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blue · cool

#459bc9

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Sapphire

RGB
69, 155, 201
HSL
201°, 55%, 53%
CMYK
66, 23, 0, 21
Luminance
0.2892

#459bc9 is a balanced vivid blue, 201° on the wheel and 96/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.78:1). As text it scores 3.10:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(201 55% 53%)rgb(69 155 201)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #459bc9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#459bc9
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
55%
vivid
Lightness
53%
balanced
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2892
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
6.78:1
Closest name
Steel Blue
ΔE2000 9.1
Chroma
33.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.656
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 4.8
Web-safe
#3399CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation55%
Lightness53%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #459bc9.

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
Red4%
Green81%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#459bc9
HEX (8-digit)#459bc9ff
RGBrgb(69, 155, 201)
RGBArgba(69, 155, 201, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 55%, 53%)
HSV / HSBhsv(201, 66%, 79%)
HWBhwb(201 27% 21%)
CMYKcmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 21%)
LABlab(60.7 -11.5 -31.3)
LCHlch(60.7 33.3 249.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.656 0.107 235.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(24.71, 28.92, 59.53)
Decimal4561865
Display P3color(display-p3 0.271 0.608 0.788)
Web-safe#3399CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #459bc9;
background-color: #459bc9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #459bc9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#459bc9] bg-[#459bc9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #459bc9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.271, green: 0.608, blue: 0.788)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.271, green: 0.608, blue: 0.788, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#459BC9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF459BC9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF459BC9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(201, 155, 69)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(69, 155, 201)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(69, 155, 201)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 69, 155, 201)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.2706f, 0.6078f, 0.7882f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{69,155,201}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #459bc9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #459bc9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1D4A63, #D3E5EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #459bc9 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: #F4F8FB;
  --brand-100: #E9F2F6;
  --brand-200: #CEE3EE;
  --brand-300: #A8D0E6;
  --brand-400: #7DB9D9;
  --brand-500: #459bc9;
  --brand-600: #378FBE;
  --brand-700: #2E779E;
  --brand-800: #255F7E;
  --brand-900: #1E475C;
  --brand-950: #132C3A;
  --brand: #459bc9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DDED;
  --brand-hover: #3589B5;
  --brand-pressed: #2D749A;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141F24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E5EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F8FB',
        100: '#E9F2F6',
        200: '#CEE3EE',
        300: '#A8D0E6',
        400: '#7DB9D9',
        500: '#459bc9',
        600: '#378FBE',
        700: '#2E779E',
        800: '#255F7E',
        900: '#1E475C',
        950: '#132C3A',
        DEFAULT: '#459bc9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F8FB,
  '100': #E9F2F6,
  '200': #CEE3EE,
  '300': #A8D0E6,
  '400': #7DB9D9,
  '500': #459bc9,
  '600': #378FBE,
  '700': #2E779E,
  '800': #255F7E,
  '900': #1E475C,
  '950': #132C3A,
);
$brand-base: #459bc9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F8FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9F2F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEE3EE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A8D0E6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7DB9D9", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#459bc9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#378FBE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2E779E", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#255F7E", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1E475C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#132C3A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #459bc9 · 6.78:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.10:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.78:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #459bc9 as text scores 3.10:1 on white and 6.78:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1D4A63 at 3.07:1.

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
#307DA6 · 4.56:1
AA on white−11% L
#307DA6
The quick fox
#235C7A · 7.28:1
AAA on white−22% L
#235C7A
The quick fox
#459bc9 · 6.78:1
AA on blackalready passes
#459bc9
The quick fox
#4D9FCB · 7.14:1
AAA on black+2% L
#4D9FCB

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #459BC9 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
#459bc9 on white: 3.10:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#459bc9 on black: 6.78:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #459bc9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #459bc9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.10:1AaAa
Slate 502.96:1AaAa
Slate 1002.83:1AaAa
Slate 2002.51:1AaAa
Slate 3002.08:1AaAa
Slate 4001.21:1AaAa
Slate 5001.54:1AaAa
Slate 6002.45:1AaAa
Slate 7003.35:1AaAa
Slate 8004.73:1AaAa
Slate 9005.77:1AaAa
Black6.78:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #859ACB
deuteranopia · #738DC8
tritanopia · #00A7AA

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. #459bc9 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.

#F4F8FB
#E9F2F6
#CEE3EE
#A8D0E6
#7DB9D9
#459bc9
#378FBE
#2E779E
#255F7E
#1E475C
#132C3A
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F4F8FBDarkest = 950 · #132C3AText 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 0.027 235.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.043 235.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.064 235.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.083 235.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.098 235.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.107 235.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.107 235.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.101 235.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.090 235.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.075 235.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.059 235.1);
}

Colors that work with #459bc9

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#CE4E40
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1D4A63
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF4F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
Dark-mode background
Hover#3589B5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#2D749A
Two steps down
Disabled#B1C3CD
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#4AA7D9
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 #459bc9

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 #1D4A63
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
  • Weight47/100
  • 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#C97345
Analogous left#45C9B5
Analogous right#4559C9
Split-complement 1#C94559
Split-complement 2#C9B545
Triadic 1#C9459B
Triadic 2#9BC945
Tetradic#B545C9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#459bc9 sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red27.1%
Green60.8%
Blue78.8%
R · 0–255
69
0x45
G · 0–255
155
0x9b
B · 0–255
201
0xc9

CMYK percentages

Cyan65.7%
Magenta22.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)21.2%

Total ink coverage is 110%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#459bc9 text on a black background

contrast 6.78:1

Card sample

#459bc9 text on a white background

contrast 3.10:1

Card sample

#459bc9 on grey

2.83:1

#459bc9 on its own surface

2.90:1

#459bc9 on its dark surface

5.42:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #459bc9;
Background color
Panel with #459bc9 background
background-color: #459bc9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #459bc9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(69, 155, 201, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(69, 155, 201, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #459bc9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #459bc9, #4745C9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #459bc9, #6845C9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #459bc9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #459bc9;
caret-color: #459bc9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #459bc9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF4F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #459bc9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#459bc9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #459bc9 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, 155, 201, 0.5)
rgb(69 155 201 / 50%)
#459bc980
hsl(201 55% 53% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #459bc9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#459bc91a#ECF5FA
20%#459bc933#DAEBF4
40%#459bc966#B5D7E9
60%#459bc999#8FC3DF
80%#459bc9cc#6AAFD4

Gradients from #459bc9

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, #74B4D7, #459bc9 45%, #1D4A63);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #459bc9, #4336B9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #459bc9, #C97345);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #8CC1DE 0%, #459bc9 45%, #1D4A63 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%, #6CD4BC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #5D64D0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1D4A63 0%, transparent 65%), #459bc9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #459bc9

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.

#459bc9 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 6.78:1.

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.

#459bc9, answered

What color is #459bc9?

#459bc9 is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Steel Blue (ΔE2000 9.1). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 55% saturation and 53% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #459bc9?

rgb(69, 155, 201) — 69 red, 155 green and 201 blue out of 255, or 27.1% / 60.8% / 78.8% by channel.

What is #459bc9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 55%, 53%) and hsv(201, 66%, 79%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #459bc9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2892 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 6.78:1.

Should I use black or white text on #459bc9?

Black. It scores 6.78:1 against #459bc9, versus 3.10:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #459bc9 accessible on a white background?

#459bc9 on white scores 3.10:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #307DA6 to reach 4.5:1, or #235C7A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #459bc9?

#C97345 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C94559 and #C9B545, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #459bc9?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DDED for borders, #4B7F9B for secondary text, #CE4E40 as an accent and #1D4A63 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #45C9B5 and #4559C9 stays calm, while #C97345 is the loudest partner.

What is #459bc9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(66%, 23%, 0%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #459bc9 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 #45C9C7; nudged cooler, #428DCB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #459bc9?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 4.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #459bc9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #459bc9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#459bc9] or text-[#459bc9], 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 #459bc9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(69, 155, 201, 0.5), or #459bc980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #A2CDE4; over black, #234E65.

Is #459bc9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #3399CC, ΔE2000 1.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #459bc9 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 #459bc9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #74B4D7, #459bc9 45%, #1D4A63). For more colour, a short hue run to #4336B9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #459bc9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #459bc9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.