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#3badeb

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

RGB
59, 173, 235
HSL
201°, 82%, 58%
CMYK
75, 26, 0, 8
Luminance
0.3682

At a glance

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

Hex
#3badeb
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
82%
electric
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
92%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3682
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.36:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 5.5
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation82%
Lightness58%
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.

Every format

HEX#3badeb
RGBrgb(59, 173, 235)
HSLhsl(201, 82%, 58%)
CMYKcmyk(75%, 26%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(67.1 -11.5 -40.1)
LCHlch(67.1 41.7 254.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.711 0.135 237.3)
Decimal3911147
Display P3color(display-p3 0.231 0.678 0.922)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #3badeb;
background-color: #3badeb;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3badeb] bg-[#3badeb]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3badeb;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.231, green: 0.678, blue: 0.922)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#3badeb")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3BADEB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(235, 173, 59)

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 #3badeb · 8.36:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.51:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.36:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3badeb as text scores 2.51:1 on white and 8.36:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#3badeb on white: 2.51:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3badeb on black: 8.36:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #8FADEE
deuteranopia · #789CEA
tritanopia · #00BDC2

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #3badeb 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.

#F2F9FC
#E6F3F9
#C6E5F6
#99D4F5
#66BFEF
#3badeb
#1798DE
#137FB9
#0F6594
#0F4B6B
#0A2F43
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0A2F43
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E6F3F9;
  --brand-200: #C6E5F6;
  --brand-300: #99D4F5;
  --brand-400: #66BFEF;
  --brand-500: #3badeb;
  --brand-600: #1798DE;
  --brand-700: #137FB9;
  --brand-800: #0F6594;
  --brand-900: #0F4B6B;
  --brand-950: #0A2F43;
  --brand: #3badeb;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #3badeb

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#4B7F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#EF4936
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0C4F74
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F5FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
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 #3badeb

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#EB793B
Analogous left#3BEBD1
Analogous right#3B55EB
Split-complement 1#EB3B55
Split-complement 2#EBD13B
Triadic 1#EB3BAD
Triadic 2#ADEB3B
Tetradic#D13BEB

RGB percentages

Red23.1%
Green67.8%
Blue92.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan74.9%
Magenta26.4%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.8%

Color previews

#3badeb text on a black background

contrast 8.36:1

Card sample

#3badeb text on a white background

contrast 2.51:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(59, 173, 235, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(59, 173, 235, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3badeb;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3badeb, #3E3BEB);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3badeb

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.

#3badeb 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.

#3badeb, answered

What color is #3badeb?

#3badeb is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 5.5). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 82% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3badeb?

rgb(59, 173, 235) — 59 red, 173 green and 235 blue out of 255, or 23.1% / 67.8% / 92.2% by channel.

Is #3badeb a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3682 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 8.36:1.

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

Black. It scores 8.36:1 against #3badeb, versus 2.51:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #3badeb?

#EB793B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EB3B55 and #EBD13B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3badeb?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B7F9B for secondary text, #EF4936 as an accent and #0C4F74 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3BEBD1 and #3B55EB stays calm, while #EB793B is the loudest partner.

What is #3badeb in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(75%, 26%, 0%, 8%). 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 #3badeb 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 #3BEBE8; nudged cooler, #2191EB.

Work with #3badeb in the Color Lab