Skip to content
blue · cool

#6f9bc9

a balanced, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Cornflower Blue

Token name suggestion: Studio Sapphire

RGB
111, 155, 201
HSL
211°, 46%, 61%
CMYK
45, 23, 0, 21
Luminance
0.3104

#6f9bc9 is a balanced vivid blue, 211° on the wheel and 100/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.21:1). As text it scores 2.91:1 on white — use #4277AF instead. Nearest name is Cornflower Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(211 46% 61%)rgb(111 155 201)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #6f9bc9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#6f9bc9
Hue
211°
blue
Saturation
46%
vivid
Lightness
61%
balanced
Brightness
79%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3104
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
100/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.21:1
Closest name
Cornflower Blue
ΔE2000 4.4
Chroma
28.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.676
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 8.8
Web-safe
#6699CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue211° of 360°
Saturation46%
Lightness61%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #6f9bc9.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool100% 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
Red11%
Green76%
Blue14%

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

Every format

HEX#6f9bc9
HEX (8-digit)#6f9bc9ff
RGBrgb(111, 155, 201)
RGBArgba(111, 155, 201, 1)
HSLhsl(211, 46%, 61%)
HSV / HSBhsv(211, 45%, 79%)
HWBhwb(211 44% 21%)
CMYKcmyk(45%, 23%, 0%, 21%)
LABlab(62.5 -2.6 -28.3)
LCHlch(62.5 28.4 264.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.676 0.084 250.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(28.82, 31.04, 59.72)
Decimal7314377
Display P3color(display-p3 0.435 0.608 0.788)
Web-safe#6699CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #6f9bc9;
background-color: #6f9bc9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #6f9bc9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#6f9bc9] bg-[#6f9bc9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #6f9bc9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.435, green: 0.608, blue: 0.788)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.435, green: 0.608, blue: 0.788, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#6F9BC9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF6F9BC9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF6F9BC9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(201, 155, 111)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(111, 155, 201)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(111, 155, 201)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 111, 155, 201)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4353f, 0.6078f, 0.7882f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{111,155,201}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #6f9bc9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #6f9bc9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#233F5D, #D3E0EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #6f9bc9 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: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF0F5;
  --brand-200: #D1DEEB;
  --brand-300: #ADC6E0;
  --brand-400: #85AAD1;
  --brand-500: #6f9bc9;
  --brand-600: #4379B2;
  --brand-700: #386594;
  --brand-800: #2C5177;
  --brand-900: #243D57;
  --brand-950: #162636;
  --brand: #6f9bc9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C4D6E9;
  --brand-hover: #5589BF;
  --brand-pressed: #4277AF;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141C24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E0EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F7FA',
        100: '#EAF0F5',
        200: '#D1DEEB',
        300: '#ADC6E0',
        400: '#85AAD1',
        500: '#6f9bc9',
        600: '#4379B2',
        700: '#386594',
        800: '#2C5177',
        900: '#243D57',
        950: '#162636',
        DEFAULT: '#6f9bc9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F7FA,
  '100': #EAF0F5,
  '200': #D1DEEB,
  '300': #ADC6E0,
  '400': #85AAD1,
  '500': #6f9bc9,
  '600': #4379B2,
  '700': #386594,
  '800': #2C5177,
  '900': #243D57,
  '950': #162636,
);
$brand-base: #6f9bc9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F7FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF0F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1DEEB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ADC6E0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#85AAD1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6f9bc9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4379B2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#386594", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2C5177", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#243D57", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#162636", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #6f9bc9 · 7.21:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.91:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.21:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #6f9bc9 as text scores 2.91:1 on white and 7.21:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #233F5D at 3.71:1.

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
#4277AF · 4.68:1
AA on white−14% L
#4277AF
The quick fox
#325B86 · 7.06:1
AAA on white−25% L
#325B86
The quick fox
#6f9bc9 · 7.21:1
AA on blackalready passes
#6f9bc9
The quick fox
#6f9bc9 · 7.21:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#6f9bc9

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6B98C8 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
#6f9bc9 on white: 2.91:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#6f9bc9 on black: 7.21:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #6f9bc9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #6f9bc9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.91:1AaAa
Slate 502.78:1AaAa
Slate 1002.66:1AaAa
Slate 2002.36:1AaAa
Slate 3001.96:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5001.63:1AaAa
Slate 6002.60:1AaAa
Slate 7003.55:1AaAa
Slate 8005.02:1AaAa
Slate 9006.13:1AaAa
Black7.21:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #899CCB
deuteranopia · #7E93C8
tritanopia · #4BA6AB

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. #6f9bc9 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.

#F5F7FA
#EAF0F5
#D1DEEB
#ADC6E0
#85AAD1
#6f9bc9
#4379B2
#386594
#2C5177
#243D57
#162636
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F7FADarkest = 950 · #162636Text 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 0.021 250.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.033 250.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.050 250.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.065 250.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.077 250.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.084 250.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.084 250.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.079 250.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.070 250.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.059 250.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.046 250.2);
}

Colors that work with #6f9bc9

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#F4F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C4D6E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B729B
Captions on the surface
Accent#984E34
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#233F5D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF2F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141C24
Dark-mode background
Hover#5589BF
One step down in lightness
Pressed#4277AF
Two steps down
Disabled#CBD4DE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#75A5D8
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 #6f9bc9

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 #233F5D
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6B98C8

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
  • Weight39/100
  • 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#C99D6F
Analogous left#6FC8C9
Analogous right#706FC9
Split-complement 1#C9706F
Split-complement 2#C8C96F
Triadic 1#C96F9B
Triadic 2#9BC96F
Tetradic#C96FC8
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°211°

#6f9bc9 sits at 211°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red43.5%
Green60.8%
Blue78.8%
R · 0–255
111
0x6f
G · 0–255
155
0x9b
B · 0–255
201
0xc9

CMYK percentages

Cyan44.8%
Magenta22.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)21.2%

Total ink coverage is 89%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#6f9bc9 text on a black background

contrast 7.21:1

Card sample

#6f9bc9 text on a white background

contrast 2.91:1

Card sample

#6f9bc9 on grey

2.66:1

#6f9bc9 on its own surface

2.71:1

#6f9bc9 on its dark surface

5.90:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #6f9bc9;
Background color
Panel with #6f9bc9 background
background-color: #6f9bc9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #6f9bc9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(111, 155, 201, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(111, 155, 201, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #6f9bc9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #6f9bc9, #7F6FC9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #6f9bc9, #966FC9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #6f9bc9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #6f9bc9;
caret-color: #6f9bc9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #6f9bc9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF2F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #6f9bc9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#6f9bc9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #6f9bc9 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(111, 155, 201, 0.5)
rgb(111 155 201 / 50%)
#6f9bc980
hsl(211 46% 61% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #6f9bc9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#6f9bc91a#F1F5FA
20%#6f9bc933#E2EBF4
40%#6f9bc966#C5D7E9
60%#6f9bc999#A9C3DF
80%#6f9bc9cc#8CAFD4

Gradients from #6f9bc9

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, #9CBADA, #6f9bc9 45%, #233F5D);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #6f9bc9, #7459C1);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #6f9bc9, #C99D6F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B2C9E2 0%, #6f9bc9 45%, #233F5D 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #94D7D2 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8D85D1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #233F5D 0%, transparent 65%), #6f9bc9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #6f9bc9

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.

#6f9bc9 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 7.21:1.

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.

#6f9bc9, answered

What color is #6f9bc9?

#6f9bc9 is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Cornflower Blue (ΔE2000 4.4). It sits at 211° on the hue wheel with 46% saturation and 61% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #6f9bc9?

rgb(111, 155, 201) — 111 red, 155 green and 201 blue out of 255, or 43.5% / 60.8% / 78.8% by channel.

What is #6f9bc9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(211, 46%, 61%) and hsv(211, 45%, 79%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #6f9bc9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3104 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.21:1.

Should I use black or white text on #6f9bc9?

Black. It scores 7.21:1 against #6f9bc9, versus 2.91:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #6f9bc9 accessible on a white background?

#6f9bc9 on white scores 2.91:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #4277AF to reach 4.5:1, or #325B86 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #6f9bc9?

#C99D6F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #C9706F and #C8C96F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #6f9bc9?

For interface work: #F4F7FA as the surface, #C4D6E9 for borders, #4B729B for secondary text, #984E34 as an accent and #233F5D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #6FC8C9 and #706FC9 stays calm, while #C99D6F is the loudest partner.

What is #6f9bc9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(45%, 23%, 0%, 21%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #6f9bc9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 100 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #6F7AC9; nudged cooler, #5A8DC4.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #6f9bc9?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 8.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #6f9bc9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #6f9bc9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#6f9bc9] or text-[#6f9bc9], 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 #6f9bc9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(111, 155, 201, 0.5), or #6f9bc980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #B7CDE4; over black, #384E65.

Is #6f9bc9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6699CC, ΔE2000 1.5 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #6f9bc9 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 #6f9bc9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #9CBADA, #6f9bc9 45%, #233F5D). For more colour, a short hue run to #7459C1 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #6f9bc9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #6f9bc9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.