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#33cbfd

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

RGB
51, 203, 253
HSL
195°, 98%, 60%
CMYK
80, 20, 0, 1
Luminance
0.5051

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #33cbfd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#33cbfd
Hue
195°
cyan
Saturation
98%
electric
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
70%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5051
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
94/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.10:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 4.6
Where it sits
Hue195° of 360°
Saturation98%
Lightness60%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool94% 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#33cbfd
RGBrgb(51, 203, 253)
HSLhsl(195, 98%, 60%)
CMYKcmyk(80%, 20%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(76.4 -22.1 -35.5)
LCHlch(76.4 41.8 238.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.787 0.139 225.8)
Decimal3394557
Display P3color(display-p3 0.200 0.796 0.992)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #33cbfd;
background-color: #33cbfd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#33cbfd] bg-[#33cbfd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #33cbfd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.200, green: 0.796, blue: 0.992)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#33cbfd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF33CBFD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 203, 51)

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 #33cbfd · 11.10:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.89:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.10:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #33cbfd as text scores 1.89:1 on white and 11.10:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#33cbfd on white: 1.89:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#33cbfd on black: 11.10:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B0C7FF
deuteranopia · #95B4FC
tritanopia · #00DADB

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #33cbfd 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.

#F1FAFD
#E3F6FC
#C1EDFB
#90E3FE
#58D4FD
#33cbfd
#02B7F2
#0298CA
#027AA2
#065974
#043849
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1FAFDDarkest = 950 · #043849
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FAFD;
  --brand-100: #E3F6FC;
  --brand-200: #C1EDFB;
  --brand-300: #90E3FE;
  --brand-400: #58D4FD;
  --brand-500: #33cbfd;
  --brand-600: #02B7F2;
  --brand-700: #0298CA;
  --brand-800: #027AA2;
  --brand-900: #065974;
  --brand-950: #043849;
  --brand: #33cbfd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #33cbfd

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#C0E1ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B879B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF3131
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#015F7E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F9FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
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 #33cbfd

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#FD6533
Analogous left#33FDCA
Analogous right#3366FD
Split-complement 1#FD3366
Split-complement 2#FDCA33
Triadic 1#FD33CB
Triadic 2#CBFD33
Tetradic#CA33FD

RGB percentages

Red20.0%
Green79.6%
Blue99.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan79.8%
Magenta19.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Color previews

#33cbfd text on a black background

contrast 11.10:1

Card sample

#33cbfd text on a white background

contrast 1.89:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #33cbfd;
Background color
Panel with #33cbfd background
background-color: #33cbfd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #33cbfd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(51, 203, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(51, 203, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #33cbfd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #33cbfd, #3344FD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #33cbfd

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.

#33cbfd 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

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

#33cbfd, answered

What color is #33cbfd?

#33cbfd is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 4.6). It sits at 195° on the hue wheel with 98% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #33cbfd?

rgb(51, 203, 253) — 51 red, 203 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 20% / 79.6% / 99.2% by channel.

Is #33cbfd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5051 and perceived brightness is 70%, so black text on it reaches 11.10:1.

Should I use black or white text on #33cbfd?

Black. It scores 11.10:1 against #33cbfd, versus 1.89:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #33cbfd?

#FD6533 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FD3366 and #FDCA33, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #33cbfd?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E1ED for borders, #4B879B for secondary text, #FF3131 as an accent and #015F7E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #33FDCA and #3366FD stays calm, while #FD6533 is the loudest partner.

What is #33cbfd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(80%, 20%, 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 #33cbfd warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 94 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #33FDE5; nudged cooler, #31B0FF.

Work with #33cbfd in the Color Lab