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blue · cool

#3b85cf

a balanced, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Steel Blue

Token name suggestion: Atlas Cobalt

RGB
59, 133, 207
HSL
210°, 61%, 52%
CMYK
72, 36, 0, 19
Luminance
0.2221

#3b85cf is a balanced vivid blue, 210° on the wheel and 100/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.44:1). As text it scores 3.86:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(210 61% 52%)rgb(59 133 207)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #3b85cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#3b85cf
Hue
210°
blue
Saturation
61%
vivid
Lightness
52%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
50%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2221
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
100/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
5.44:1
Closest name
Steel Blue
ΔE2000 3.3
Chroma
44.8
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.605
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 5
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue210° of 360°
Saturation61%
Lightness52%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #3b85cf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool100% 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%
Green76%
Blue20%

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

Every format

HEX#3b85cf
HEX (8-digit)#3b85cfff
RGBrgb(59, 133, 207)
RGBArgba(59, 133, 207, 1)
HSLhsl(210, 61%, 52%)
HSV / HSBhsv(210, 71%, 81%)
HWBhwb(210 23% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(72%, 36%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(54.3 1.6 -44.8)
LCHlch(54.3 44.8 272.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.605 0.135 251.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(21.45, 22.21, 62.18)
Decimal3900879
Display P3color(display-p3 0.231 0.522 0.812)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #3b85cf;
background-color: #3b85cf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #3b85cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3b85cf] bg-[#3b85cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3b85cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.231, green: 0.522, blue: 0.812)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.231, green: 0.522, blue: 0.812, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#3B85CF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF3B85CF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3B85CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 133, 59)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(59, 133, 207)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(59, 133, 207)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 59, 133, 207)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2314f, 0.5216f, 0.8118f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{59,133,207}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #3b85cf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #3b85cf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#194066, #D3E0EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #3b85cf 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: #F4F7FB;
  --brand-100: #E8F0F7;
  --brand-200: #CCDEF0;
  --brand-300: #A5C7E9;
  --brand-400: #78ABDE;
  --brand-500: #3b85cf;
  --brand-600: #307AC5;
  --brand-700: #2866A4;
  --brand-800: #205283;
  --brand-900: #1B3D5F;
  --brand-950: #11263C;
  --brand: #3b85cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C0D6ED;
  --brand-hover: #2D73B9;
  --brand-pressed: #26619D;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141C24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E0EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F7FB',
        100: '#E8F0F7',
        200: '#CCDEF0',
        300: '#A5C7E9',
        400: '#78ABDE',
        500: '#3b85cf',
        600: '#307AC5',
        700: '#2866A4',
        800: '#205283',
        900: '#1B3D5F',
        950: '#11263C',
        DEFAULT: '#3b85cf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F7FB,
  '100': #E8F0F7,
  '200': #CCDEF0,
  '300': #A5C7E9,
  '400': #78ABDE,
  '500': #3b85cf,
  '600': #307AC5,
  '700': #2866A4,
  '800': #205283,
  '900': #1B3D5F,
  '950': #11263C,
);
$brand-base: #3b85cf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E8F0F7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CCDEF0", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A5C7E9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#78ABDE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3b85cf", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#307AC5", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2866A4", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#205283", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1B3D5F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#11263C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #3b85cf · 5.44:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.86:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.44:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #3b85cf as text scores 3.86:1 on white and 5.44:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #194066 at 2.77:1.

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
#2F78C1 · 4.59:1
AA on white−5% L
#2F78C1
The quick fox
#235A90 · 7.15:1
AAA on white−17% L
#235A90
The quick fox
#3b85cf · 5.44:1
AA on blackalready passes
#3b85cf
The quick fox
#5C9AD7 · 7.06:1
AAA on black+8% L
#5C9AD7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3B85CF 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
#3b85cf on white: 3.86:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3b85cf on black: 5.44:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #3b85cf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #3b85cf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.86:1AaAa
Slate 503.69:1AaAa
Slate 1003.52:1AaAa
Slate 2003.13:1AaAa
Slate 3002.60:1AaAa
Slate 4001.51:1AaAa
Slate 5001.23:1AaAa
Slate 6001.96:1AaAa
Slate 7002.68:1AaAa
Slate 8003.79:1AaAa
Slate 9004.63:1AaAa
Black5.44:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6389D2
deuteranopia · #4E7BCE
tritanopia · #0096A0

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. #3b85cf 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.

#F4F7FB
#E8F0F7
#CCDEF0
#A5C7E9
#78ABDE
#3b85cf
#307AC5
#2866A4
#205283
#1B3D5F
#11263C
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4F7FBDarkest = 950 · #11263CText 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 0.034 251.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.054 251.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.081 251.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.105 251.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.124 251.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.135 251.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.135 251.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.127 251.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.113 251.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.094 251.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.074 251.0);
}

Colors that work with #3b85cf

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0D6ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B739B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D45E36
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#194066
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF2FA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141C24
Dark-mode background
Hover#2D73B9
One step down in lightness
Pressed#26619D
Two steps down
Disabled#AFBDCC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#408FDE
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 #3b85cf

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

Works well for
  • Headings from 24px up on white
  • 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
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate
Minimum size as text on white
24px / 18.66px bold
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #194066
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.

This is a confident chroma: strong enough to lead a brand, restrained enough to live in an interface all day. 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
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium-high
  • Weight48/100
  • 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#CF853B
Analogous left#3BCFCF
Analogous right#3B3BCF
Split-complement 1#CF3B3B
Split-complement 2#CFCF3B
Triadic 1#CF3B85
Triadic 2#85CF3B
Tetradic#CF3BCF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°210°

#3b85cf sits at 210°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red23.1%
Green52.2%
Blue81.2%
R · 0–255
59
0x3b
G · 0–255
133
0x85
B · 0–255
207
0xcf

CMYK percentages

Cyan71.5%
Magenta35.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Total ink coverage is 126%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#3b85cf text on a black background

contrast 5.44:1

Card sample

#3b85cf text on a white background

contrast 3.86:1

Card sample

#3b85cf on grey

3.52:1

#3b85cf on its own surface

3.59:1

#3b85cf on its dark surface

4.46:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #3b85cf;
Background color
Panel with #3b85cf background
background-color: #3b85cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #3b85cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(59, 133, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(59, 133, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3b85cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3b85cf, #543BCF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #3b85cf, #793BCF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #3b85cf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #3b85cf;
caret-color: #3b85cf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #3b85cf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF2FA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #3b85cf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#3b85cf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #3b85cf 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(59, 133, 207, 0.5)
rgb(59 133 207 / 50%)
#3b85cf80
hsl(210 61% 52% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #3b85cf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#3b85cf1a#EBF3FA
20%#3b85cf33#D8E7F5
40%#3b85cf66#B1CEEC
60%#3b85cf99#89B6E2
80%#3b85cfcc#629DD9

Gradients from #3b85cf

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, #6CA4DB, #3b85cf 45%, #194066);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #3b85cf, #522EBD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #3b85cf, #CF853B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #85B3E1 0%, #3b85cf 45%, #194066 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #64D9CF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5E54D5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #194066 0%, transparent 65%), #3b85cf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3b85cf

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.

#3b85cf 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

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

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 5.44:1.

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.

#3b85cf, answered

What color is #3b85cf?

#3b85cf is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Steel Blue (ΔE2000 3.3). It sits at 210° on the hue wheel with 61% saturation and 52% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3b85cf?

rgb(59, 133, 207) — 59 red, 133 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 23.1% / 52.2% / 81.2% by channel.

What is #3b85cf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(210, 61%, 52%) and hsv(210, 71%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #3b85cf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2221 and perceived brightness is 50%, so black text on it reaches 5.44:1.

Should I use black or white text on #3b85cf?

Black. It scores 5.44:1 against #3b85cf, versus 3.86:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #3b85cf accessible on a white background?

#3b85cf on white scores 3.86:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #2F78C1 to reach 4.5:1, or #235A90 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #3b85cf?

#CF853B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CF3B3B and #CFCF3B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3b85cf?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C0D6ED for borders, #4B739B for secondary text, #D45E36 as an accent and #194066 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3BCFCF and #3B3BCF stays calm, while #CF853B is the loudest partner.

What is #3b85cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(72%, 36%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #3b85cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 100 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #3B4FCF; nudged cooler, #2D76C4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #3b85cf?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #3b85cf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #3b85cf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#3b85cf] or text-[#3b85cf], 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 #3b85cf with 50% opacity?

rgba(59, 133, 207, 0.5), or #3b85cf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #9DC2E7; over black, #1E4368.

Is #3b85cf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 9.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #3b85cf 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 #3b85cf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #6CA4DB, #3b85cf 45%, #194066). For more colour, a short hue run to #522EBD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #3b85cf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #3b85cf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.