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blue · cool

#7cb3da

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

Token name suggestion: Drift Sapphire

RGB
124, 179, 218
HSL
205°, 56%, 67%
CMYK
43, 18, 0, 15
Luminance
0.4159

#7cb3da is a light vivid blue, 205° on the wheel and 98/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.32:1). As text it scores 2.25:1 on white — use #317BAF instead. Nearest name is Light Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(205 56% 67%)rgb(124 179 218)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #7cb3da is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#7cb3da
Hue
205°
blue
Saturation
56%
vivid
Lightness
67%
light
Brightness
85%
HSV value
Perceived
67%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4159
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
9.32:1
Closest name
Light Sky Blue
ΔE2000 7.1
Chroma
26.5
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.743
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 8.5
Web-safe
#66CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue205° of 360°
Saturation56%
Lightness67%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #7cb3da.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool98% 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#7cb3da
HEX (8-digit)#7cb3daff
RGBrgb(124, 179, 218)
RGBArgba(124, 179, 218, 1)
HSLhsl(205, 56%, 67%)
HSV / HSBhsv(205, 43%, 85%)
HWBhwb(205 49% 15%)
CMYKcmyk(43%, 18%, 0%, 15%)
LABlab(70.6 -7.8 -25.3)
LCHlch(70.6 26.5 252.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.743 0.081 240.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(37.08, 41.58, 72.39)
Decimal8172506
Display P3color(display-p3 0.486 0.702 0.855)
Web-safe#66CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #7cb3da;
background-color: #7cb3da;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #7cb3da;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#7cb3da] bg-[#7cb3da]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #7cb3da;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.486, green: 0.702, blue: 0.855)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.486, green: 0.702, blue: 0.855, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#7CB3DA</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF7CB3DA)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF7CB3DA)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(218, 179, 124)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(124, 179, 218)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(124, 179, 218)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 124, 179, 218)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4863f, 0.7020f, 0.8549f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{124,179,218}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #7cb3da 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #7cb3da 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1C4663, #D3E3EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #7cb3da 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: #F4F8FB;
  --brand-100: #E9F1F6;
  --brand-200: #CEE1EE;
  --brand-300: #A7CCE6;
  --brand-400: #7cb3da;
  --brand-500: #5099CE;
  --brand-600: #3686BF;
  --brand-700: #2D709F;
  --brand-800: #24597F;
  --brand-900: #1E435D;
  --brand-950: #132A3A;
  --brand: #7cb3da;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C0DAED;
  --brand-hover: #60A3D2;
  --brand-pressed: #4493CA;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141D24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E3EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F8FB',
        100: '#E9F1F6',
        200: '#CEE1EE',
        300: '#A7CCE6',
        400: '#7cb3da',
        500: '#5099CE',
        600: '#3686BF',
        700: '#2D709F',
        800: '#24597F',
        900: '#1E435D',
        950: '#132A3A',
        DEFAULT: '#7cb3da',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F8FB,
  '100': #E9F1F6,
  '200': #CEE1EE,
  '300': #A7CCE6,
  '400': #7cb3da,
  '500': #5099CE,
  '600': #3686BF,
  '700': #2D709F,
  '800': #24597F,
  '900': #1E435D,
  '950': #132A3A,
);
$brand-base: #7cb3da;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F8FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9F1F6", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CEE1EE", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A7CCE6", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7cb3da", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5099CE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3686BF", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2D709F", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#24597F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1E435D", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#132A3A", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #7cb3da · 9.32:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.25:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.32:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #7cb3da as text scores 2.25:1 on white and 9.32:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1C4663 at 4.43:1.

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
#317BAF · 4.58:1
AA on white−23% L
#317BAF
The quick fox
#255C84 · 7.14:1
AAA on white−34% L
#255C84
The quick fox
#7cb3da · 9.32:1
AA on blackalready passes
#7cb3da
The quick fox
#7cb3da · 9.32:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#7cb3da

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #509ACE 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
#7cb3da on white: 2.25:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#7cb3da on black: 9.32:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #7cb3da as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #7cb3da.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.25:1AaAa
Slate 502.15:1AaAa
Slate 1002.06:1AaAa
Slate 2001.83:1AaAa
Slate 3001.52:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5002.11:1AaAa
Slate 6003.36:1AaAa
Slate 7004.59:1AaAa
Slate 8006.49:1AaAa
Slate 9007.92:1AaAa
Black9.32:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A2B2DC
deuteranopia · #95A8D9
tritanopia · #56BDC0

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. #7cb3da 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.

#F4F8FB
#E9F1F6
#CEE1EE
#A7CCE6
#7cb3da
#5099CE
#3686BF
#2D709F
#24597F
#1E435D
#132A3A
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F4F8FBDarkest = 950 · #132A3AText 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 0.020 240.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.032 240.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.048 240.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.063 240.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.074 240.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.081 240.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.081 240.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.076 240.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.068 240.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.056 240.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.044 240.1);
}

Colors that work with #7cb3da

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#C0DAED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A33D29
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1C4663
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBF3F9
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
Hover#60A3D2
One step down in lightness
Pressed#4493CA
Two steps down
Disabled#DDE4E9
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#85BEE6
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 #7cb3da

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
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • Full-page backgrounds — tiring over long sessions
  • White text placed on it
  • 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 #1C4663
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #509ACE

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 lightness keeps it airy and approachable.

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
  • Weight33/100
  • 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#DAA37C
Analogous left#7CDAD2
Analogous right#7C84DA
Split-complement 1#DA7C84
Split-complement 2#DAD27C
Triadic 1#DA7CB3
Triadic 2#B3DA7C
Tetradic#D27CDA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°205°

#7cb3da sits at 205°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red48.6%
Green70.2%
Blue85.5%
R · 0–255
124
0x7c
G · 0–255
179
0xb3
B · 0–255
218
0xda

CMYK percentages

Cyan43.1%
Magenta17.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)14.5%

Total ink coverage is 76%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#7cb3da text on a black background

contrast 9.32:1

Card sample

#7cb3da text on a white background

contrast 2.25:1

Card sample

#7cb3da on grey

2.06:1

#7cb3da on its own surface

2.11:1

#7cb3da on its dark surface

7.57:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #7cb3da;
Background color
Panel with #7cb3da background
background-color: #7cb3da;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #7cb3da;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(124, 179, 218, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(124, 179, 218, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #7cb3da;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #7cb3da, #847CDA);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #7cb3da, #9B7CDA);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #7cb3da;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #7cb3da;
caret-color: #7cb3da;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #7cb3da;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBF3F9;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #7cb3da;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#7cb3da 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #7cb3da 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(124, 179, 218, 0.5)
rgb(124 179 218 / 50%)
#7cb3da80
hsl(205 56% 67% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #7cb3da 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#7cb3da1a#F2F7FB
20%#7cb3da33#E5F0F8
40%#7cb3da66#CBE1F0
60%#7cb3da99#B0D1E9
80%#7cb3dacc#96C2E1

Gradients from #7cb3da

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, #ACCFE8, #7cb3da 45%, #1C4663);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #7cb3da, #7764D3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #7cb3da, #DAA37C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C4DDEE 0%, #7cb3da 45%, #1C4663 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%, #A4E5DA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9494E1 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1C4663 0%, transparent 65%), #7cb3da;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #7cb3da

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.

#7cb3da 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
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
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 9.32:1.

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.

#7cb3da, answered

What color is #7cb3da?

#7cb3da is a light vivid blue, closest to Light Sky Blue (ΔE2000 7.1). It sits at 205° on the hue wheel with 56% saturation and 67% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #7cb3da?

rgb(124, 179, 218) — 124 red, 179 green and 218 blue out of 255, or 48.6% / 70.2% / 85.5% by channel.

What is #7cb3da in HSL and HSV?

hsl(205, 56%, 67%) and hsv(205, 43%, 85%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #7cb3da a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4159 and perceived brightness is 67%, so black text on it reaches 9.32:1.

Should I use black or white text on #7cb3da?

Black. It scores 9.32:1 against #7cb3da, versus 2.25:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #7cb3da accessible on a white background?

#7cb3da on white scores 2.25:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #317BAF to reach 4.5:1, or #255C84 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #7cb3da?

#DAA37C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DA7C84 and #DAD27C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #7cb3da?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0DAED for borders, #4B7A9B for secondary text, #A33D29 as an accent and #1C4663 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7CDAD2 and #7C84DA stays calm, while #DAA37C is the loudest partner.

What is #7cb3da in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(43%, 18%, 0%, 15%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #7cb3da warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 98 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #7CD6DA; nudged cooler, #669FD6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #7cb3da?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 8.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #7cb3da as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #7cb3da in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#7cb3da] or text-[#7cb3da], 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 #7cb3da with 50% opacity?

rgba(124, 179, 218, 0.5), or #7cb3da80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BED9ED; over black, #3E5A6D.

Is #7cb3da a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #66CCCC, ΔE2000 17.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #7cb3da 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 #7cb3da?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #ACCFE8, #7cb3da 45%, #1C4663). For more colour, a short hue run to #7764D3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #7cb3da in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #7cb3da at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.