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blue · cool

#32aef2

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Denim

RGB
50, 174, 242
HSL
201°, 88%, 57%
CMYK
79, 28, 0, 5
Luminance
0.3736

#32aef2 is a balanced electric blue, 201° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.47:1). As text it scores 2.48:1 on white — use #0C7BB8 instead. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(201 88% 57%)rgb(50 174 242)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #32aef2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#32aef2
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
88%
electric
Lightness
57%
balanced
Brightness
95%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3736
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.47:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 5.5
Chroma
44.6
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.715
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 2.9
Web-safe
#3399FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation88%
Lightness57%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #32aef2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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
Red2%
Green81%
Blue17%

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

Every format

HEX#32aef2
HEX (8-digit)#32aef2ff
RGBrgb(50, 174, 242)
RGBArgba(50, 174, 242, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 88%, 57%)
HSV / HSBhsv(201, 79%, 95%)
HWBhwb(201 20% 5%)
CMYKcmyk(79%, 28%, 0%, 5%)
LABlab(67.5 -10.6 -43.3)
LCHlch(67.5 44.6 256.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.715 0.144 238.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(32.47, 37.36, 89.49)
Decimal3321586
Display P3color(display-p3 0.196 0.682 0.949)
Web-safe#3399FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #32aef2;
background-color: #32aef2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #32aef2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#32aef2] bg-[#32aef2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #32aef2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.196, green: 0.682, blue: 0.949)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.196, green: 0.682, blue: 0.949, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#32AEF2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF32AEF2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF32AEF2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(242, 174, 50)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(50, 174, 242)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(50, 174, 242)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 50, 174, 242)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.1961f, 0.6824f, 0.9490f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{50,174,242}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #32aef2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #32aef2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#085078, #D3E4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #32aef2 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: #F2F9FD;
  --brand-100: #E5F3FA;
  --brand-200: #C4E5F8;
  --brand-300: #95D5F8;
  --brand-400: #61C0F5;
  --brand-500: #32aef2;
  --brand-600: #0F9AE6;
  --brand-700: #0C80C0;
  --brand-800: #0A6699;
  --brand-900: #0C4C6F;
  --brand-950: #072F45;
  --brand: #32aef2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DDED;
  --brand-hover: #11A1F0;
  --brand-pressed: #0D8BD0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F2F9FD',
        100: '#E5F3FA',
        200: '#C4E5F8',
        300: '#95D5F8',
        400: '#61C0F5',
        500: '#32aef2',
        600: '#0F9AE6',
        700: '#0C80C0',
        800: '#0A6699',
        900: '#0C4C6F',
        950: '#072F45',
        DEFAULT: '#32aef2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F2F9FD,
  '100': #E5F3FA,
  '200': #C4E5F8,
  '300': #95D5F8,
  '400': #61C0F5,
  '500': #32aef2,
  '600': #0F9AE6,
  '700': #0C80C0,
  '800': #0A6699,
  '900': #0C4C6F,
  '950': #072F45,
);
$brand-base: #32aef2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F2F9FD", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E5F3FA", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C4E5F8", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#95D5F8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#61C0F5", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#32aef2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#0F9AE6", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0C80C0", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0A6699", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0C4C6F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#072F45", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #32aef2 · 8.47:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.48:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.47:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #32aef2 as text scores 2.48:1 on white and 8.47:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #085078 at 3.49:1.

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
#0C7BB8 · 4.62:1
AA on white−19% L
#0C7BB8
The quick fox
#095E8D · 7.01:1
AAA on white−28% L
#095E8D
The quick fox
#32aef2 · 8.47:1
AA on blackalready passes
#32aef2
The quick fox
#32aef2 · 8.47:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#32aef2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #0F9BE8 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
#32aef2 on white: 2.48:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#32aef2 on black: 8.47:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #32aef2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #32aef2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.48:1AaAa
Slate 502.37:1AaAa
Slate 1002.26:1AaAa
Slate 2002.01:1AaAa
Slate 3001.67:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.92:1AaAa
Slate 6003.06:1AaAa
Slate 7004.18:1AaAa
Slate 8005.90:1AaAa
Slate 9007.20:1AaAa
Black8.47:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8EAEF5
deuteranopia · #749DF1
tritanopia · #00BFC6

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. #32aef2 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.

#F2F9FD
#E5F3FA
#C4E5F8
#95D5F8
#61C0F5
#32aef2
#0F9AE6
#0C80C0
#0A6699
#0C4C6F
#072F45
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2F9FDDarkest = 950 · #072F45Text 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 0.036 238.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 238.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.086 238.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.112 238.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.132 238.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.144 238.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.144 238.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.135 238.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.121 238.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 238.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.079 238.4);
}

Colors that work with #32aef2

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#C0DDED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7E9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F6432E
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#085078
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E7F6FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#11A1F0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#0D8BD0
Two steps down
Disabled#BFCED6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#3CB8FD
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 #32aef2

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
  • 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 #085078
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #0F9BE8

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#F27632
Analogous left#32F2D6
Analogous right#324EF2
Split-complement 1#F2324E
Split-complement 2#F2D632
Triadic 1#F232AE
Triadic 2#AEF232
Tetradic#D632F2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#32aef2 sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red19.6%
Green68.2%
Blue94.9%
R · 0–255
50
0x32
G · 0–255
174
0xae
B · 0–255
242
0xf2

CMYK percentages

Cyan79.3%
Magenta28.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)5.1%

Total ink coverage is 113%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#32aef2 text on a black background

contrast 8.47:1

Card sample

#32aef2 text on a white background

contrast 2.48:1

Card sample

#32aef2 on grey

2.26:1

#32aef2 on its own surface

2.32:1

#32aef2 on its dark surface

6.83:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #32aef2;
Background color
Panel with #32aef2 background
background-color: #32aef2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #32aef2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(50, 174, 242, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(50, 174, 242, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #32aef2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #32aef2, #3632F2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #32aef2, #6632F2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #32aef2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #32aef2;
caret-color: #32aef2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #32aef2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E7F6FD;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #32aef2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#32aef2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #32aef2 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(50, 174, 242, 0.5)
rgb(50 174 242 / 50%)
#32aef280
hsl(201 88% 57% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #32aef2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#32aef21a#EBF7FE
20%#32aef233#D6EFFC
40%#32aef266#ADDFFA
60%#32aef299#84CEF7
80%#32aef2cc#5BBEF5

Gradients from #32aef2

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, #6CC5F6, #32aef2 45%, #085078);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #32aef2, #2C15F0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #32aef2, #F27632);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #89D0F8 0%, #32aef2 45%, #085078 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%, #62F5D4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #4F59F4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #085078 0%, transparent 65%), #32aef2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #32aef2

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.

#32aef2 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

Usable as-is on a dark surface at 8.47:1.

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.

#32aef2, answered

What color is #32aef2?

#32aef2 is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 88% saturation and 57% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #32aef2?

rgb(50, 174, 242) — 50 red, 174 green and 242 blue out of 255, or 19.6% / 68.2% / 94.9% by channel.

What is #32aef2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 88%, 57%) and hsv(201, 79%, 95%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #32aef2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3736 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 8.47:1.

Should I use black or white text on #32aef2?

Black. It scores 8.47:1 against #32aef2, versus 2.48:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #32aef2 accessible on a white background?

#32aef2 on white scores 2.48:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #0C7BB8 to reach 4.5:1, or #095E8D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #32aef2?

#F27632 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #F2324E and #F2D632, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #32aef2?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B7E9B for secondary text, #F6432E as an accent and #085078 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #32F2D6 and #324EF2 stays calm, while #F27632 is the loudest partner.

What is #32aef2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(79%, 28%, 0%, 5%). 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 #32aef2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #32F2F0; nudged cooler, #1892F3.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #32aef2?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 2.9 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #32aef2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#32aef2] or text-[#32aef2], 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 #32aef2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(50, 174, 242, 0.5), or #32aef280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #99D7F9; over black, #195779.

Is #32aef2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399FF, ΔE2000 8.7 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #32aef2 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 #32aef2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #6CC5F6, #32aef2 45%, #085078). For more colour, a short hue run to #2C15F0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #32aef2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #32aef2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.