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blue · cool

#76acce

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Harbour

RGB
118, 172, 206
HSL
203°, 47%, 64%
CMYK
43, 17, 0, 19
Luminance
0.3781

#76acce is a balanced vivid blue, 203° on the wheel and 97/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.56:1). As text it scores 2.45:1 on white — use #3A7BA3 instead. Nearest name is Light Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(203 47% 64%)rgb(118 172 206)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #76acce is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#76acce
Hue
203°
blue
Saturation
47%
vivid
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
64%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3781
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
97/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
8.56:1
Closest name
Light Sky Blue
ΔE2000 9.2
Chroma
24.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.719
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 8
Web-safe
#6699CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue203° of 360°
Saturation47%
Lightness64%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #76acce.

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.

Luminance by channel
Red10%
Green78%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#76acce
HEX (8-digit)#76acceff
RGBrgb(118, 172, 206)
RGBArgba(118, 172, 206, 1)
HSLhsl(203, 47%, 64%)
HSV / HSBhsv(203, 43%, 81%)
HWBhwb(203 46% 19%)
CMYKcmyk(43%, 17%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(67.9 -8.9 -22.8)
LCHlch(67.9 24.5 248.8)
OKLCHoklch(0.719 0.075 236.9)
XYZ (D65)xyz(33.36, 37.81, 63.92)
Decimal7777486
Display P3color(display-p3 0.463 0.675 0.808)
Web-safe#6699CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #76acce;
background-color: #76acce;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #76acce;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#76acce] bg-[#76acce]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #76acce;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.463, green: 0.675, blue: 0.808)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.463, green: 0.675, blue: 0.808, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#76ACCE</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF76ACCE)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF76ACCE)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(206, 172, 118)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(118, 172, 206)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(118, 172, 206)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 118, 172, 206)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4627f, 0.6745f, 0.8078f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{118,172,206}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #76acce 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #76acce 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#22475E, #D3E4EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #76acce 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: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF1F5;
  --brand-200: #D0E1EC;
  --brand-300: #ACCDE1;
  --brand-400: #76acce;
  --brand-500: #5A9BC4;
  --brand-600: #4188B4;
  --brand-700: #367196;
  --brand-800: #2B5A78;
  --brand-900: #234358;
  --brand-950: #162A37;
  --brand: #76acce;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C3DBE9;
  --brand-hover: #5C9CC5;
  --brand-pressed: #438CBA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E4EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8FA',
        100: '#EAF1F5',
        200: '#D0E1EC',
        300: '#ACCDE1',
        400: '#76acce',
        500: '#5A9BC4',
        600: '#4188B4',
        700: '#367196',
        800: '#2B5A78',
        900: '#234358',
        950: '#162A37',
        DEFAULT: '#76acce',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8FA,
  '100': #EAF1F5,
  '200': #D0E1EC,
  '300': #ACCDE1,
  '400': #76acce,
  '500': #5A9BC4,
  '600': #4188B4,
  '700': #367196,
  '800': #2B5A78,
  '900': #234358,
  '950': #162A37,
);
$brand-base: #76acce;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F8FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF1F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D0E1EC", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#ACCDE1", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#76acce", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5A9BC4", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4188B4", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#367196", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2B5A78", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#234358", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#162A37", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #76acce · 8.56:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.45:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.56:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #76acce as text scores 2.45:1 on white and 8.56:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #22475E at 4.02:1.

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
#3A7BA3 · 4.62:1
AA on white−20% L
#3A7BA3
The quick fox
#2C5C7A · 7.19:1
AAA on white−31% L
#2C5C7A
The quick fox
#76acce · 8.56:1
AA on blackalready passes
#76acce
The quick fox
#76acce · 8.56:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#76acce

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #589AC3 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
#76acce on white: 2.45:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#76acce on black: 8.56:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #76acce as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #76acce.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.45:1AaAa
Slate 502.34:1AaAa
Slate 1002.24:1AaAa
Slate 2001.99:1AaAa
Slate 3001.65:1AaAa
Slate 4001.05:1AaAa
Slate 5001.94:1AaAa
Slate 6003.09:1AaAa
Slate 7004.22:1AaAa
Slate 8005.96:1AaAa
Slate 9007.28:1AaAa
Black8.56:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9DABD0
deuteranopia · #90A1CD
tritanopia · #53B5B7

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. #76acce 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.

#F5F8FA
#EAF1F5
#D0E1EC
#ACCDE1
#76acce
#5A9BC4
#4188B4
#367196
#2B5A78
#234358
#162A37
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #162A37Text 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 0.019 236.9);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.030 236.9);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.045 236.9);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.059 236.9);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.069 236.9);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.075 236.9);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.075 236.9);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.071 236.9);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.063 236.9);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.053 236.9);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.041 236.9);
}

Colors that work with #76acce

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#C3DBE9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7C9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#9B4031
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#22475E
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#ECF4F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#5C9CC5
One step down in lightness
Pressed#438CBA
Two steps down
Disabled#D2DCE2
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#7DB7DC
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 #76acce

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 #22475E
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #589AC3

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#CE9876
Analogous left#76CEC4
Analogous right#7680CE
Split-complement 1#CE7680
Split-complement 2#CEC476
Triadic 1#CE76AC
Triadic 2#ACCE76
Tetradic#C476CE
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°203°

#76acce sits at 203°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red46.3%
Green67.5%
Blue80.8%
R · 0–255
118
0x76
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
206
0xce

CMYK percentages

Cyan42.7%
Magenta16.5%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.2%

Total ink coverage is 78%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#76acce text on a black background

contrast 8.56:1

Card sample

#76acce text on a white background

contrast 2.45:1

Card sample

#76acce on grey

2.24:1

#76acce on its own surface

2.30:1

#76acce on its dark surface

6.90:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #76acce;
Background color
Panel with #76acce background
background-color: #76acce;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #76acce;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(118, 172, 206, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(118, 172, 206, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #76acce;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #76acce, #7B76CE);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #76acce, #9176CE);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #76acce;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #76acce;
caret-color: #76acce;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #76acce;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #ECF4F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #76acce;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#76acce 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #76acce 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(118, 172, 206, 0.5)
rgb(118 172 206 / 50%)
#76acce80
hsl(203 47% 64% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #76acce 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#76acce1a#F1F7FA
20%#76acce33#E4EEF5
40%#76acce66#C8DEEB
60%#76acce99#ADCDE2
80%#76accecc#91BDD8

Gradients from #76acce

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, #A3C7DE, #76acce 45%, #22475E);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #76acce, #6D5FC6);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #76acce, #CE9876);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #BAD5E6 0%, #76acce 45%, #22475E 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%, #9BDBCF 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #8C8FD6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #22475E 0%, transparent 65%), #76acce;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #76acce

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.

#76acce 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 8.56:1.

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.

#76acce, answered

What color is #76acce?

#76acce is a balanced vivid blue, closest to Light Sky Blue (ΔE2000 9.2). It sits at 203° on the hue wheel with 47% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #76acce?

rgb(118, 172, 206) — 118 red, 172 green and 206 blue out of 255, or 46.3% / 67.5% / 80.8% by channel.

What is #76acce in HSL and HSV?

hsl(203, 47%, 64%) and hsv(203, 43%, 81%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #76acce a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3781 and perceived brightness is 64%, so black text on it reaches 8.56:1.

Should I use black or white text on #76acce?

Black. It scores 8.56:1 against #76acce, versus 2.45:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #76acce accessible on a white background?

#76acce on white scores 2.45:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #3A7BA3 to reach 4.5:1, or #2C5C7A for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #76acce?

#CE9876 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CE7680 and #CEC476, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #76acce?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C3DBE9 for borders, #4B7C9B for secondary text, #9B4031 as an accent and #22475E for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #76CEC4 and #7680CE stays calm, while #CE9876 is the loudest partner.

What is #76acce in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(43%, 17%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #76acce 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 #76CCCE; nudged cooler, #6197C9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #76acce?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #76acce as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #76acce in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#76acce] or text-[#76acce], 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 #76acce with 50% opacity?

rgba(118, 172, 206, 0.5), or #76acce80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BBD6E7; over black, #3B5667.

Is #76acce a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6699CC, ΔE2000 7.2 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #76acce 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 #76acce?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A3C7DE, #76acce 45%, #22475E). For more colour, a short hue run to #6D5FC6 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #76acce in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #76acce at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.