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blue · cool

#788eb0

a balanced, soft blue · cool · closest name: Light Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: True Denim

RGB
120, 142, 176
HSL
216°, 26%, 58%
CMYK
32, 19, 0, 31
Luminance
0.2647

#788eb0 is a balanced soft blue, 216° on the wheel and 85/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.29:1). As text it scores 3.34:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Light Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(216 26% 58%)rgb(120 142 176)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #788eb0 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#788eb0
Hue
216°
blue
Saturation
26%
soft
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2647
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
85/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.29:1
Closest name
Light Slate Gray
ΔE2000 6.4
Chroma
20.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.642
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 10.3
Web-safe
#669999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue216° of 360°
Saturation26%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #788eb0.

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
Red15%
Green73%
Blue12%

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

Every format

HEX#788eb0
HEX (8-digit)#788eb0ff
RGBrgb(120, 142, 176)
RGBArgba(120, 142, 176, 1)
HSLhsl(216, 26%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(216, 32%, 69%)
HWBhwb(216 47% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(32%, 19%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(58.5 0.4 -20.4)
LCHlch(58.5 20.4 271.1)
OKLCHoklch(0.642 0.057 259.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(25.25, 26.47, 44.85)
Decimal7900848
Display P3color(display-p3 0.471 0.557 0.690)
Web-safe#669999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #788eb0;
background-color: #788eb0;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #788eb0;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#788eb0] bg-[#788eb0]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #788eb0;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.471, green: 0.557, blue: 0.690)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.471, green: 0.557, blue: 0.690, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#788EB0</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF788EB0)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF788EB0)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(176, 142, 120)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(120, 142, 176)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(120, 142, 176)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 120, 142, 176)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4706f, 0.5569f, 0.6902f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{120,142,176}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #788eb0 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #788eb0 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2F3C50, #D8DFE8);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #788eb0 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: #EDEFF3;
  --brand-200: #D6DCE5;
  --brand-300: #B8C4D6;
  --brand-400: #95A6C1;
  --brand-500: #788eb0;
  --brand-600: #5A749A;
  --brand-700: #4B6081;
  --brand-800: #3C4D67;
  --brand-900: #2E3A4C;
  --brand-950: #1D242F;
  --brand: #788eb0;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CCD4E1;
  --brand-hover: #617BA3;
  --brand-pressed: #536A8E;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #151A23;
    --brand-ink: #D8DFE8;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F9',
        100: '#EDEFF3',
        200: '#D6DCE5',
        300: '#B8C4D6',
        400: '#95A6C1',
        500: '#788eb0',
        600: '#5A749A',
        700: '#4B6081',
        800: '#3C4D67',
        900: '#2E3A4C',
        950: '#1D242F',
        DEFAULT: '#788eb0',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F9,
  '100': #EDEFF3,
  '200': #D6DCE5,
  '300': #B8C4D6,
  '400': #95A6C1,
  '500': #788eb0,
  '600': #5A749A,
  '700': #4B6081,
  '800': #3C4D67,
  '900': #2E3A4C,
  '950': #1D242F,
);
$brand-base: #788eb0;
$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": "#EDEFF3", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D6DCE5", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B8C4D6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#95A6C1", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#788eb0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#5A749A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#4B6081", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#3C4D67", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2E3A4C", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1D242F", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #788eb0 · 6.29:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.34:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.29:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #788eb0 as text scores 3.34:1 on white and 6.29:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2F3C50 at 3.34:1.

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
#5C769E · 4.63:1
AA on white−9% L
#5C769E
The quick fox
#465977 · 7.10:1
AAA on white−21% L
#465977
The quick fox
#788eb0 · 6.29:1
AA on blackalready passes
#788eb0
The quick fox
#8599B7 · 7.24:1
AAA on black+4% L
#8599B7

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #788EB0 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
#788eb0 on white: 3.34:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#788eb0 on black: 6.29:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #788eb0 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #788eb0.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.34:1AaAa
Slate 503.19:1AaAa
Slate 1003.05:1AaAa
Slate 2002.71:1AaAa
Slate 3002.25:1AaAa
Slate 4001.30:1AaAa
Slate 5001.43:1AaAa
Slate 6002.27:1AaAa
Slate 7003.10:1AaAa
Slate 8004.38:1AaAa
Slate 9005.35:1AaAa
Black6.29:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8290B2
deuteranopia · #7C8AAF
tritanopia · #689599

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. #788eb0 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
#EDEFF3
#D6DCE5
#B8C4D6
#95A6C1
#788eb0
#5A749A
#4B6081
#3C4D67
#2E3A4C
#1D242F
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1D242FText 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 0.014 259.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.023 259.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.034 259.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.045 259.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.053 259.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.057 259.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.057 259.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.054 259.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.048 259.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.040 259.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.031 259.0);
}

Colors that work with #788eb0

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#F5F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CCD4E1
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#556C91
Captions on the surface
Accent#845D48
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2F3C50
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EFF2F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#151A23
Dark-mode background
Hover#617BA3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#536A8E
Two steps down
Disabled#C1CAD7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#7B97C1
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 #788eb0

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 #2F3C50
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
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#B09A78
Analogous left#78AAB0
Analogous right#7E78B0
Split-complement 1#B07E78
Split-complement 2#AAB078
Triadic 1#B0788E
Triadic 2#8EB078
Tetradic#B078AA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°216°

#788eb0 sits at 216°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red47.1%
Green55.7%
Blue69.0%
R · 0–255
120
0x78
G · 0–255
142
0x8e
B · 0–255
176
0xb0

CMYK percentages

Cyan31.8%
Magenta19.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.0%

Total ink coverage is 82%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#788eb0 text on a black background

contrast 6.29:1

Card sample

#788eb0 text on a white background

contrast 3.34:1

Card sample

#788eb0 on grey

3.05:1

#788eb0 on its own surface

3.11:1

#788eb0 on its dark surface

5.23:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #788eb0;
Background color
Panel with #788eb0 background
background-color: #788eb0;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #788eb0;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(120, 142, 176, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(120, 142, 176, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #788eb0;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #788eb0, #8778B0);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #788eb0, #9578B0);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #788eb0;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #788eb0;
caret-color: #788eb0;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #788eb0;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EFF2F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #788eb0;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#788eb0 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #788eb0 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(120, 142, 176, 0.5)
rgb(120 142 176 / 50%)
#788eb080
hsl(216 26% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #788eb0 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#788eb01a#F2F4F7
20%#788eb033#E4E8EF
40%#788eb066#C9D2DF
60%#788eb099#AEBBD0
80%#788eb0cc#93A5C0

Gradients from #788eb0

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, #9EAEC7, #788eb0 45%, #2F3C50);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #788eb0, #7B65A5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #788eb0, #B09A78);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B2BED2 0%, #788eb0 45%, #2F3C50 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #98C2C3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #948BBB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2F3C50 0%, transparent 65%), #788eb0;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #788eb0

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.

#788eb0 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 6.29:1.

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.

#788eb0, answered

What color is #788eb0?

#788eb0 is a balanced soft blue, closest to Light Slate Gray (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 216° on the hue wheel with 26% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #788eb0?

rgb(120, 142, 176) — 120 red, 142 green and 176 blue out of 255, or 47.1% / 55.7% / 69% by channel.

What is #788eb0 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(216, 26%, 58%) and hsv(216, 32%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #788eb0 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2647 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 6.29:1.

Should I use black or white text on #788eb0?

Black. It scores 6.29:1 against #788eb0, versus 3.34:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #788eb0 accessible on a white background?

#788eb0 on white scores 3.34:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #5C769E to reach 4.5:1, or #465977 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #788eb0?

#B09A78 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #B07E78 and #AAB078, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #788eb0?

For interface work: #F5F7F9 as the surface, #CCD4E1 for borders, #556C91 for secondary text, #845D48 as an accent and #2F3C50 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #78AAB0 and #7E78B0 stays calm, while #B09A78 is the loudest partner.

What is #788eb0 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(32%, 19%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #788eb0 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 #7879B0; nudged cooler, #6584A9.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #788eb0?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 10.3 away. That is a visible difference, so define #788eb0 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #788eb0 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#788eb0] or text-[#788eb0], 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 #788eb0 with 50% opacity?

rgba(120, 142, 176, 0.5), or #788eb080 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BCC7D8; over black, #3C4758.

Is #788eb0 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #669999, ΔE2000 18.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #788eb0 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 #788eb0?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #9EAEC7, #788eb0 45%, #2F3C50). For more colour, a short hue run to #7B65A5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #788eb0 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #788eb0 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.