Skip to content
blue · cool

#697bab

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

Token name suggestion: Atlas Sapphire

RGB
105, 123, 171
HSL
224°, 28%, 54%
CMYK
39, 28, 0, 33
Luminance
0.2011

#697bab is a balanced soft blue, 224° on the wheel and 84/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (5.02:1). As text it scores 4.18:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(224 28% 54%)rgb(105 123 171)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #697bab is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#697bab
Hue
224°
blue
Saturation
28%
soft
Lightness
54%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
49%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2011
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
84/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
5.02:1
Closest name
Steel Blue
ΔE2000 9.5
Chroma
28.2
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.588
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 7.6
Web-safe
#666699
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue224° of 360°
Saturation28%
Lightness54%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #697bab.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool84% 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
Red15%
Green70%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#697bab
HEX (8-digit)#697babff
RGBrgb(105, 123, 171)
RGBArgba(105, 123, 171, 1)
HSLhsl(224, 28%, 54%)
HSV / HSBhsv(224, 39%, 67%)
HWBhwb(224 41% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(39%, 28%, 0%, 33%)
LABlab(52.0 5.7 -27.6)
LCHlch(52.0 28.2 281.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.588 0.077 268.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(20.26, 20.11, 41.33)
Decimal6912939
Display P3color(display-p3 0.412 0.482 0.671)
Web-safe#666699

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #697bab;
background-color: #697bab;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #697bab;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#697bab] bg-[#697bab]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #697bab;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.412, green: 0.482, blue: 0.671)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.412, green: 0.482, blue: 0.671, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#697BAB</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF697BAB)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF697BAB)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(171, 123, 105)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(105, 123, 171)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(105, 123, 171)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 105, 123, 171)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4118f, 0.4824f, 0.6706f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{105,123,171}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #697bab 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #697bab 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2E3852, #D8DCE9);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #697bab 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: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF3;
  --brand-200: #D6DAE6;
  --brand-300: #B7C0D7;
  --brand-400: #93A0C3;
  --brand-500: #697bab;
  --brand-600: #586B9D;
  --brand-700: #495983;
  --brand-800: #3B4769;
  --brand-900: #2D364D;
  --brand-950: #1C2230;
  --brand: #697bab;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F6FA;
  --brand-border: #CBD1E2;
  --brand-hover: #56699A;
  --brand-pressed: #495983;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D8DCE9;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#ECEEF3',
        200: '#D6DAE6',
        300: '#B7C0D7',
        400: '#93A0C3',
        500: '#697bab',
        600: '#586B9D',
        700: '#495983',
        800: '#3B4769',
        900: '#2D364D',
        950: '#1C2230',
        DEFAULT: '#697bab',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #ECEEF3,
  '200': #D6DAE6,
  '300': #B7C0D7,
  '400': #93A0C3,
  '500': #697bab,
  '600': #586B9D,
  '700': #495983,
  '800': #3B4769,
  '900': #2D364D,
  '950': #1C2230,
);
$brand-base: #697bab;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6DAE6", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B7C0D7", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#93A0C3", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#697bab", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#586B9D", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#495983", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3B4769", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2D364D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1C2230", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #697bab · 5.02:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 4.18:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 5.02:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #697bab as text scores 4.18:1 on white and 5.02:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2E3852 at 2.78:1.

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
#6275A7 · 4.54:1
AA on white−2% L
#6275A7
The quick fox
#485780 · 7.12:1
AAA on white−15% L
#485780
The quick fox
#697bab · 5.02:1
AA on blackalready passes
#697bab
The quick fox
#8695BB · 7.03:1
AAA on black+9% L
#8695BB

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #697BAB 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
#697bab on white: 4.18:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#697bab on black: 5.02:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #697bab as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #697bab.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White4.18:1AaAa
Slate 504.00:1AaAa
Slate 1003.82:1AaAa
Slate 2003.39:1AaAa
Slate 3002.82:1AaAa
Slate 4001.63:1AaAa
Slate 5001.14:1AaAa
Slate 6001.81:1AaAa
Slate 7002.48:1AaAa
Slate 8003.50:1AaAa
Slate 9004.27:1AaAa
Black5.02:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #6B7FAD
deuteranopia · #6579AA
tritanopia · #54858C

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. #697bab 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.

#F6F7F9
#ECEEF3
#D6DAE6
#B7C0D7
#93A0C3
#697bab
#586B9D
#495983
#3B4769
#2D364D
#1C2230
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1C2230Text step on white = 600
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 0.019 268.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.031 268.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.046 268.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.060 268.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.071 268.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.077 268.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.077 268.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.072 268.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.065 268.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.054 268.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.042 268.2);
}

Colors that work with #697bab

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#F5F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#CBD1E2
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#526493
Captions on the surface
Accent#876445
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2E3852
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#56699A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#495983
Two steps down
Disabled#B5BCCF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#6B82BD
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 #697bab

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
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Small text on white — under 4.5:1
  • 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 #2E3852
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.

The muted chroma softens the association — it reads considered rather than loud, which suits long-form and data-heavy screens. 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
  • Weight46/100
  • 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#AB9969
Analogous left#699CAB
Analogous right#7869AB
Split-complement 1#AB7869
Split-complement 2#9CAB69
Triadic 1#AB697B
Triadic 2#7BAB69
Tetradic#AB699C
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°224°

#697bab sits at 224°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red41.2%
Green48.2%
Blue67.1%
R · 0–255
105
0x69
G · 0–255
123
0x7b
B · 0–255
171
0xab

CMYK percentages

Cyan38.6%
Magenta28.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)32.9%

Total ink coverage is 100%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#697bab text on a black background

contrast 5.02:1

Card sample

#697bab text on a white background

contrast 4.18:1

Card sample

#697bab on grey

3.82:1

#697bab on its own surface

3.87:1

#697bab on its dark surface

4.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #697bab;
Background color
Panel with #697bab background
background-color: #697bab;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #697bab;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(105, 123, 171, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(105, 123, 171, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #697bab;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #697bab, #8369AB);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #697bab, #9369AB);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #697bab;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #697bab;
caret-color: #697bab;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #697bab;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #697bab;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#697bab 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #697bab 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(105, 123, 171, 0.5)
rgb(105 123 171 / 50%)
#697bab80
hsl(224 28% 54% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #697bab 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#697bab1a#F0F2F7
20%#697bab33#E1E5EE
40%#697bab66#C3CADD
60%#697bab99#A5B0CD
80%#697babcc#8795BC

Gradients from #697bab

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, #909EC1, #697bab 45%, #2E3852);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #697bab, #79589D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #697bab, #AB9969);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #A4AFCC 0%, #697bab 45%, #2E3852 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #8AB6BD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8E7DB6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2E3852 0%, transparent 65%), #697bab;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #697bab

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.

#697bab 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 5.02:1.

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.

#697bab, answered

What color is #697bab?

#697bab is a balanced soft blue, closest to Steel Blue (ΔE2000 9.5). It sits at 224° on the hue wheel with 28% saturation and 54% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #697bab?

rgb(105, 123, 171) — 105 red, 123 green and 171 blue out of 255, or 41.2% / 48.2% / 67.1% by channel.

What is #697bab in HSL and HSV?

hsl(224, 28%, 54%) and hsv(224, 39%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #697bab a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2011 and perceived brightness is 49%, so black text on it reaches 5.02:1.

Should I use black or white text on #697bab?

Black. It scores 5.02:1 against #697bab, versus 4.18:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #697bab accessible on a white background?

#697bab on white scores 4.18:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #6275A7 to reach 4.5:1, or #485780 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #697bab?

#AB9969 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AB7869 and #9CAB69, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #697bab?

For interface work: #F5F6FA as the surface, #CBD1E2 for borders, #526493 for secondary text, #876445 as an accent and #2E3852 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #699CAB and #7869AB stays calm, while #AB9969 is the loudest partner.

What is #697bab in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(39%, 28%, 0%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #697bab warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 84 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #6F69AB; nudged cooler, #6784AD.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #697bab?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 7.6 away. That is a visible difference, so define #697bab as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #697bab in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#697bab] or text-[#697bab], 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 #697bab with 50% opacity?

rgba(105, 123, 171, 0.5), or #697bab80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B4BDD5; over black, #353E56.

Is #697bab a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #666699, ΔE2000 8.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #697bab 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 moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #697bab?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #909EC1, #697bab 45%, #2E3852). For more colour, a short hue run to #79589D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #697bab in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #697bab at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.