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blue · cool

#60ace2

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Harbour

RGB
96, 172, 226
HSL
205°, 69%, 63%
CMYK
58, 24, 0, 11
Luminance
0.3748

#60ace2 is a balanced vivid blue, 205° on the wheel and 98/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.50:1). As text it scores 2.47:1 on white — use #227BBA instead. Nearest name is Deep Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(205 69% 63%)rgb(96 172 226)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #60ace2 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#60ace2
Hue
205°
blue
Saturation
69%
vivid
Lightness
63%
balanced
Brightness
89%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3748
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.50:1
Closest name
Deep Sky Blue
ΔE2000 7.4
Chroma
35.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.717
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 4.8
Web-safe
#6699CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue205° of 360°
Saturation69%
Lightness63%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #60ace2.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool98% 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
Red7%
Green79%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#60ace2
HEX (8-digit)#60ace2ff
RGBrgb(96, 172, 226)
RGBArgba(96, 172, 226, 1)
HSLhsl(205, 69%, 63%)
HSV / HSBhsv(205, 58%, 89%)
HWBhwb(205 38% 11%)
CMYKcmyk(58%, 24%, 0%, 11%)
LABlab(67.6 -8.0 -34.3)
LCHlch(67.6 35.2 256.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.717 0.109 241.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.30, 37.48, 77.42)
Decimal6335714
Display P3color(display-p3 0.376 0.675 0.886)
Web-safe#6699CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #60ace2;
background-color: #60ace2;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #60ace2;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#60ace2] bg-[#60ace2]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #60ace2;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.376, green: 0.675, blue: 0.886)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.376, green: 0.675, blue: 0.886, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#60ACE2</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF60ACE2)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF60ACE2)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(226, 172, 96)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(96, 172, 226)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(96, 172, 226)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 96, 172, 226)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3765f, 0.6745f, 0.8863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{96,172,226}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #60ace2 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #60ace2 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#14476C, #D3E3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #60ace2 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: #F3F8FB;
  --brand-100: #E7F1F8;
  --brand-200: #CAE1F2;
  --brand-300: #A0CDEE;
  --brand-400: #60ace2;
  --brand-500: #419CDC;
  --brand-600: #2689CF;
  --brand-700: #2072AC;
  --brand-800: #195B8A;
  --brand-900: #164464;
  --brand-950: #0E2A3F;
  --brand: #60ace2;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DAED;
  --brand-hover: #429CDC;
  --brand-pressed: #278CD4;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141D24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F3F8FB',
        100: '#E7F1F8',
        200: '#CAE1F2',
        300: '#A0CDEE',
        400: '#60ace2',
        500: '#419CDC',
        600: '#2689CF',
        700: '#2072AC',
        800: '#195B8A',
        900: '#164464',
        950: '#0E2A3F',
        DEFAULT: '#60ace2',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F3F8FB,
  '100': #E7F1F8,
  '200': #CAE1F2,
  '300': #A0CDEE,
  '400': #60ace2,
  '500': #419CDC,
  '600': #2689CF,
  '700': #2072AC,
  '800': #195B8A,
  '900': #164464,
  '950': #0E2A3F,
);
$brand-base: #60ace2;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F3F8FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E7F1F8", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CAE1F2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A0CDEE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#60ace2", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#419CDC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#2689CF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2072AC", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#195B8A", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#164464", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#0E2A3F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #60ace2 · 8.50:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.47:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.50:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #60ace2 as text scores 2.47:1 on white and 8.50:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #14476C at 3.96:1.

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
#227BBA · 4.56:1
AA on white−20% L
#227BBA
The quick fox
#195B8A · 7.23:1
AAA on white−31% L
#195B8A
The quick fox
#60ace2 · 8.50:1
AA on blackalready passes
#60ace2
The quick fox
#60ace2 · 8.50:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#60ace2

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #3D9ADC 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
#60ace2 on white: 2.47:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#60ace2 on black: 8.50:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #60ace2 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #60ace2.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.47:1AaAa
Slate 502.36:1AaAa
Slate 1002.26:1AaAa
Slate 2002.00:1AaAa
Slate 3001.66:1AaAa
Slate 4001.04:1AaAa
Slate 5001.93:1AaAa
Slate 6003.07:1AaAa
Slate 7004.19:1AaAa
Slate 8005.92:1AaAa
Slate 9007.22:1AaAa
Black8.50:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #94ACE5
deuteranopia · #829FE1
tritanopia · #00B9BE

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. #60ace2 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.

#F3F8FB
#E7F1F8
#CAE1F2
#A0CDEE
#60ace2
#419CDC
#2689CF
#2072AC
#195B8A
#164464
#0E2A3F
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F3F8FBDarkest = 950 · #0E2A3FText 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 0.027 241.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.044 241.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.066 241.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.085 241.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.101 241.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.109 241.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.109 241.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.103 241.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.092 241.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.077 241.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.060 241.4);
}

Colors that work with #60ace2

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#C0DAED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#B1341B
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#14476C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E9F4FB
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
Hover#429CDC
One step down in lightness
Pressed#278CD4
Two steps down
Disabled#D1DAE1
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#69B6ED
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 #60ace2

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #14476C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #3D9ADC

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
  • Weight37/100
  • 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#E29660
Analogous left#60E2D7
Analogous right#606BE2
Split-complement 1#E2606B
Split-complement 2#E2D760
Triadic 1#E260AC
Triadic 2#ACE260
Tetradic#D760E2
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°205°

#60ace2 sits at 205°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red37.6%
Green67.5%
Blue88.6%
R · 0–255
96
0x60
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
226
0xe2

CMYK percentages

Cyan57.5%
Magenta23.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)11.4%

Total ink coverage is 93%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#60ace2 text on a black background

contrast 8.50:1

Card sample

#60ace2 text on a white background

contrast 2.47:1

Card sample

#60ace2 on grey

2.26:1

#60ace2 on its own surface

2.31:1

#60ace2 on its dark surface

6.90:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #60ace2;
Background color
Panel with #60ace2 background
background-color: #60ace2;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #60ace2;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(96, 172, 226, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(96, 172, 226, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #60ace2;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #60ace2, #6B60E2);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #60ace2, #8B60E2);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #60ace2;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #60ace2;
caret-color: #60ace2;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #60ace2;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E9F4FB;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #60ace2;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#60ace2 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #60ace2 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(96, 172, 226, 0.5)
rgb(96 172 226 / 50%)
#60ace280
hsl(205 69% 63% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #60ace2 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#60ace21a#EFF7FC
20%#60ace233#DFEEF9
40%#60ace266#BFDEF3
60%#60ace299#A0CDEE
80%#60ace2cc#80BDE8

Gradients from #60ace2

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, #94C7EB, #60ace2 45%, #14476C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #60ace2, #5F46DD);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #60ace2, #E29660);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #AED4F0 0%, #60ace2 45%, #14476C 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%, #8BEADA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #7A7AE7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #14476C 0%, transparent 65%), #60ace2;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #60ace2

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.

#60ace2 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 8.50:1.

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.

#60ace2, answered

What color is #60ace2?

#60ace2 is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Deep Sky Blue (ΔE2000 7.4). It sits at 205° on the hue wheel with 69% saturation and 63% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #60ace2?

rgb(96, 172, 226) — 96 red, 172 green and 226 blue out of 255, or 37.6% / 67.5% / 88.6% by channel.

What is #60ace2 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(205, 69%, 63%) and hsv(205, 58%, 89%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #60ace2 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3748 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 8.50:1.

Should I use black or white text on #60ace2?

Black. It scores 8.50:1 against #60ace2, versus 2.47:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #60ace2 accessible on a white background?

#60ace2 on white scores 2.47:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #227BBA to reach 4.5:1, or #195B8A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #60ace2?

#E29660 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #E2606B and #E2D760, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #60ace2?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DAED for borders, #4B7A9B for secondary text, #B1341B as an accent and #14476C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #60E2D7 and #606BE2 stays calm, while #E29660 is the loudest partner.

What is #60ace2 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(58%, 24%, 0%, 11%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #60ace2 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 98 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #60DCE2; nudged cooler, #4897E0.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #60ace2?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 4.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #60ace2 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #60ace2 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#60ace2] or text-[#60ace2], 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 #60ace2 with 50% opacity?

rgba(96, 172, 226, 0.5), or #60ace280 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B0D6F1; over black, #305671.

Is #60ace2 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6699CC, ΔE2000 6.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #60ace2 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 #60ace2?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #94C7EB, #60ace2 45%, #14476C). For more colour, a short hue run to #5F46DD keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #60ace2 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #60ace2 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.