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#5eb8ec

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

RGB
94, 184, 236
HSL
202°, 79%, 65%
CMYK
60, 22, 0, 8
Luminance
0.4272

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #5eb8ec is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#5eb8ec
Hue
202°
blue
Saturation
79%
electric
Lightness
65%
balanced
Brightness
93%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4272
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
9.54:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 4.3
Where it sits
Hue202° of 360°
Saturation79%
Lightness65%
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#5eb8ec
RGBrgb(94, 184, 236)
HSLhsl(202, 79%, 65%)
CMYKcmyk(60%, 22%, 0%, 8%)
LABlab(71.4 -11.8 -34.0)
LCHlch(71.4 36.0 250.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.748 0.114 236.4)
Decimal6207724
Display P3color(display-p3 0.369 0.722 0.925)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #5eb8ec;
background-color: #5eb8ec;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#5eb8ec] bg-[#5eb8ec]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #5eb8ec;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.369, green: 0.722, blue: 0.925)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#5eb8ec")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF5EB8EC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(236, 184, 94)

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 #5eb8ec · 9.54:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.20:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.54:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #5eb8ec as text scores 2.20:1 on white and 9.54:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#5eb8ec on white: 2.20:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#5eb8ec on black: 9.54:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #A0B7EE
deuteranopia · #8CA8EB
tritanopia · #00C5C9

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #5eb8ec 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.

#F3F9FC
#E6F2F9
#C7E4F5
#9BD3F3
#5eb8ec
#36A6E7
#1A94DB
#167BB6
#116392
#11496A
#0A2E42
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F3F9FCDarkest = 950 · #0A2E42
:root {
  --brand-50: #F3F9FC;
  --brand-100: #E6F2F9;
  --brand-200: #C7E4F5;
  --brand-300: #9BD3F3;
  --brand-400: #5eb8ec;
  --brand-500: #36A6E7;
  --brand-600: #1A94DB;
  --brand-700: #167BB6;
  --brand-800: #116392;
  --brand-900: #11496A;
  --brand-950: #0A2E42;
  --brand: #5eb8ec;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #5eb8ec

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#BB2511
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#0D4D72
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E8F5FC
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 #5eb8ec

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#EC925E
Analogous left#5EECD9
Analogous right#5E71EC
Split-complement 1#EC5E71
Split-complement 2#ECD95E
Triadic 1#EC5EB8
Triadic 2#B8EC5E
Tetradic#D95EEC

RGB percentages

Red36.9%
Green72.2%
Blue92.5%

CMYK percentages

Cyan60.2%
Magenta22.0%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)7.5%

Color previews

#5eb8ec text on a black background

contrast 9.54:1

Card sample

#5eb8ec text on a white background

contrast 2.20:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #5eb8ec;
Background color
Panel with #5eb8ec background
background-color: #5eb8ec;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #5eb8ec;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(94, 184, 236, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(94, 184, 236, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #5eb8ec;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #5eb8ec, #635EEC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #5eb8ec

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.

#5eb8ec 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.

#5eb8ec, answered

What color is #5eb8ec?

#5eb8ec is a balanced electric blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 4.3). It sits at 202° on the hue wheel with 79% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #5eb8ec?

rgb(94, 184, 236) — 94 red, 184 green and 236 blue out of 255, or 36.9% / 72.2% / 92.5% by channel.

Is #5eb8ec a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4272 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.54:1.

Should I use black or white text on #5eb8ec?

Black. It scores 9.54:1 against #5eb8ec, versus 2.20:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #5eb8ec?

#EC925E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #EC5E71 and #ECD95E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #5eb8ec?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DCED for borders, #4B7D9B for secondary text, #BB2511 as an accent and #0D4D72 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #5EECD9 and #5E71EC stays calm, while #EC925E is the loudest partner.

What is #5eb8ec in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(60%, 22%, 0%, 8%). 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 #5eb8ec 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 #5EECEC; nudged cooler, #459FEB.

Work with #5eb8ec in the Color Lab