Skip to content

#27aefd

a balanced, electric blue · cool · closest name: Deep Sky Blue

RGB
39, 174, 253
HSL
202°, 98%, 57%
CMYK
85, 31, 0, 1
Luminance
0.3780

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #27aefd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#27aefd
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
98%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3780
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.56:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 6.6
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation98%
Lightness57%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#27aefd
RGBrgb(39, 174, 253)
HSLhsl(202, 98%, 57%)
CMYKcmyk(85%, 31%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(67.9 -7.6 -48.8)
LCHlch(67.9 49.4 261.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.719 0.158 241.4)
Decimal2600701
Display P3color(display-p3 0.153 0.682 0.992)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #27aefd;
background-color: #27aefd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#27aefd] bg-[#27aefd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #27aefd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.153, green: 0.682, blue: 0.992)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#27aefd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF27AEFD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 174, 39)

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 #27aefd · 8.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #27aefd as text scores 2.45:1 on white and 8.56:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#27aefd on white: 2.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#27aefd on black: 8.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #88B0FF
deuteranopia · #6B9DFC
tritanopia · #00C2CA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #27aefd is pinned to step 500; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1F9FD
#E3F3FC
#C1E6FB
#90D5FE
#58C1FD
#27aefd
#029AF3
#0280CA
#0167A2
#064C74
#042F49
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1F9FDDarkest = 950 · #042F49
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1F9FD;
  --brand-100: #E3F3FC;
  --brand-200: #C1E6FB;
  --brand-300: #90D5FE;
  --brand-400: #58C1FD;
  --brand-500: #27aefd;
  --brand-600: #029AF3;
  --brand-700: #0280CA;
  --brand-800: #0167A2;
  --brand-900: #064C74;
  --brand-950: #042F49;
  --brand: #27aefd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #27aefd

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#C0DCED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF3F25
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#01507E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F6FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #27aefd

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
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#FD7627
Analogous left#27FDE1
Analogous right#2743FD
Split-complement 1#FD2743
Split-complement 2#FDE127
Triadic 1#FD27AE
Triadic 2#AEFD27
Tetradic#E127FD

RGB percentages

Red15.3%
Green68.2%
Blue99.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan84.6%
Magenta31.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Color previews

#27aefd text on a black background

contrast 8.56:1

Card sample

#27aefd text on a white background

contrast 2.45:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #27aefd;
Background color
Panel with #27aefd background
background-color: #27aefd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #27aefd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(39, 174, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(39, 174, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #27aefd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #27aefd, #2F27FD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #27aefd

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#27aefd in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyFinanceHealthcareEnterprise SaaS
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#27aefd, answered

What color is #27aefd?

#27aefd is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 6.6). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 98% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #27aefd?

rgb(39, 174, 253) — 39 red, 174 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 15.3% / 68.2% / 99.2% by channel.

Is #27aefd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3780 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #27aefd?

Black. It scores 8.56:1 against #27aefd, versus 2.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #27aefd?

#FD7627 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FD2743 and #FDE127, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #27aefd?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DCED for borders, #4B7D9B for secondary text, #FF3F25 as an accent and #01507E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #27FDE1 and #2743FD stays calm, while #FD7627 is the loudest partner.

What is #27aefd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(85%, 31%, 0%, 1%). 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 #27aefd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #27FDFD; nudged cooler, #0C93FF.

Work with #27aefd in the Color Lab