% by channel.

What is #263f48 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(196, 31%, 22%) and hsv(196, 47%, 28%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #263f48 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.0443 and perceived brightness is 23%, so white text on it reaches 11.13:1.

Should I use black or white text on #263f48?

White. It scores 11.13:1 against #263f48, versus 1.89:1 for black — AAA at any size.

Is #263f48 accessible on a white background?

#263f48 on white scores 11.13:1, which clears AAA at every size.

What is the complementary color of #263f48?

#482F26 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #48262E and #484026, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #263f48?

For interface work: #F5F8FA as the surface, #CADCE3 for borders, #4F8396 for secondary text, #4A2424 as an accent and #2C4953 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #264840 and #262E48 stays calm, while #482F26 is the loudest partner.

What is #263f48 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(47%, 13%, 0%, 72%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #263f48 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 89 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #264845; nudged cooler, #253849.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #263f48?

The gray family — its 500 step is #6b7280, ΔE2000 21 away. That is a visible difference, so define #263f48 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #263f48 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#263f48] or text-[#263f48], 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 #263f48 with 50% opacity?

rgba(38, 63, 72, 0.5), or #263f4880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #939FA4; over black, #132024.

Is #263f48 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #333333, ΔE2000 10.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #263f48 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #263f48?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #3B6270, #263f48 45%, #2C4953). For more colour, a short hue run to #1C1B34 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #263f48 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #263f48 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.