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blue · cool

#798fba

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

Token name suggestion: Signal Sapphire

RGB
121, 143, 186
HSL
220°, 32%, 60%
CMYK
35, 23, 0, 27
Luminance
0.2726

#798fba is a balanced soft blue, 220° on the wheel and 91/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.45:1). As text it scores 3.26:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Cornflower Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(220 32% 60%)rgb(121 143 186)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #798fba is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#798fba
Hue
220°
blue
Saturation
32%
soft
Lightness
60%
balanced
Brightness
73%
HSV value
Perceived
56%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2726
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
6.45:1
Closest name
Cornflower Blue
ΔE2000 8
Chroma
25.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.649
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 10.4
Web-safe
#6699CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue220° of 360°
Saturation32%
Lightness60%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #798fba.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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%
Green72%
Blue13%

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

Every format

HEX#798fba
HEX (8-digit)#798fbaff
RGBrgb(121, 143, 186)
RGBArgba(121, 143, 186, 1)
HSLhsl(220, 32%, 60%)
HSV / HSBhsv(220, 35%, 73%)
HWBhwb(220 47% 27%)
CMYKcmyk(35%, 23%, 0%, 27%)
LABlab(59.2 2.8 -24.9)
LCHlch(59.2 25.1 276.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.649 0.070 263.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(26.57, 27.25, 50.31)
Decimal7966650
Display P3color(display-p3 0.475 0.561 0.729)
Web-safe#6699CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #798fba;
background-color: #798fba;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #798fba;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#798fba] bg-[#798fba]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #798fba;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.475, green: 0.561, blue: 0.729)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.475, green: 0.561, blue: 0.729, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#798FBA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF798FBA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF798FBA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(186, 143, 121)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(121, 143, 186)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(121, 143, 186)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 121, 143, 186)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4745f, 0.5608f, 0.7294f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{121,143,186}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #798fba 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #798fba 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#2B3954, #D7DDEA);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #798fba 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: #F5F7F9;
  --brand-100: #ECEEF4;
  --brand-200: #D5DBE7;
  --brand-300: #B5C1D9;
  --brand-400: #90A2C6;
  --brand-500: #798fba;
  --brand-600: #536EA2;
  --brand-700: #455B87;
  --brand-800: #37496C;
  --brand-900: #2B374F;
  --brand-950: #1B2332;
  --brand: #798fba;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F5F7FA;
  --brand-border: #C9D2E3;
  --brand-hover: #617BAE;
  --brand-pressed: #506A9C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141924;
    --brand-ink: #D7DDEA;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F7F9',
        100: '#ECEEF4',
        200: '#D5DBE7',
        300: '#B5C1D9',
        400: '#90A2C6',
        500: '#798fba',
        600: '#536EA2',
        700: '#455B87',
        800: '#37496C',
        900: '#2B374F',
        950: '#1B2332',
        DEFAULT: '#798fba',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F7F9,
  '100': #ECEEF4,
  '200': #D5DBE7,
  '300': #B5C1D9,
  '400': #90A2C6,
  '500': #798fba,
  '600': #536EA2,
  '700': #455B87,
  '800': #37496C,
  '900': #2B374F,
  '950': #1B2332,
);
$brand-base: #798fba;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F7F9", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#ECEEF4", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D5DBE7", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B5C1D9", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#90A2C6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#798fba", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#536EA2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#455B87", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#37496C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#2B374F", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1B2332", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #798fba · 6.45:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.26:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.45:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #798fba as text scores 3.26:1 on white and 6.45:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #2B3954 at 3.55:1.

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
#5B76AA · 4.55:1
AA on white−9% L
#5B76AA
The quick fox
#425781 · 7.21:1
AAA on white−22% L
#425781
The quick fox
#798fba · 6.45:1
AA on blackalready passes
#798fba
The quick fox
#8397BF · 7.14:1
AAA on black+3% L
#8397BF

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #798FBA 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
#798fba on white: 3.26:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#798fba on black: 6.45:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #798fba as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #798fba.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.26:1AaAa
Slate 503.11:1AaAa
Slate 1002.97:1AaAa
Slate 2002.64:1AaAa
Slate 3002.19:1AaAa
Slate 4001.27:1AaAa
Slate 5001.46:1AaAa
Slate 6002.33:1AaAa
Slate 7003.18:1AaAa
Slate 8004.49:1AaAa
Slate 9005.48:1AaAa
Black6.45:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8092BC
deuteranopia · #7A8CB9
tritanopia · #65989E

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. #798fba 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.

#F5F7F9
#ECEEF4
#D5DBE7
#B5C1D9
#90A2C6
#798fba
#536EA2
#455B87
#37496C
#2B374F
#1B2332
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F5F7F9Darkest = 950 · #1B2332Text 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 0.017 263.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 263.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.042 263.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.054 263.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.064 263.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.070 263.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.070 263.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.065 263.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.058 263.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.049 263.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 263.5);
}

Colors that work with #798fba

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#F5F7FA
Tinted page background
Border#C9D2E3
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4E6797
Captions on the surface
Accent#8B6041
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#2B3954
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EEF1F6
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141924
Dark-mode background
Hover#617BAE
One step down in lightness
Pressed#506A9C
Two steps down
Disabled#C8CEDC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#7D97CA
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 #798fba

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 #2B3954
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
  • Weight40/100
  • 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#BAA479
Analogous left#79AFBA
Analogous right#8479BA
Split-complement 1#BA8479
Split-complement 2#AFBA79
Triadic 1#BA798F
Triadic 2#8FBA79
Tetradic#BA79AF
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°220°

#798fba sits at 220°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red47.5%
Green56.1%
Blue72.9%
R · 0–255
121
0x79
G · 0–255
143
0x8f
B · 0–255
186
0xba

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.9%
Magenta23.1%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)27.1%

Total ink coverage is 85%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#798fba text on a black background

contrast 6.45:1

Card sample

#798fba text on a white background

contrast 3.26:1

Card sample

#798fba on grey

2.97:1

#798fba on its own surface

3.03:1

#798fba on its dark surface

5.40:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #798fba;
Background color
Panel with #798fba background
background-color: #798fba;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #798fba;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(121, 143, 186, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(121, 143, 186, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #798fba;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #798fba, #8E79BA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #798fba, #9F79BA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #798fba;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #798fba;
caret-color: #798fba;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #798fba;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EEF1F6;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #798fba;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#798fba 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #798fba 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(121, 143, 186, 0.5)
rgb(121 143 186 / 50%)
#798fba80
hsl(220 32% 60% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #798fba 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#798fba1a#F2F4F8
20%#798fba33#E4E9F1
40%#798fba66#C9D2E3
60%#798fba99#AFBCD6
80%#798fbacc#94A5C8

Gradients from #798fba

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, #A1B1CF, #798fba 45%, #2B3954);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #798fba, #8465B0);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #798fba, #BAA479);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B6C2D9 0%, #798fba 45%, #2B3954 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F5F7FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9BC8CB 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9B8DC4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #2B3954 0%, transparent 65%), #798fba;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #798fba

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.

#798fba 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 6.45:1.

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.

#798fba, answered

What color is #798fba?

#798fba is a balanced soft blue, closest to Cornflower Blue (ΔE2000 8). It sits at 220° on the hue wheel with 32% saturation and 60% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #798fba?

rgb(121, 143, 186) — 121 red, 143 green and 186 blue out of 255, or 47.5% / 56.1% / 72.9% by channel.

What is #798fba in HSL and HSV?

hsl(220, 32%, 60%) and hsv(220, 35%, 73%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #798fba a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2726 and perceived brightness is 56%, so black text on it reaches 6.45:1.

Should I use black or white text on #798fba?

Black. It scores 6.45:1 against #798fba, versus 3.26:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #798fba accessible on a white background?

#798fba on white scores 3.26:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #5B76AA to reach 4.5:1, or #425781 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #798fba?

#BAA479 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #BA8479 and #AFBA79, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #798fba?

For interface work: #F5F7FA as the surface, #C9D2E3 for borders, #4E6797 for secondary text, #8B6041 as an accent and #2B3954 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #79AFBA and #8479BA stays calm, while #BAA479 is the loudest partner.

What is #798fba in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(35%, 23%, 0%, 27%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #798fba warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #7B79BA; nudged cooler, #7795BC.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #798fba?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 10.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #798fba as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #798fba in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#798fba] or text-[#798fba], 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 #798fba with 50% opacity?

rgba(121, 143, 186, 0.5), or #798fba80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BCC7DD; over black, #3D485D.

Is #798fba a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #6699CC, ΔE2000 7.3 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #798fba 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 #798fba?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A1B1CF, #798fba 45%, #2B3954). For more colour, a short hue run to #8465B0 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #798fba in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #798fba at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.