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blue · cool

#809ba9

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

Token name suggestion: Studio Sapphire

RGB
128, 155, 169
HSL
201°, 19%, 58%
CMYK
24, 8, 0, 34
Luminance
0.3090

#809ba9 is a balanced soft blue, 201° on the wheel and 75/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.18:1). As text it scores 2.93:1 on white — use #5D7A89 instead. Nearest name is Light Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(201 19% 58%)rgb(128 155 169)Base step 500AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #809ba9 is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#809ba9
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
19%
soft
Lightness
58%
balanced
Brightness
66%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3090
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
75/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.18:1
Closest name
Light Slate Gray
ΔE2000 7.3
Chroma
12.1
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.674
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 14.1
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation19%
Lightness58%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #809ba9.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool75% 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%
Green76%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#809ba9
HEX (8-digit)#809ba9ff
RGBrgb(128, 155, 169)
RGBArgba(128, 155, 169, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 19%, 58%)
HSV / HSBhsv(200, 24%, 66%)
HWBhwb(201 50% 34%)
CMYKcmyk(24%, 8%, 0%, 34%)
LABlab(62.4 -6.2 -10.4)
LCHlch(62.4 12.1 239.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.674 0.037 230.5)
XYZ (D65)xyz(27.78, 30.90, 42.03)
Decimal8428457
Display P3color(display-p3 0.502 0.608 0.663)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #809ba9;
background-color: #809ba9;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #809ba9;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#809ba9] bg-[#809ba9]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #809ba9;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.502, green: 0.608, blue: 0.663)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.502, green: 0.608, blue: 0.663, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#809BA9</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF809BA9)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF809BA9)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(169, 155, 128)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(128, 155, 169)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(128, 155, 169)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 128, 155, 169)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5020f, 0.6078f, 0.6627f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{128,155,169}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #809ba9 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #809ba9 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#34444C, #DBE2E6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #809ba9 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EDF0F2;
  --brand-200: #D8E0E3;
  --brand-300: #BCCAD2;
  --brand-400: #9BB0BB;
  --brand-500: #809ba9;
  --brand-600: #638292;
  --brand-700: #526C7A;
  --brand-800: #425761;
  --brand-900: #324148;
  --brand-950: #1F282D;
  --brand: #809ba9;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F9;
  --brand-border: #CED9DE;
  --brand-hover: #6B8A9A;
  --brand-pressed: #5B7886;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171E21;
    --brand-ink: #DBE2E6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EDF0F2',
        200: '#D8E0E3',
        300: '#BCCAD2',
        400: '#9BB0BB',
        500: '#809ba9',
        600: '#638292',
        700: '#526C7A',
        800: '#425761',
        900: '#324148',
        950: '#1F282D',
        DEFAULT: '#809ba9',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EDF0F2,
  '200': #D8E0E3,
  '300': #BCCAD2,
  '400': #9BB0BB,
  '500': #809ba9,
  '600': #638292,
  '700': #526C7A,
  '800': #425761,
  '900': #324148,
  '950': #1F282D,
);
$brand-base: #809ba9;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EDF0F2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D8E0E3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BCCAD2", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#9BB0BB", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#809ba9", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#638292", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#526C7A", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#425761", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#324148", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#1F282D", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #809ba9 · 7.18:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.93:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.18:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #809ba9 as text scores 2.93:1 on white and 7.18:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #34444C at 3.46:1.

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
#5D7A89 · 4.55:1
AA on white−13% L
#5D7A89
The quick fox
#445A65 · 7.25:1
AAA on white−25% L
#445A65
The quick fox
#809ba9 · 7.18:1
AA on blackalready passes
#809ba9
The quick fox
#809ba9 · 7.18:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#809ba9

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7D98A7 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
#809ba9 on white: 2.93:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#809ba9 on black: 7.18:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #809ba9 as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #809ba9.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.93:1AaAa
Slate 502.80:1AaAa
Slate 1002.67:1AaAa
Slate 2002.37:1AaAa
Slate 3001.97:1AaAa
Slate 4001.14:1AaAa
Slate 5001.63:1AaAa
Slate 6002.59:1AaAa
Slate 7003.54:1AaAa
Slate 8005.00:1AaAa
Slate 9006.10:1AaAa
Black7.18:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #949AAA
deuteranopia · #8E95A9
tritanopia · #749F9F

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. #809ba9 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.

#F6F8F8
#EDF0F2
#D8E0E3
#BCCAD2
#9BB0BB
#809ba9
#638292
#526C7A
#425761
#324148
#1F282D
Base = 500Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #1F282DText 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 0.009 230.5);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.015 230.5);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.022 230.5);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.029 230.5);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.034 230.5);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.037 230.5);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.037 230.5);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.034 230.5);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.031 230.5);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.026 230.5);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.020 230.5);
}

Colors that work with #809ba9

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#F6F8F9
Tinted page background
Border#CED9DE
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#5D7A89
Captions on the surface
Accent#AD807C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#34444C
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F3F5
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171E21
Dark-mode background
Hover#6B8A9A
One step down in lightness
Pressed#5B7886
Two steps down
Disabled#C3D0D6
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#82A8BB
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 #809ba9

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
  • 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 #34444C
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7D98A7

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
  • Weight42/100
  • 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#A98E80
Analogous left#80A9A2
Analogous right#8086A9
Split-complement 1#A98086
Split-complement 2#A9A280
Triadic 1#A9809B
Triadic 2#9BA980
Tetradic#A280A9
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#809ba9 sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red50.2%
Green60.8%
Blue66.3%
R · 0–255
128
0x80
G · 0–255
155
0x9b
B · 0–255
169
0xa9

CMYK percentages

Cyan24.3%
Magenta8.3%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)33.7%

Total ink coverage is 66%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#809ba9 text on a black background

contrast 7.18:1

Card sample

#809ba9 text on a white background

contrast 2.93:1

Card sample

#809ba9 on grey

2.67:1

#809ba9 on its own surface

2.75:1

#809ba9 on its dark surface

5.77:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #809ba9;
Background color
Panel with #809ba9 background
background-color: #809ba9;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #809ba9;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(128, 155, 169, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(128, 155, 169, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #809ba9;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #809ba9, #8080A9);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #809ba9, #8B80A9);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #809ba9;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #809ba9;
caret-color: #809ba9;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #809ba9;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F3F5;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #809ba9;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#809ba9 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #809ba9 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, 155, 169, 0.5)
rgb(128 155 169 / 50%)
#809ba980
hsl(201 19% 58% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #809ba9 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#809ba91a#F2F5F6
20%#809ba933#E6EBEE
40%#809ba966#CCD7DD
60%#809ba999#B3C3CB
80%#809ba9cc#99AFBA

Gradients from #809ba9

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, #A4B8C2, #809ba9 45%, #34444C);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #809ba9, #726E9D);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #809ba9, #A98E80);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #B7C6CE 0%, #809ba9 45%, #34444C 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #9EBDB6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9295B5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #34444C 0%, transparent 65%), #809ba9;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #809ba9

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.

#809ba9 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 7.18:1.

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.

#809ba9, answered

What color is #809ba9?

#809ba9 is a balanced soft blue, closest to Light Slate Gray (ΔE2000 7.3). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 19% saturation and 58% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #809ba9?

rgb(128, 155, 169) — 128 red, 155 green and 169 blue out of 255, or 50.2% / 60.8% / 66.3% by channel.

What is #809ba9 in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 19%, 58%) and hsv(200, 24%, 66%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #809ba9 a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3090 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.18:1.

Should I use black or white text on #809ba9?

Black. It scores 7.18:1 against #809ba9, versus 2.93:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #809ba9 accessible on a white background?

#809ba9 on white scores 2.93:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #5D7A89 to reach 4.5:1, or #445A65 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #809ba9?

#A98E80 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #A98086 and #A9A280, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #809ba9?

For interface work: #F6F8F9 as the surface, #CED9DE for borders, #5D7A89 for secondary text, #AD807C as an accent and #34444C for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #80A9A2 and #8086A9 stays calm, while #A98E80 is the loudest partner.

What is #809ba9 in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(24%, 8%, 0%, 34%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #809ba9 warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 75 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #80A9A8; nudged cooler, #7E95AB.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #809ba9?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 14.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #809ba9 as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #809ba9 in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#809ba9] or text-[#809ba9], 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 #809ba9 with 50% opacity?

rgba(128, 155, 169, 0.5), or #809ba980 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C0CDD4; over black, #404E55.

Is #809ba9 a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 10.6 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #809ba9 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 #809ba9?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #A4B8C2, #809ba9 45%, #34444C). For more colour, a short hue run to #726E9D keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #809ba9 in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #809ba9 at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.