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blue · cool

#2c5cf8

a balanced, electric blue · cool · closest name: Royal Blue

Token name suggestion: True Harbour

RGB
44, 92, 248
HSL
226°, 94%, 57%
CMYK
82, 63, 0, 3
Luminance
0.1497

#2c5cf8 is a balanced electric blue, 226° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put white text on it (5.26:1). As text it scores 5.26:1 on white — safe at any size. Nearest name is Royal Blue, nearest Tailwind family is indigo.

hsl(226 94% 57%)rgb(44 92 248)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #2c5cf8 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#2c5cf8
Hue
226°
blue
Saturation
94%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
97%
HSV value
Perceived
44%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.1497
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
White
5.26:1
Closest name
Royal Blue
ΔE2000 4.7
Chroma
91.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.546
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
indigo
500 · ΔE 5.9
Web-safe
#3366FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue226° of 360°
Saturation94%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #2c5cf8.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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
Red4%
Green51%
Blue45%

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

Every format

HEX#2c5cf8
HEX (8-digit)#2c5cf8ff
RGBrgb(44, 92, 248)
RGBArgba(44, 92, 248, 1)
HSLhsl(226, 94%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(226, 82%, 97%)
HWBhwb(226 17% 3%)
CMYKcmyk(82%, 63%, 0%, 3%)
LABlab(45.6 40.6 -81.9)
LCHlch(45.6 91.4 296.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.546 0.238 265.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(21.80, 14.96, 90.53)
Decimal2907384
Display P3color(display-p3 0.173 0.361 0.973)
Web-safe#3366FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #2c5cf8;
background-color: #2c5cf8;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #2c5cf8;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#2c5cf8] bg-[#2c5cf8]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #2c5cf8;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.173, green: 0.361, blue: 0.973)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.173, green: 0.361, blue: 0.973, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#2C5CF8</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF2C5CF8)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF2C5CF8)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(248, 92, 44)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(44, 92, 248)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(44, 92, 248)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 44, 92, 248)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1725f, 0.3608f, 0.9725f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{44,92,248}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #2c5cf8 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #2c5cf8 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#04207B, #D3D9EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #2c5cf8 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: #F2F4FD;
  --brand-100: #E4EAFB;
  --brand-200: #C2CFFA;
  --brand-300: #92ABFB;
  --brand-400: #5C81FA;
  --brand-500: #2c5cf8;
  --brand-600: #083EED;
  --brand-700: #0733C5;
  --brand-800: #05299E;
  --brand-900: #082172;
  --brand-950: #051547;
  --brand: #2c5cf8;
  --brand-ink: #ffffff;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C0CAED;
  --brand-hover: #0A41F7;
  --brand-pressed: #0738D6;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D3D9EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2F4FD',
        100: '#E4EAFB',
        200: '#C2CFFA',
        300: '#92ABFB',
        400: '#5C81FA',
        500: '#2c5cf8',
        600: '#083EED',
        700: '#0733C5',
        800: '#05299E',
        900: '#082172',
        950: '#051547',
        DEFAULT: '#2c5cf8',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2F4FD,
  '100': #E4EAFB,
  '200': #C2CFFA,
  '300': #92ABFB,
  '400': #5C81FA,
  '500': #2c5cf8,
  '600': #083EED,
  '700': #0733C5,
  '800': #05299E,
  '900': #082172,
  '950': #051547,
);
$brand-base: #2c5cf8;
$brand-ink: #ffffff;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2F4FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E4EAFB", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C2CFFA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#92ABFB", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#5C81FA", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#2c5cf8", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#083EED", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0733C5", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#05299E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#082172", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#051547", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #2c5cf8 · 5.26:1
Use #ffffffAA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 5.26:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 3.99:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #2c5cf8 as text scores 5.26:1 on white and 3.99:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #E6ECFE at 4.46:1.

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
#2c5cf8 · 5.26:1
AA on whitealready passes
#2c5cf8
The quick fox
#083EEE · 7.16:1
AAA on white−9% L
#083EEE
The quick fox
#3B68F9 · 4.53:1
AA on black+3% L
#3B68F9
The quick fox
#7192FA · 7.19:1
AAA on black+14% L
#7192FA

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #2C5CF8 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
#2c5cf8 on white: 5.26:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#2c5cf8 on black: 3.99:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #2c5cf8 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #2c5cf8.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White5.26:1AaAa
Slate 505.03:1AaAa
Slate 1004.80:1AaAa
Slate 2004.27:1AaAa
Slate 3003.54:1AaAa
Slate 4002.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.11:1AaAa
Slate 6001.44:1AaAa
Slate 7001.97:1AaAa
Slate 8002.78:1AaAa
Slate 9003.39:1AaAa
Black3.99:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0076FD
deuteranopia · #0063F5
tritanopia · #0085A2

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. #2c5cf8 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.

#F2F4FD
#E4EAFB
#C2CFFA
#92ABFB
#5C81FA
#2c5cf8
#083EED
#0733C5
#05299E
#082172
#051547
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2F4FDDarkest = 950 · #051547Text step on white = 500
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 0.059 265.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.095 265.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.143 265.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.186 265.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.219 265.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.238 265.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.238 265.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.224 265.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.200 265.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.167 265.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.131 265.5);
}

Colors that work with #2c5cf8

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0CAED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B5D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#C96903
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#04207B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6ECFE
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#0A41F7
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0738D6
Two steps down
Disabled#BFC4D6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#3A68FF
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 #2c5cf8

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

Works well for
  • Body text and links on white
  • 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
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • 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.

trustedcalmcompetentcorporate

The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed.

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

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight43/100
  • 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#F8C82C
Analogous left#2CC2F8
Analogous right#622CF8
Split-complement 1#F8622C
Split-complement 2#C2F82C
Triadic 1#F82C5C
Triadic 2#5CF82C
Tetradic#F82CC2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°226°

#2c5cf8 sits at 226°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red17.3%
Green36.1%
Blue97.3%
R · 0–255
44
0x2c
G · 0–255
92
0x5c
B · 0–255
248
0xf8

CMYK percentages

Cyan82.3%
Magenta62.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)2.7%

Total ink coverage is 148%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#2c5cf8 text on a black background

contrast 3.99:1

Card sample

#2c5cf8 text on a white background

contrast 5.26:1

Card sample

#2c5cf8 on grey

4.80:1

#2c5cf8 on its own surface

4.86:1

#2c5cf8 on its dark surface

3.37:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #2c5cf8;
Background color
Panel with #2c5cf8 background
background-color: #2c5cf8;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #2c5cf8;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(44, 92, 248, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(44, 92, 248, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #2c5cf8;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #2c5cf8, #842CF8);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2c5cf8, #B72CF8);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #2c5cf8;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #2c5cf8;
caret-color: #2c5cf8;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #2c5cf8;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6ECFE;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #2c5cf8;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#2c5cf8 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #2c5cf8 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(44, 92, 248, 0.5)
rgb(44 92 248 / 50%)
#2c5cf880
hsl(226 94% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #2c5cf8 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#2c5cf81a#EAEFFE
20%#2c5cf833#D5DEFE
40%#2c5cf866#ABBEFC
60%#2c5cf899#809DFB
80%#2c5cf8cc#567DF9

Gradients from #2c5cf8

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, #678AFA, #2c5cf8 45%, #04207B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #2c5cf8, #860FF7);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #2c5cf8, #F8C82C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #85A1FB 0%, #2c5cf8 45%, #04207B 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #5EDDFA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #874AF9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #04207B 0%, transparent 65%), #2c5cf8;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #2c5cf8

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.

#2c5cf8 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.

On screens

Holds up across typical panel gamma. Still worth checking on an uncalibrated laptop, where mid-tones shift most.

In dark mode

Too dim on dark surfaces at 3.99:1 — lift it to #3B68F9 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.

#2c5cf8, answered

What color is #2c5cf8?

#2c5cf8 is a balanced electric blue, closest to Royal Blue (ΔE2000 4.7). It sits at 226° on the hue wheel with 94% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #2c5cf8?

rgb(44, 92, 248) — 44 red, 92 green and 248 blue out of 255, or 17.3% / 36.1% / 97.3% by channel.

What is #2c5cf8 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(226, 94%, 57%) and hsv(226, 82%, 97%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #2c5cf8 a light or a dark color?

It is a dark color. Relative luminance is 0.1497 and perceived brightness is 44%, so white text on it reaches 5.26:1.

Should I use black or white text on #2c5cf8?

White. It scores 5.26:1 against #2c5cf8, versus 3.99:1 for black — AA at any size.

Is #2c5cf8 accessible on a white background?

#2c5cf8 on white scores 5.26:1, which clears AA at every size but not AAA.

What is the complementary color of #2c5cf8?

#F8C82C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F8622C and #C2F82C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #2c5cf8?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C0CAED for borders, #4B5D9B for secondary text, #C96903 as an accent and #04207B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #2CC2F8 and #622CF8 stays calm, while #F8C82C is the loudest partner.

What is #2c5cf8 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(82%, 63%, 0%, 3%). 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 #2c5cf8 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #472CF8; nudged cooler, #2A73FA.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #2c5cf8?

The indigo family — its 500 step is #6366f1, ΔE2000 5.9 away. That is a visible difference, so define #2c5cf8 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #2c5cf8 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#2c5cf8] or text-[#2c5cf8], 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 #2c5cf8 with 50% opacity?

rgba(44, 92, 248, 0.5), or #2c5cf880 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #96AEFC; over black, #162E7C.

Is #2c5cf8 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3366FF, ΔE2000 3.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #2c5cf8 mean?

As a blue, it reads trusted, calm, competent. The default of institutions for a reason: blue is read as stable and safe across nearly every culture that has been surveyed. At this chroma the effect is amplified — it will dominate whatever sits beside it.

What gradient works with #2c5cf8?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #678AFA, #2c5cf8 45%, #04207B). For more colour, a short hue run to #860FF7 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #2c5cf8 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #2c5cf8 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.