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blue · cool

#3bbcfe

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Harbour

RGB
59, 188, 254
HSL
200°, 99%, 61%
CMYK
77, 26, 0, 0
Luminance
0.4405

#3bbcfe is a balanced electric blue, 200° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.81:1). As text it scores 2.14:1 on white — use #017BB9 instead. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(200 99% 61%)rgb(59 188 254)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#3bbcfe
Hue
200°
blue
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4405
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.81:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 2.4
Chroma
44.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.755
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 6.6
Web-safe
#33CCFF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue200° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness61%
Saturation × lightness field

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

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%
Green82%
Blue16%

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

Every format

HEX#3bbcfe
HEX (8-digit)#3bbcfeff
RGBrgb(59, 188, 254)
RGBArgba(59, 188, 254, 1)
HSLhsl(200, 99%, 61%)
HSV / HSBhsv(200, 77%, 100%)
HWBhwb(200 23% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(77%, 26%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(72.3 -13.2 -42.4)
LCHlch(72.3 44.4 252.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.755 0.144 236.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.67, 44.05, 100.26)
Decimal3915006
Display P3color(display-p3 0.231 0.737 0.996)
Web-safe#33CCFF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #3bbcfe;
background-color: #3bbcfe;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #3bbcfe;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#3bbcfe] bg-[#3bbcfe]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #3bbcfe;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.231, green: 0.737, blue: 0.996)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.231, green: 0.737, blue: 0.996, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#3BBCFE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF3BBCFE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF3BBCFE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(254, 188, 59)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(59, 188, 254)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(59, 188, 254)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 59, 188, 254)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2314f, 0.7373f, 0.9961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{59,188,254}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #3bbcfe 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #3bbcfe 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#01547F, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #3bbcfe 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: #F1F9FE;
  --brand-100: #E3F4FC;
  --brand-200: #C0E7FB;
  --brand-300: #8FD9FE;
  --brand-400: #58C6FE;
  --brand-500: #3bbcfe;
  --brand-600: #01A2F4;
  --brand-700: #0187CB;
  --brand-800: #016CA2;
  --brand-900: #054F75;
  --brand-950: #033249;
  --brand: #3bbcfe;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DDED;
  --brand-hover: #18B0FE;
  --brand-pressed: #01A0F1;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F1F9FE',
        100: '#E3F4FC',
        200: '#C0E7FB',
        300: '#8FD9FE',
        400: '#58C6FE',
        500: '#3bbcfe',
        600: '#01A2F4',
        700: '#0187CB',
        800: '#016CA2',
        900: '#054F75',
        950: '#033249',
        DEFAULT: '#3bbcfe',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F1F9FE,
  '100': #E3F4FC,
  '200': #C0E7FB,
  '300': #8FD9FE,
  '400': #58C6FE,
  '500': #3bbcfe,
  '600': #01A2F4,
  '700': #0187CB,
  '800': #016CA2,
  '900': #054F75,
  '950': #033249,
);
$brand-base: #3bbcfe;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F1F9FE", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E3F4FC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C0E7FB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#8FD9FE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#58C6FE", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#3bbcfe", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#01A2F4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#0187CB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#016CA2", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#054F75", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#033249", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #3bbcfe · 9.81:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.14:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.81:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #3bbcfe as text scores 2.14:1 on white and 9.81:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #01547F at 3.81:1.

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
#017BB9 · 4.63:1
AA on white−25% L
#017BB9
The quick fox
#015C8B · 7.23:1
AAA on white−34% L
#015C8B
The quick fox
#3bbcfe · 9.81:1
AA on blackalready passes
#3bbcfe
The quick fox
#3bbcfe · 9.81:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#3bbcfe

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #019CEB 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
#3bbcfe on white: 2.14:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#3bbcfe on black: 9.81:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.14:1AaAa
Slate 502.05:1AaAa
Slate 1001.95:1AaAa
Slate 2001.74:1AaAa
Slate 3001.44:1AaAa
Slate 4001.20:1AaAa
Slate 5002.22:1AaAa
Slate 6003.54:1AaAa
Slate 7004.84:1AaAa
Slate 8006.83:1AaAa
Slate 9008.34:1AaAa
Black9.81:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9CBBFF
deuteranopia · #82A9FD
tritanopia · #00CDD3

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. #3bbcfe 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.

#F1F9FE
#E3F4FC
#C0E7FB
#8FD9FE
#58C6FE
#3bbcfe
#01A2F4
#0187CB
#016CA2
#054F75
#033249
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F1F9FEDarkest = 950 · #033249Text 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 0.036 236.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.058 236.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.086 236.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.112 236.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.133 236.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.144 236.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.144 236.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.135 236.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.121 236.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.101 236.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.079 236.2);
}

Colors that work with #3bbcfe

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#4B809B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF4C3A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#01547F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F6FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#18B0FE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#01A0F1
Two steps down
Disabled#CBD8DE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4FC3FF
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 #3bbcfe

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 #01547F
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #019CEB

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
  • Weight39/100
  • 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#FE7D3B
Analogous left#3BFEDF
Analogous right#3B5BFE
Split-complement 1#FE3B5B
Split-complement 2#FEDF3B
Triadic 1#FE3BBC
Triadic 2#BCFE3B
Tetradic#DF3BFE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°200°

#3bbcfe sits at 200°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red23.1%
Green73.7%
Blue99.6%
R · 0–255
59
0x3b
G · 0–255
188
0xbc
B · 0–255
254
0xfe

CMYK percentages

Cyan76.8%
Magenta26.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 103%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#3bbcfe text on a black background

contrast 9.81:1

Card sample

#3bbcfe text on a white background

contrast 2.14:1

Card sample

#3bbcfe on grey

1.95:1

#3bbcfe on its own surface

2.00:1

#3bbcfe on its dark surface

7.84:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(59, 188, 254, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(59, 188, 254, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #3bbcfe;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #3bbcfe, #3C3BFE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #3bbcfe, #6D3BFE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #3bbcfe;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #3bbcfe;
caret-color: #3bbcfe;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #3bbcfe;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6F6FF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #3bbcfe;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#3bbcfe 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #3bbcfe 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, 188, 254, 0.5)
rgb(59 188 254 / 50%)
#3bbcfe80
hsl(200 99% 61% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #3bbcfe 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#3bbcfe1a#EBF8FF
20%#3bbcfe33#D8F2FF
40%#3bbcfe66#B1E4FF
60%#3bbcfe99#89D7FE
80%#3bbcfecc#62C9FE

Gradients from #3bbcfe

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, #78D1FE, #3bbcfe 45%, #01547F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #3bbcfe, #311DFE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #3bbcfe, #FE7D3B);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #96DBFE 0%, #3bbcfe 45%, #01547F 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%, #6EFEDB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5A66FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #01547F 0%, transparent 65%), #3bbcfe;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #3bbcfe

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.

#3bbcfe 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 9.81:1.

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.

#3bbcfe, answered

What color is #3bbcfe?

#3bbcfe is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 2.4). It sits at 200° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #3bbcfe?

rgb(59, 188, 254) — 59 red, 188 green and 254 blue out of 255, or 23.1% / 73.7% / 99.6% by channel.

What is #3bbcfe in HSL and HSV?

hsl(200, 99%, 61%) and hsv(200, 77%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #3bbcfe a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4405 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.81:1.

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

Black. It scores 9.81:1 against #3bbcfe, versus 2.14:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #3bbcfe accessible on a white background?

#3bbcfe on white scores 2.14:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #017BB9 to reach 4.5:1, or #015C8B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #3bbcfe?

#FE7D3B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FE3B5B and #FEDF3B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #3bbcfe?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B809B for secondary text, #FF4C3A as an accent and #01547F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #3BFEDF and #3B5BFE stays calm, while #FE7D3B is the loudest partner.

What is #3bbcfe in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(77%, 26%, 0%, 0%). 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 #3bbcfe 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 #3BFEF8; nudged cooler, #219FFF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #3bbcfe?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 6.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #3bbcfe as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #3bbcfe in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(59, 188, 254, 0.5), or #3bbcfe80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #9DDEFF; over black, #1E5E7F.

Is #3bbcfe a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #33CCFF, ΔE2000 6.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #3bbcfe 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 #3bbcfe?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #78D1FE, #3bbcfe 45%, #01547F). For more colour, a short hue run to #311DFE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #3bbcfe in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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