Skip to content
blue · cool

#656dfe

a light, electric blue · cool · closest name: Medium Slate Blue

Token name suggestion: Drift Cobalt

RGB
101, 109, 254
HSL
237°, 99%, 70%
CMYK
60, 57, 0, 0
Luminance
0.2086

#656dfe is a light electric blue, 237° on the wheel and 85/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.17:1). As text it scores 4.06:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Medium Slate Blue, nearest Tailwind family is indigo.

hsl(237 99% 70%)rgb(101 109 254)Base step 400AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #656dfe is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#656dfe
Hue
237°
blue
Saturation
99%
electric
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
100%
HSV value
Perceived
52%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2086
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
85/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
5.17:1
Closest name
Medium Slate Blue
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
83.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.609
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
indigo
500 · ΔE 2.9
Web-safe
#6666FF
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue237° of 360°
Saturation99%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #656dfe.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool85% 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
Red13%
Green52%
Blue34%

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

Every format

HEX#656dfe
HEX (8-digit)#656dfeff
RGBrgb(101, 109, 254)
RGBArgba(101, 109, 254, 1)
HSLhsl(237, 99%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(237, 60%, 100%)
HWBhwb(237 40% 0%)
CMYKcmyk(60%, 57%, 0%, 0%)
LABlab(52.8 39.0 -73.3)
LCHlch(52.8 83.1 298.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.609 0.212 275.7)
XYZ (D65)xyz(28.72, 20.86, 96.26)
Decimal6647294
Display P3color(display-p3 0.396 0.427 0.996)
Web-safe#6666FF

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #656dfe;
background-color: #656dfe;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #656dfe;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#656dfe] bg-[#656dfe]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #656dfe;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.396, green: 0.427, blue: 0.996)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.396, green: 0.427, blue: 0.996, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#656DFE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF656DFE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF656DFE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(254, 109, 101)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(101, 109, 254)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(101, 109, 254)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 101, 109, 254)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.3961f, 0.4275f, 0.9961f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{101,109,254}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #656dfe 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #656dfe 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#01077F, #D3D4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #656dfe 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: #F1F2FE;
  --brand-100: #E3E5FC;
  --brand-200: #C0C3FB;
  --brand-300: #9095FE;
  --brand-400: #656dfe;
  --brand-500: #202CFE;
  --brand-600: #020EF3;
  --brand-700: #010CCB;
  --brand-800: #0109A2;
  --brand-900: #060B75;
  --brand-950: #040749;
  --brand: #656dfe;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F5FA;
  --brand-border: #C0C2ED;
  --brand-hover: #414BFE;
  --brand-pressed: #1E2AFE;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141524;
    --brand-ink: #D3D4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F1F2FE',
        100: '#E3E5FC',
        200: '#C0C3FB',
        300: '#9095FE',
        400: '#656dfe',
        500: '#202CFE',
        600: '#020EF3',
        700: '#010CCB',
        800: '#0109A2',
        900: '#060B75',
        950: '#040749',
        DEFAULT: '#656dfe',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F1F2FE,
  '100': #E3E5FC,
  '200': #C0C3FB,
  '300': #9095FE,
  '400': #656dfe,
  '500': #202CFE,
  '600': #020EF3,
  '700': #010CCB,
  '800': #0109A2,
  '900': #060B75,
  '950': #040749,
);
$brand-base: #656dfe;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F1F2FE", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E3E5FC", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#C0C3FB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#9095FE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#656dfe", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#202CFE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#020EF3", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#010CCB", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#0109A2", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#060B75", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#040749", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #656dfe · 5.17:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.06:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.17:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #656dfe as text scores 4.06:1 on white and 5.17:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #01077F at 3.87:1.

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
#5B63FE · 4.51:1
AA on white−2% L
#5B63FE
The quick fox
#2833FE · 7.01:1
AAA on white−12% L
#2833FE
The quick fox
#656dfe · 5.17:1
AA on blackalready passes
#656dfe
The quick fox
#838AFE · 7.03:1
AAA on black+6% L
#838AFE

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #656DFE 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
#656dfe on white: 4.06:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#656dfe on black: 5.17:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #656dfe as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #656dfe.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.06:1AaAa
Slate 503.88:1AaAa
Slate 1003.71:1AaAa
Slate 2003.29:1AaAa
Slate 3002.73:1AaAa
Slate 4001.58:1AaAa
Slate 5001.17:1AaAa
Slate 6001.87:1AaAa
Slate 7002.55:1AaAa
Slate 8003.60:1AaAa
Slate 9004.40:1AaAa
Black5.17:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #0085FF
deuteranopia · #0078FB
tritanopia · #0090AB

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. #656dfe 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.

#F1F2FE
#E3E5FC
#C0C3FB
#9095FE
#656dfe
#202CFE
#020EF3
#010CCB
#0109A2
#060B75
#040749
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F1F2FEDarkest = 950 · #040749Text step on white = 500
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 0.053 275.7);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.085 275.7);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.127 275.7);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.165 275.7);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.195 275.7);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.212 275.7);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.212 275.7);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.199 275.7);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.178 275.7);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.148 275.7);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.116 275.7);
}

Colors that work with #656dfe

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#F4F5FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0C2ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B4F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC8E00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#01077F
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6E7FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141524
Dark-mode background
Hover#414BFE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#1E2AFE
Two steps down
Disabled#E5E5EE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#787FFF
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 #656dfe

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #01077F
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.

At this chroma the association is amplified — it will dominate anything placed beside it, so give it space and use it sparingly. The lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityLow
  • EnergyHigh
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#FEF665
Analogous left#65B9FE
Analogous right#AA65FE
Split-complement 1#FEAA65
Split-complement 2#B9FE65
Triadic 1#FE656D
Triadic 2#6DFE65
Tetradic#FE65B9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°237°

#656dfe sits at 237°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red39.6%
Green42.7%
Blue99.6%
R · 0–255
101
0x65
G · 0–255
109
0x6d
B · 0–255
254
0xfe

CMYK percentages

Cyan60.2%
Magenta57.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.4%

Total ink coverage is 118%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#656dfe text on a black background

contrast 5.17:1

Card sample

#656dfe text on a white background

contrast 4.06:1

Card sample

#656dfe on grey

3.71:1

#656dfe on its own surface

3.73:1

#656dfe on its dark surface

4.45:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #656dfe;
Background color
Panel with #656dfe background
background-color: #656dfe;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #656dfe;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(101, 109, 254, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(101, 109, 254, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #656dfe;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #656dfe, #C365FE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #656dfe, #E965FE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #656dfe;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #656dfe;
caret-color: #656dfe;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #656dfe;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #E6E7FF;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #656dfe;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#656dfe 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #656dfe 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(101, 109, 254, 0.5)
rgb(101 109 254 / 50%)
#656dfe80
hsl(237 99% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #656dfe 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#656dfe1a#F0F0FF
20%#656dfe33#E0E2FF
40%#656dfe66#C1C5FF
60%#656dfe99#A3A7FE
80%#656dfecc#848AFE

Gradients from #656dfe

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, #A2A7FE, #656dfe 45%, #01077F);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #656dfe, #C747FE);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #656dfe, #FEF665);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C0C3FF 0%, #656dfe 45%, #01077F 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F5FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #98D9FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #C583FE 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #01077F 0%, transparent 65%), #656dfe;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #656dfe

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.

#656dfe 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

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

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 5.17:1.

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.

#656dfe, answered

What color is #656dfe?

#656dfe is a light electric blue, closest to Medium Slate Blue (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 237° on the hue wheel with 99% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #656dfe?

rgb(101, 109, 254) — 101 red, 109 green and 254 blue out of 255, or 39.6% / 42.7% / 99.6% by channel.

What is #656dfe in HSL and HSV?

hsl(237, 99%, 70%) and hsv(237, 60%, 100%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #656dfe a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2086 and perceived brightness is 52%, so black text on it reaches 5.17:1.

Should I use black or white text on #656dfe?

Black. It scores 5.17:1 against #656dfe, versus 4.06:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #656dfe accessible on a white background?

#656dfe on white scores 4.06:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #5B63FE to reach 4.5:1, or #2833FE for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #656dfe?

#FEF665 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FEAA65 and #B9FE65, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #656dfe?

For interface work: #F4F5FA as the surface, #C0C2ED for borders, #4B4F9B for secondary text, #CC8E00 as an accent and #01077F for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #65B9FE and #AA65FE stays calm, while #FEF665 is the loudest partner.

What is #656dfe in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(60%, 57%, 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 #656dfe warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 85 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #9565FE; nudged cooler, #6490FF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #656dfe?

The indigo family — its 500 step is #6366f1, ΔE2000 2.9 away. That is close enough to swap in without anyone noticing.

How do I use #656dfe in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#656dfe] or text-[#656dfe], 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 #656dfe with 50% opacity?

rgba(101, 109, 254, 0.5), or #656dfe80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B2B6FF; over black, #33377F.

Is #656dfe a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6666FF, ΔE2000 2.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #656dfe 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 #656dfe?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A2A7FE, #656dfe 45%, #01077F). For more colour, a short hue run to #C747FE keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #656dfe in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #656dfe at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.