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#79bbcc

a balanced, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

RGB
121, 187, 204
HSL
192°, 45%, 64%
CMYK
41, 8, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4397

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #79bbcc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#79bbcc
Hue
192°
cyan
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
64%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4397
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.79:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 6.4
Where it sits
Hue192° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness64%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool93% cool

Reads cool. Warm and cool siblings keep the same lightness, so you can swap one in without redoing your contrast maths.

Every format

HEX#79bbcc
RGBrgb(121, 187, 204)
HSLhsl(192, 45%, 64%)
CMYKcmyk(41%, 8%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(72.2 -16.6 -15.2)
LCHlch(72.2 22.5 222.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.754 0.071 215.8)
Decimal7977932
Display P3color(display-p3 0.475 0.733 0.800)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #79bbcc;
background-color: #79bbcc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#79bbcc] bg-[#79bbcc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #79bbcc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.475, green: 0.733, blue: 0.800)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#79bbcc")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF79BBCC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 187, 121)

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 #79bbcc · 9.79:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.14:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.79:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #79bbcc as text scores 2.14:1 on white and 9.79:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#79bbcc on white: 2.14:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#79bbcc on black: 9.79:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #AFB7CD
deuteranopia · #A2ADCC
tritanopia · #56C2C0

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #79bbcc 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.

#F5F9FA
#EAF3F5
#D1E6EB
#AED6E0
#79bbcc
#5CADC1
#439BB1
#388194
#2D6776
#244C56
#163036
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #163036
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF3F5;
  --brand-200: #D1E6EB;
  --brand-300: #AED6E0;
  --brand-400: #79bbcc;
  --brand-500: #5CADC1;
  --brand-600: #439BB1;
  --brand-700: #388194;
  --brand-800: #2D6776;
  --brand-900: #244C56;
  --brand-950: #163036;
  --brand: #79bbcc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #79bbcc

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C4E1E9
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#D07579
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#23515C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF6F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #79bbcc

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • Pairing with a same-lightness hue — edges vibrate

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#CC8A79
Analogous left#79CCB3
Analogous right#7991CC
Split-complement 1#CC7991
Split-complement 2#CCB379
Triadic 1#CC79BB
Triadic 2#BBCC79
Tetradic#B379CC

RGB percentages

Red47.5%
Green73.3%
Blue80.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan40.7%
Magenta8.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Color previews

#79bbcc text on a black background

contrast 9.79:1

Card sample

#79bbcc text on a white background

contrast 2.14:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #79bbcc;
Background color
Panel with #79bbcc background
background-color: #79bbcc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #79bbcc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(121, 187, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(121, 187, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #79bbcc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #79bbcc, #7984CC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #79bbcc

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#79bbcc in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#79bbcc, answered

What color is #79bbcc?

#79bbcc is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 192° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 64% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #79bbcc?

rgb(121, 187, 204) — 121 red, 187 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 47.5% / 73.3% / 80% by channel.

Is #79bbcc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4397 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.79:1.

Should I use black or white text on #79bbcc?

Black. It scores 9.79:1 against #79bbcc, versus 2.14:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #79bbcc?

#CC8A79 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CC7991 and #CCB379, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #79bbcc?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C4E1E9 for borders, #4B8A9B for secondary text, #D07579 as an accent and #23515C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #79CCB3 and #7991CC stays calm, while #CC8A79 is the loudest partner.

What is #79bbcc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(41%, 8%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #79bbcc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 93 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #79CCBF; nudged cooler, #77A8CE.

Work with #79bbcc in the Color Lab