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cyan · cool

#458eb2

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Steel Blue

Token name suggestion: Signal Reef

RGB
69, 142, 178
HSL
200°, 44%, 48%
CMYK
61, 20, 0, 30
Luminance
0.2383

#458eb2 is a balanced soft cyan, 200° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.77:1). As text it scores 3.64:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(200 44% 48%)rgb(69 142 178)Base step 600AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #458eb2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#458eb2
Hue
200°
cyan
Saturation
44%
soft
Lightness
48%
balanced
Brightness
70%
HSV value
Perceived
51%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2383
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.77:1
Closest name
Steel Blue
ΔE2000 6.5
Chroma
28.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.615
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 9.4
Web-safe
#339999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue200° of 360°
Saturation44%
Lightness48%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #458eb2.

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
Red5%
Green81%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#458eb2
HEX (8-digit)#458eb2ff
RGBrgb(69, 142, 178)
RGBArgba(69, 142, 178, 1)
HSLhsl(200, 44%, 48%)
HSV / HSBhsv(200, 61%, 70%)
HWBhwb(200 27% 30%)
CMYKcmyk(61%, 20%, 0%, 30%)
LABlab(55.9 -11.8 -25.7)
LCHlch(55.9 28.3 245.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.615 0.091 232.3)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.16, 23.82, 45.65)
Decimal4558514
Display P3color(display-p3 0.271 0.557 0.698)
Web-safe#339999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #458eb2;
background-color: #458eb2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #458eb2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#458eb2] bg-[#458eb2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #458eb2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.271, green: 0.557, blue: 0.698)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.271, green: 0.557, blue: 0.698, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#458EB2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF458EB2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF458EB2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(178, 142, 69)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(69, 142, 178)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(69, 142, 178)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 69, 142, 178)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2706f, 0.5569f, 0.6980f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{69,142,178}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #458eb2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #458eb2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#24495C, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #458eb2 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: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF1F5;
  --brand-200: #D1E2EB;
  --brand-300: #AECFE0;
  --brand-400: #86B7D0;
  --brand-500: #5DA0C0;
  --brand-600: #458eb2;
  --brand-700: #397593;
  --brand-800: #2E5E76;
  --brand-900: #244656;
  --brand-950: #172C36;
  --brand: #458eb2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C4DCE8;
  --brand-hover: #3B7998;
  --brand-pressed: #31657E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8FA',
        100: '#EAF1F5',
        200: '#D1E2EB',
        300: '#AECFE0',
        400: '#86B7D0',
        500: '#5DA0C0',
        600: '#458eb2',
        700: '#397593',
        800: '#2E5E76',
        900: '#244656',
        950: '#172C36',
        DEFAULT: '#458eb2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8FA,
  '100': #EAF1F5,
  '200': #D1E2EB,
  '300': #AECFE0,
  '400': #86B7D0,
  '500': #5DA0C0,
  '600': #458eb2,
  '700': #397593,
  '800': #2E5E76,
  '900': #244656,
  '950': #172C36,
);
$brand-base: #458eb2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F8FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF1F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1E2EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AECFE0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#86B7D0", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5DA0C0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#458eb2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#397593", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2E5E76", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#244656", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#172C36", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #458eb2 · 5.77:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.64:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.77:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #458eb2 as text scores 3.64:1 on white and 5.77:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #24495C at 2.64:1.

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
#3C7C9C · 4.61:1
AA on white−6% L
#3C7C9C
The quick fox
#2D5C73 · 7.27:1
AAA on white−17% L
#2D5C73
The quick fox
#458eb2 · 5.77:1
AA on blackalready passes
#458eb2
The quick fox
#5B9EBF · 7.09:1
AAA on black+7% L
#5B9EBF

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #458EB2 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
#458eb2 on white: 3.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#458eb2 on black: 5.77:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #458eb2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #458eb2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.64:1AaAa
Slate 503.48:1AaAa
Slate 1003.33:1AaAa
Slate 2002.95:1AaAa
Slate 3002.45:1AaAa
Slate 4001.42:1AaAa
Slate 5001.31:1AaAa
Slate 6002.08:1AaAa
Slate 7002.84:1AaAa
Slate 8004.02:1AaAa
Slate 9004.90:1AaAa
Black5.77:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #7C8CB4
deuteranopia · #6D81B1
tritanopia · #00989A

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. #458eb2 is pinned to step 600; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F5F8FA
#EAF1F5
#D1E2EB
#AECFE0
#86B7D0
#5DA0C0
#458eb2
#397593
#2E5E76
#244656
#172C36
Base = 600Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #172C36Text 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 0.023 232.3);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.036 232.3);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.054 232.3);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.071 232.3);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.084 232.3);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.091 232.3);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.091 232.3);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.085 232.3);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.076 232.3);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.064 232.3);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.050 232.3);
}

Colors that work with #458eb2

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#C4DCE8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B809B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B74A40
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#24495C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF4F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#3B7998
One step down in lightness
Pressed#31657E
Two steps down
Disabled#A3B9C4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#449CC7
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 #458eb2

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
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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 #24495C
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.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. The mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight52/100
  • 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#B26945
Analogous left#45B29F
Analogous right#4557B2
Split-complement 1#B24557
Split-complement 2#B29F45
Triadic 1#B2458E
Triadic 2#8EB245
Tetradic#9F45B2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°200°

#458eb2 sits at 200°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red27.1%
Green55.7%
Blue69.8%
R · 0–255
69
0x45
G · 0–255
142
0x8e
B · 0–255
178
0xb2

CMYK percentages

Cyan61.2%
Magenta20.2%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)30.2%

Total ink coverage is 112%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#458eb2 text on a black background

contrast 5.77:1

Card sample

#458eb2 text on a white background

contrast 3.64:1

Card sample

#458eb2 on grey

3.33:1

#458eb2 on its own surface

3.41:1

#458eb2 on its dark surface

4.61:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #458eb2;
Background color
Panel with #458eb2 background
background-color: #458eb2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #458eb2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(69, 142, 178, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(69, 142, 178, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #458eb2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #458eb2, #4545B2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #458eb2, #6045B2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #458eb2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #458eb2;
caret-color: #458eb2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #458eb2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF4F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #458eb2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#458eb2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #458eb2 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(69, 142, 178, 0.5)
rgb(69 142 178 / 50%)
#458eb280
hsl(200 44% 48% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #458eb2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#458eb21a#ECF4F7
20%#458eb233#DAE8F0
40%#458eb266#B5D2E0
60%#458eb299#8FBBD1
80%#458eb2cc#6AA5C1

Gradients from #458eb2

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, #6DA9C7, #458eb2 45%, #24495C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #458eb2, #443C9C);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #458eb2, #B26945);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #84B6CF 0%, #458eb2 45%, #24495C 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%, #66C4AC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5760BE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #24495C 0%, transparent 65%), #458eb2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #458eb2

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.

#458eb2 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

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 5.77:1.

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.

#458eb2, answered

What color is #458eb2?

#458eb2 is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Steel Blue (ΔE2000 6.5). It sits at 200° on the hue wheel with 44% saturation and 48% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #458eb2?

rgb(69, 142, 178) — 69 red, 142 green and 178 blue out of 255, or 27.1% / 55.7% / 69.8% by channel.

What is #458eb2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(200, 44%, 48%) and hsv(200, 61%, 70%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #458eb2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2383 and perceived brightness is 51%, so black text on it reaches 5.77:1.

Should I use black or white text on #458eb2?

Black. It scores 5.77:1 against #458eb2, versus 3.64:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #458eb2 accessible on a white background?

#458eb2 on white scores 3.64:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #3C7C9C to reach 4.5:1, or #2D5C73 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #458eb2?

#B26945 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B24557 and #B29F45, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #458eb2?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C4DCE8 for borders, #4B809B for secondary text, #B74A40 as an accent and #24495C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #45B29F and #4557B2 stays calm, while #B26945 is the loudest partner.

What is #458eb2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(61%, 20%, 0%, 30%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #458eb2 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 #45B2AE; nudged cooler, #4380B4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #458eb2?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 9.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #458eb2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #458eb2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#458eb2] or text-[#458eb2], 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 #458eb2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(69, 142, 178, 0.5), or #458eb280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A2C7D9; over black, #234759.

Is #458eb2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #339999, ΔE2000 15.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #458eb2 mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #458eb2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #6DA9C7, #458eb2 45%, #24495C). For more colour, a short hue run to #443C9C keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #458eb2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #458eb2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.