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cyan · cool

#7cbacd

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Reef

RGB
124, 186, 205
HSL
194°, 45%, 65%
CMYK
40, 9, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4381

#7cbacd is a balanced soft cyan, 194° on the wheel and 93/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (9.76:1). As text it scores 2.15:1 on white — use #387D92 instead. Nearest name is Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(194 45% 65%)rgb(124 186 205)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

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

Hex
#7cbacd
Hue
194°
cyan
Saturation
45%
soft
Lightness
65%
balanced
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
68%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4381
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
93/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.76:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 6
Chroma
21.9
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.754
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 7.7
Web-safe
#66CCCC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue194° of 360°
Saturation45%
Lightness65%
Saturation × lightness field

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

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.

Luminance by channel
Red10%
Green80%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#7cbacd
HEX (8-digit)#7cbacdff
RGBrgb(124, 186, 205)
RGBArgba(124, 186, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(194, 45%, 65%)
HSV / HSBhsv(194, 40%, 80%)
HWBhwb(194 49% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(40%, 9%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(72.1 -15.0 -15.9)
LCHlch(72.1 21.9 226.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.754 0.069 219.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(36.89, 43.81, 64.26)
Decimal8174285
Display P3color(display-p3 0.486 0.729 0.804)
Web-safe#66CCCC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #7cbacd;
background-color: #7cbacd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #7cbacd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#7cbacd] bg-[#7cbacd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #7cbacd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.486, green: 0.729, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.486, green: 0.729, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#7CBACD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF7CBACD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF7CBACD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 186, 124)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(124, 186, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(124, 186, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 124, 186, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.4863f, 0.7294f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{124,186,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #7cbacd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #7cbacd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#234F5C, #D3E8EE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #7cbacd 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: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EAF3F5;
  --brand-200: #D1E5EB;
  --brand-300: #AED4E0;
  --brand-400: #7cbacd;
  --brand-500: #5DA9C1;
  --brand-600: #4497B1;
  --brand-700: #387E94;
  --brand-800: #2D6576;
  --brand-900: #244B56;
  --brand-950: #162F36;
  --brand: #7cbacd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F9FA;
  --brand-border: #C4E0E8;
  --brand-hover: #62ACC3;
  --brand-pressed: #489FB9;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #142124;
    --brand-ink: #D3E8EE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F9FA',
        100: '#EAF3F5',
        200: '#D1E5EB',
        300: '#AED4E0',
        400: '#7cbacd',
        500: '#5DA9C1',
        600: '#4497B1',
        700: '#387E94',
        800: '#2D6576',
        900: '#244B56',
        950: '#162F36',
        DEFAULT: '#7cbacd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F9FA,
  '100': #EAF3F5,
  '200': #D1E5EB,
  '300': #AED4E0,
  '400': #7cbacd,
  '500': #5DA9C1,
  '600': #4497B1,
  '700': #387E94,
  '800': #2D6576,
  '900': #244B56,
  '950': #162F36,
);
$brand-base: #7cbacd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F9FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EAF3F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D1E5EB", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AED4E0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#7cbacd", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5DA9C1", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4497B1", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#387E94", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2D6576", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#244B56", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#162F36", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #7cbacd · 9.76:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.15:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.76:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #7cbacd as text scores 2.15:1 on white and 9.76:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #234F5C at 4.16:1.

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
#387D92 · 4.65:1
AA on white−25% L
#387D92
The quick fox
#2A5D6D · 7.28:1
AAA on white−35% L
#2A5D6D
The quick fox
#7cbacd · 9.76:1
AA on blackalready passes
#7cbacd
The quick fox
#7cbacd · 9.76:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#7cbacd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #489FB9 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
#7cbacd on white: 2.15:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#7cbacd on black: 9.76:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

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

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.15:1AaAa
Slate 502.06:1AaAa
Slate 1001.96:1AaAa
Slate 2001.74:1AaAa
Slate 3001.45:1AaAa
Slate 4001.19:1AaAa
Slate 5002.21:1AaAa
Slate 6003.52:1AaAa
Slate 7004.81:1AaAa
Slate 8006.80:1AaAa
Slate 9008.30:1AaAa
Black9.76:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #AEB6CE
deuteranopia · #A1ADCD
tritanopia · #5CC1C0

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. #7cbacd 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
#D1E5EB
#AED4E0
#7cbacd
#5DA9C1
#4497B1
#387E94
#2D6576
#244B56
#162F36
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #162F36Text 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 0.017 219.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.028 219.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.041 219.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.054 219.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.064 219.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.069 219.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.069 219.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.065 219.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.058 219.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.048 219.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.038 219.1);
}

Colors that work with #7cbacd

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#C4E0E8
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B889B
Captions on the surface
Accent#983436
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#234F5C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF5F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142124
Dark-mode background
Hover#62ACC3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#489FB9
Two steps down
Disabled#D5E1E4
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#83C6DB
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 #7cbacd

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
  • Chart series and data categories
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
Minimum size as text on white
Not as text
Safe as a fill behind white type
No — use #234F5C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #489FB9

Meaning and mood

What a colour in this family tends to signal, and how this particular chroma and lightness change the reading.

cleantechnicalfreshclinical

Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered.

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

At high lightness it disappears into white surfaces and thin strokes vanish entirely.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight36/100
  • 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#CD8F7C
Analogous left#7CCDB8
Analogous right#7C91CD
Split-complement 1#CD7C91
Split-complement 2#CDB87C
Triadic 1#CD7CBA
Triadic 2#BACD7C
Tetradic#B87CCD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°194°

#7cbacd sits at 194°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red48.6%
Green72.9%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
124
0x7c
G · 0–255
186
0xba
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan39.5%
Magenta9.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 68%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#7cbacd text on a black background

contrast 9.76:1

Card sample

#7cbacd text on a white background

contrast 2.15:1

Card sample

#7cbacd on grey

1.96:1

#7cbacd on its own surface

2.03:1

#7cbacd on its dark surface

7.67:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

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

Glowing headline

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

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(124, 186, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(124, 186, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #7cbacd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #7cbacd, #7C84CD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #7cbacd, #887CCD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #7cbacd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #7cbacd;
caret-color: #7cbacd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #7cbacd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF5F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #7cbacd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#7cbacd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #7cbacd 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, 186, 205, 0.5)
rgb(124 186 205 / 50%)
#7cbacd80
hsl(194 45% 65% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #7cbacd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#7cbacd1a#F2F8FA
20%#7cbacd33#E5F1F5
40%#7cbacd66#CBE3EB
60%#7cbacd99#B0D6E1
80%#7cbacdcc#96C8D7

Gradients from #7cbacd

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, #A8D1DE, #7cbacd 45%, #234F5C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #7cbacd, #6667C5);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #7cbacd, #CD8F7C);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #BEDDE6 0%, #7cbacd 45%, #234F5C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F9FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #A1DBC7 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #929ED5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #234F5C 0%, transparent 65%), #7cbacd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #7cbacd

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.

#7cbacd 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.

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 9.76:1.

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.

#7cbacd, answered

What color is #7cbacd?

#7cbacd is a balanced soft cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 6). It sits at 194° on the hue wheel with 45% saturation and 65% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #7cbacd?

rgb(124, 186, 205) — 124 red, 186 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 48.6% / 72.9% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #7cbacd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(194, 45%, 65%) and hsv(194, 40%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #7cbacd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4381 and perceived brightness is 68%, so black text on it reaches 9.76:1.

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

Black. It scores 9.76:1 against #7cbacd, versus 2.15:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #7cbacd accessible on a white background?

#7cbacd on white scores 2.15:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #387D92 to reach 4.5:1, or #2A5D6D for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #7cbacd?

#CD8F7C sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD7C91 and #CDB87C, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #7cbacd?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C4E0E8 for borders, #4B889B for secondary text, #983436 as an accent and #234F5C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #7CCDB8 and #7C91CD stays calm, while #CD8F7C is the loudest partner.

What is #7cbacd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(40%, 9%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #7cbacd 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 #7CCDC2; nudged cooler, #7AA9CF.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #7cbacd?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 7.7 away. That is a visible difference, so define #7cbacd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #7cbacd in Tailwind CSS?

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

rgba(124, 186, 205, 0.5), or #7cbacd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #BEDDE6; over black, #3E5D67.

Is #7cbacd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #66CCCC, ΔE2000 10.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #7cbacd mean?

As a cyan, it reads clean, technical, fresh. Cyan reads as water, air and infrastructure: cool, hygienic, engineered. At this moderate chroma the association is present but not shouted.

What gradient works with #7cbacd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A8D1DE, #7cbacd 45%, #234F5C). For more colour, a short hue run to #6667C5 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #7cbacd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

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