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#4bcdfe

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

RGB
75, 205, 254
HSL
196°, 99%, 65%
CMYK
71, 19, 0, 0
Luminance
0.5231

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #4bcdfe is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#4bcdfe
Hue
196°
cyan
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
65%
balanced
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5231
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
94/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.46:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 4.9
Where it sits
Hue196° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness65%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool94% 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#4bcdfe
RGBrgb(75, 205, 254)
HSLhsl(196, 99%, 65%)
CMYKcmyk(71%, 19%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(77.5 -20.2 -34.3)
LCHlch(77.5 39.8 239.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.797 0.131 227.3)
Decimal4967934
Display P3color(display-p3 0.294 0.804 0.996)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #4bcdfe;
background-color: #4bcdfe;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#4bcdfe] bg-[#4bcdfe]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #4bcdfe;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.294, green: 0.804, blue: 0.996)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#4bcdfe")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF4BCDFE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(254, 205, 75)

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 #4bcdfe · 11.46:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.83:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.46:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #4bcdfe as text scores 1.83:1 on white and 11.46:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#4bcdfe on white: 1.83:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#4bcdfe on black: 11.46:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B3C9FF
deuteranopia · #9AB8FD
tritanopia · #00DBDD

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #4bcdfe is pinned to step 400; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1FAFE
#E3F5FC
#C0EBFB
#8FE0FE
#4bcdfe
#20C1FE
#01B1F3
#0194CB
#0176A2
#065675
#033649
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F1FAFEDarkest = 950 · #033649
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1FAFE;
  --brand-100: #E3F5FC;
  --brand-200: #C0EBFB;
  --brand-300: #8FE0FE;
  --brand-400: #4bcdfe;
  --brand-500: #20C1FE;
  --brand-600: #01B1F3;
  --brand-700: #0194CB;
  --brand-800: #0176A2;
  --brand-900: #065675;
  --brand-950: #033649;
  --brand: #4bcdfe;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #4bcdfe

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0E0ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B859B
Captions on the surface
Accent#FF4E4A
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#015C7F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F8FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142024
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 #4bcdfe

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#FE7C4B
Analogous left#4BFED5
Analogous right#4B74FE
Split-complement 1#FE4B74
Split-complement 2#FED54B
Triadic 1#FE4BCD
Triadic 2#CDFE4B
Tetradic#D54BFE

RGB percentages

Red29.4%
Green80.4%
Blue99.6%

CMYK percentages

Cyan70.5%
Magenta19.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Color previews

#4bcdfe text on a black background

contrast 11.46:1

Card sample

#4bcdfe text on a white background

contrast 1.83:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #4bcdfe;
Background color
Panel with #4bcdfe background
background-color: #4bcdfe;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #4bcdfe;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(75, 205, 254, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(75, 205, 254, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #4bcdfe;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #4bcdfe, #4B56FE);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #4bcdfe

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.

#4bcdfe 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#4bcdfe, answered

What color is #4bcdfe?

#4bcdfe is a balanced electric cyan, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 4.9). It sits at 196° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #4bcdfe?

rgb(75, 205, 254) — 75 red, 205 green and 254 blue out of 255, or 29.4% / 80.4% / 99.6% by channel.

Is #4bcdfe a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5231 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 11.46:1.

Should I use black or white text on #4bcdfe?

Black. It scores 11.46:1 against #4bcdfe, versus 1.83:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #4bcdfe?

#FE7C4B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FE4B74 and #FED54B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #4bcdfe?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C0E0ED for borders, #4B859B for secondary text, #FF4E4A as an accent and #015C7F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #4BFED5 and #4B74FE stays calm, while #FE7C4B is the loudest partner.

What is #4bcdfe in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(71%, 19%, 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 #4bcdfe warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 94 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #4BFEED; nudged cooler, #4AB5FF.

Work with #4bcdfe in the Color Lab