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blue · cool

#80909d

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Harbour

RGB
128, 144, 157
HSL
207°, 13%, 56%
CMYK
19, 8, 0, 38
Luminance
0.2697

#80909d is a balanced muted blue, 207° on the wheel and 68/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (6.39:1). As text it scores 3.28:1 on white — large text only. Nearest name is Light Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(207 13% 56%)rgb(128 144 157)Base step 500AA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #80909d is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#80909d
Hue
207°
blue
Saturation
13%
muted
Lightness
56%
balanced
Brightness
62%
HSV value
Perceived
55%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.2697
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
68/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
6.39:1
Closest name
Light Slate Gray
ΔE2000 3.3
Chroma
9.3
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.645
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 11.4
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue207° of 360°
Saturation13%
Lightness56%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #80909d.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool68% 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
Red17%
Green74%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#80909d
HEX (8-digit)#80909dff
RGBrgb(128, 144, 157)
RGBArgba(128, 144, 157, 1)
HSLhsl(207, 13%, 56%)
HSV / HSBhsv(207, 18%, 62%)
HWBhwb(207 50% 38%)
CMYKcmyk(19%, 8%, 0%, 38%)
LABlab(59.0 -2.9 -8.8)
LCHlch(59.0 9.3 252.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.645 0.027 242.6)
XYZ (D65)xyz(24.96, 26.97, 35.78)
Decimal8425629
Display P3color(display-p3 0.502 0.565 0.616)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #80909d;
background-color: #80909d;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #80909d;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#80909d] bg-[#80909d]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #80909d;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.502, green: 0.565, blue: 0.616)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.502, green: 0.565, blue: 0.616, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#80909D</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF80909D)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF80909D)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(157, 144, 128)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(128, 144, 157)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(128, 144, 157)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 128, 144, 157)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5020f, 0.5647f, 0.6157f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{128,144,157}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #80909d 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #80909d 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#384148, #DCE1E4);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #80909d 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: #F7F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF0F1;
  --brand-200: #DADEE2;
  --brand-300: #C0C8CE;
  --brand-400: #A0ACB6;
  --brand-500: #80909d;
  --brand-600: #6B7C8A;
  --brand-700: #596773;
  --brand-800: #47535C;
  --brand-900: #363E44;
  --brand-950: #22272B;
  --brand: #80909d;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-border: #D1D7DB;
  --brand-hover: #6D7E8D;
  --brand-pressed: #5D6C79;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181C20;
    --brand-ink: #DCE1E4;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F7F7F8',
        100: '#EEF0F1',
        200: '#DADEE2',
        300: '#C0C8CE',
        400: '#A0ACB6',
        500: '#80909d',
        600: '#6B7C8A',
        700: '#596773',
        800: '#47535C',
        900: '#363E44',
        950: '#22272B',
        DEFAULT: '#80909d',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F7F7F8,
  '100': #EEF0F1,
  '200': #DADEE2,
  '300': #C0C8CE,
  '400': #A0ACB6,
  '500': #80909d,
  '600': #6B7C8A,
  '700': #596773,
  '800': #47535C,
  '900': #363E44,
  '950': #22272B,
);
$brand-base: #80909d;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F7F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF0F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DADEE2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#C0C8CE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#A0ACB6", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#80909d", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#6B7C8A", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#596773", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#47535C", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#363E44", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#22272B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #80909d · 6.39:1
Use #000000AA at every size, AAA for large text only.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 3.28:1
AA fail · AA large pass · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 6.39:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA fail
Reading the other direction: #80909d as text scores 3.28:1 on white and 6.39:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #384148 at 3.17:1.

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
#667784 · 4.63:1
AA on white−10% L
#667784
The quick fox
#4E5A64 · 7.07:1
AAA on white−21% L
#4E5A64
The quick fox
#80909d · 6.39:1
AA on blackalready passes
#80909d
The quick fox
#8998A4 · 7.09:1
AAA on black+3% L
#8998A4

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #80909D 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
#80909d on white: 3.28:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#80909d on black: 6.39:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #80909d as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #80909d.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White3.28:1AaAa
Slate 503.14:1AaAa
Slate 1003.00:1AaAa
Slate 2002.66:1AaAa
Slate 3002.21:1AaAa
Slate 4001.28:1AaAa
Slate 5001.45:1AaAa
Slate 6002.31:1AaAa
Slate 7003.15:1AaAa
Slate 8004.45:1AaAa
Slate 9005.44:1AaAa
Black6.39:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8B909E
deuteranopia · #878C9D
tritanopia · #789394

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. #80909d 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.

#F7F7F8
#EEF0F1
#DADEE2
#C0C8CE
#A0ACB6
#80909d
#6B7C8A
#596773
#47535C
#363E44
#22272B
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F7F7F8Darkest = 950 · #22272BText 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 0.007 242.6);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.011 242.6);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.016 242.6);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.021 242.6);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.025 242.6);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.027 242.6);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.027 242.6);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.025 242.6);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.023 242.6);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.019 242.6);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.015 242.6);
}

Colors that work with #80909d

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#F6F7F8
Tinted page background
Border#D1D7DB
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#647482
Captions on the surface
Accent#A2837C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#384148
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F1F2F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181C20
Dark-mode background
Hover#6D7E8D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5D6C79
Two steps down
Disabled#BFC7CE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#819BB0
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 #80909d

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
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
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 #384148
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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • Weight44/100
  • 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#9D8D80
Analogous left#809D9C
Analogous right#80829D
Split-complement 1#9D8082
Split-complement 2#9D9C80
Triadic 1#9D8090
Triadic 2#909D80
Tetradic#9C809D
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°207°

#80909d sits at 207°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red50.2%
Green56.5%
Blue61.6%
R · 0–255
128
0x80
G · 0–255
144
0x90
B · 0–255
157
0x9d

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.5%
Magenta8.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)38.4%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#80909d text on a black background

contrast 6.39:1

Card sample

#80909d text on a white background

contrast 3.28:1

Card sample

#80909d on grey

3.00:1

#80909d on its own surface

3.06:1

#80909d on its dark surface

5.22:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #80909d;
Background color
Panel with #80909d background
background-color: #80909d;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #80909d;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(128, 144, 157, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(128, 144, 157, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #80909d;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #80909d, #83809D);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #80909d, #8B809D);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #80909d;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #80909d;
caret-color: #80909d;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #80909d;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F1F2F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #80909d;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#80909d 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #80909d 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(128, 144, 157, 0.5)
rgb(128 144 157 / 50%)
#80909d80
hsl(207 13% 56% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #80909d 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#80909d1a#F2F4F5
20%#80909d33#E6E9EB
40%#80909d66#CCD3D8
60%#80909d99#B3BCC4
80%#80909dcc#99A6B1

Gradients from #80909d

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, #A3AEB8, #80909d 45%, #384148);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #80909d, #756F90);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #80909d, #9D8D80);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B4BDC5 0%, #80909d 45%, #384148 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9DB3B0 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9291AA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #384148 0%, transparent 65%), #80909d;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #80909d

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.

#80909d 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 6.39:1.

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.

#80909d, answered

What color is #80909d?

#80909d is a balanced muted blue, closest to Light Slate Gray (ΔE2000 3.3). It sits at 207° on the hue wheel with 13% saturation and 56% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #80909d?

rgb(128, 144, 157) — 128 red, 144 green and 157 blue out of 255, or 50.2% / 56.5% / 61.6% by channel.

What is #80909d in HSL and HSV?

hsl(207, 13%, 56%) and hsv(207, 18%, 62%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #80909d a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.2697 and perceived brightness is 55%, so black text on it reaches 6.39:1.

Should I use black or white text on #80909d?

Black. It scores 6.39:1 against #80909d, versus 3.28:1 for white — AA at any size.

Is #80909d accessible on a white background?

#80909d on white scores 3.28:1, which only clears AA for large text — 18.66px bold or 24px regular and up. Darken it to #667784 to reach 4.5:1, or #4E5A64 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #80909d?

#9D8D80 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #9D8082 and #9D9C80, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #80909d?

For interface work: #F6F7F8 as the surface, #D1D7DB for borders, #647482 for secondary text, #A2837C as an accent and #384148 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #809D9C and #80829D stays calm, while #9D8D80 is the loudest partner.

What is #80909d in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(19%, 8%, 0%, 38%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #80909d warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 68 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #80859D; nudged cooler, #6F8194.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #80909d?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 11.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #80909d as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #80909d in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#80909d] or text-[#80909d], 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 #80909d with 50% opacity?

rgba(128, 144, 157, 0.5), or #80909d80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C0C8CE; over black, #40484F.

Is #80909d a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 8.8 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #80909d 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #80909d?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A3AEB8, #80909d 45%, #384148). For more colour, a short hue run to #756F90 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #80909d in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #80909d at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.