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#44aeee

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

RGB
68, 174, 238
HSL
203°, 83%, 60%
CMYK
71, 27, 0, 7
Luminance
0.3767

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #44aeee is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#44aeee
Hue
203°
blue
Saturation
83%
electric
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3767
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
8.53:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 5.8
Where it sits
Hue203° of 360°
Saturation83%
Lightness60%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool97% 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#44aeee
RGBrgb(68, 174, 238)
HSLhsl(203, 83%, 60%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 27%, 0%, 7%)
LABlab(67.8 -9.9 -40.7)
LCHlch(67.8 41.9 256.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.717 0.134 239.3)
Decimal4501230
Display P3color(display-p3 0.267 0.682 0.933)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #44aeee;
background-color: #44aeee;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#44aeee] bg-[#44aeee]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #44aeee;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.267, green: 0.682, blue: 0.933)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#44aeee")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF44AEEE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(238, 174, 68)

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 #44aeee · 8.53:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.46:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.53:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #44aeee as text scores 2.46:1 on white and 8.53:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#44aeee on white: 2.46:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#44aeee on black: 8.53:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #90AEF1
deuteranopia · #799EED
tritanopia · #00BEC4

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #44aeee 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
#E6F2FA
#C6E4F6
#98D2F6
#65BCF1
#44aeee
#1494E0
#117BBB
#0E6296
#0E496C
#092D44
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F2F9FCDarkest = 950 · #092D44
:root {
  --brand-50: #F2F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E6F2FA;
  --brand-200: #C6E4F6;
  --brand-300: #98D2F6;
  --brand-400: #65BCF1;
  --brand-500: #44aeee;
  --brand-600: #1494E0;
  --brand-700: #117BBB;
  --brand-800: #0E6296;
  --brand-900: #0E496C;
  --brand-950: #092D44;
  --brand: #44aeee;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #44aeee

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#C0DCED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7D9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#F25740
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0B4D75
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F5FD
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
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 #44aeee

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#EE8444
Analogous left#44EED9
Analogous right#4459EE
Split-complement 1#EE4459
Split-complement 2#EED944
Triadic 1#EE44AE
Triadic 2#AEEE44
Tetradic#D944EE

RGB percentages

Red26.7%
Green68.2%
Blue93.3%

CMYK percentages

Cyan71.4%
Magenta26.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)6.7%

Color previews

#44aeee text on a black background

contrast 8.53:1

Card sample

#44aeee text on a white background

contrast 2.46:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #44aeee;
Background color
Panel with #44aeee background
background-color: #44aeee;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #44aeee;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(68, 174, 238, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(68, 174, 238, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #44aeee;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #44aeee, #4B44EE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #44aeee

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.

#44aeee 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.

#44aeee, answered

What color is #44aeee?

#44aeee is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 5.8). It sits at 203° on the hue wheel with 83% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #44aeee?

rgb(68, 174, 238) — 68 red, 174 green and 238 blue out of 255, or 26.7% / 68.2% / 93.3% by channel.

Is #44aeee a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3767 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.53:1.

Should I use black or white text on #44aeee?

Black. It scores 8.53:1 against #44aeee, versus 2.46:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #44aeee?

#EE8444 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EE4459 and #EED944, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #44aeee?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DCED for borders, #4B7D9B for secondary text, #F25740 as an accent and #0B4D75 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #44EED9 and #4459EE stays calm, while #EE8444 is the loudest partner.

What is #44aeee in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 27%, 0%, 7%). 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 #44aeee warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 97 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #44ECEE; nudged cooler, #2A95EE.

Work with #44aeee in the Color Lab