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blue · cool

#84afcd

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

Token name suggestion: Linen Sapphire

RGB
132, 175, 205
HSL
205°, 42%, 66%
CMYK
36, 15, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3997

#84afcd is a light soft blue, 205° on the wheel and 98/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.99:1). As text it scores 2.33:1 on white — use #427CA4 instead. Nearest name is Light Sky Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(205 42% 66%)rgb(132 175 205)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #84afcd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#84afcd
Hue
205°
blue
Saturation
42%
soft
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
66%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3997
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
98/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.99:1
Closest name
Light Sky Blue
ΔE2000 8.8
Chroma
21.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.734
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 10.1
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue205° of 360°
Saturation42%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #84afcd.

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
Red12%
Green77%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#84afcd
HEX (8-digit)#84afcdff
RGBrgb(132, 175, 205)
RGBArgba(132, 175, 205, 1)
HSLhsl(205, 42%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(205, 36%, 80%)
HWBhwb(205 52% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(36%, 15%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(69.5 -7.0 -19.8)
LCHlch(69.5 21.0 250.5)
OKLCHoklch(0.734 0.064 239.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.86, 39.97, 63.57)
Decimal8695757
Display P3color(display-p3 0.518 0.686 0.804)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #84afcd;
background-color: #84afcd;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #84afcd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#84afcd] bg-[#84afcd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #84afcd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.518, green: 0.686, blue: 0.804)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.518, green: 0.686, blue: 0.804, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#84AFCD</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF84AFCD)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF84AFCD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(205, 175, 132)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(132, 175, 205)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(132, 175, 205)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 132, 175, 205)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5176f, 0.6863f, 0.8039f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{132,175,205}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #84afcd 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #84afcd 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#25455B, #D3E3ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #84afcd 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: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF1F5;
  --brand-200: #D2E0EA;
  --brand-300: #AFCBDF;
  --brand-400: #84afcd;
  --brand-500: #5F97BE;
  --brand-600: #4784AE;
  --brand-700: #3B6E91;
  --brand-800: #2F5874;
  --brand-900: #254155;
  --brand-950: #172935;
  --brand: #84afcd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C5D9E7;
  --brand-hover: #6B9EC3;
  --brand-pressed: #518EB8;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141E24;
    --brand-ink: #D3E3ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8FA',
        100: '#EBF1F5',
        200: '#D2E0EA',
        300: '#AFCBDF',
        400: '#84afcd',
        500: '#5F97BE',
        600: '#4784AE',
        700: '#3B6E91',
        800: '#2F5874',
        900: '#254155',
        950: '#172935',
        DEFAULT: '#84afcd',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8FA,
  '100': #EBF1F5,
  '200': #D2E0EA,
  '300': #AFCBDF,
  '400': #84afcd,
  '500': #5F97BE,
  '600': #4784AE,
  '700': #3B6E91,
  '800': #2F5874,
  '900': #254155,
  '950': #172935,
);
$brand-base: #84afcd;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F5F8FA", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EBF1F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D2E0EA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#AFCBDF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#84afcd", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#5F97BE", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#4784AE", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3B6E91", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#2F5874", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#254155", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#172935", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #84afcd · 8.99:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.33:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.99:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #84afcd as text scores 2.33:1 on white and 8.99:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #25455B at 4.32:1.

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
#427CA4 · 4.52:1
AA on white−21% L
#427CA4
The quick fox
#325D7C · 7.02:1
AAA on white−32% L
#325D7C
The quick fox
#84afcd · 8.99:1
AA on blackalready passes
#84afcd
The quick fox
#84afcd · 8.99:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#84afcd

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #639AC0 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
#84afcd on white: 2.33:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#84afcd on black: 8.99:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #84afcd as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #84afcd.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.33:1AaAa
Slate 502.23:1AaAa
Slate 1002.13:1AaAa
Slate 2001.89:1AaAa
Slate 3001.57:1AaAa
Slate 4001.10:1AaAa
Slate 5002.04:1AaAa
Slate 6003.25:1AaAa
Slate 7004.44:1AaAa
Slate 8006.27:1AaAa
Slate 9007.65:1AaAa
Black8.99:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #A2AECF
deuteranopia · #98A6CD
tritanopia · #6BB7B9

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. #84afcd 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.

#F5F8FA
#EBF1F5
#D2E0EA
#AFCBDF
#84afcd
#5F97BE
#4784AE
#3B6E91
#2F5874
#254155
#172935
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #172935Text 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 0.016 239.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 239.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.038 239.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.050 239.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.058 239.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.064 239.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.064 239.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.060 239.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.053 239.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 239.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.035 239.2);
}

Colors that work with #84afcd

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#C5D9E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B7A9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#954737
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#25455B
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF3F8
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141E24
Dark-mode background
Hover#6B9EC3
One step down in lightness
Pressed#518EB8
Two steps down
Disabled#DAE2E7
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8BBADB
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 #84afcd

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Card and section backgrounds
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #25455B
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #639AC0

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 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
  • Weight34/100
  • 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#CDA284
Analogous left#84CDC7
Analogous right#848BCD
Split-complement 1#CD848B
Split-complement 2#CDC784
Triadic 1#CD84AF
Triadic 2#AFCD84
Tetradic#C784CD
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°205°

#84afcd sits at 205°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red51.8%
Green68.6%
Blue80.4%
R · 0–255
132
0x84
G · 0–255
175
0xaf
B · 0–255
205
0xcd

CMYK percentages

Cyan35.6%
Magenta14.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)19.6%

Total ink coverage is 70%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#84afcd text on a black background

contrast 8.99:1

Card sample

#84afcd text on a white background

contrast 2.33:1

Card sample

#84afcd on grey

2.13:1

#84afcd on its own surface

2.19:1

#84afcd on its dark surface

7.25:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #84afcd;
Background color
Panel with #84afcd background
background-color: #84afcd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #84afcd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(132, 175, 205, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(132, 175, 205, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #84afcd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #84afcd, #8A84CD);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #84afcd, #9C84CD);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #84afcd;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #84afcd;
caret-color: #84afcd;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #84afcd;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF3F8;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #84afcd;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#84afcd 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #84afcd 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(132, 175, 205, 0.5)
rgb(132 175 205 / 50%)
#84afcd80
hsl(205 42% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #84afcd 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#84afcd1a#F3F7FA
20%#84afcd33#E6EFF5
40%#84afcd66#CEDFEB
60%#84afcd99#B5CFE1
80%#84afcdcc#9DBFD7

Gradients from #84afcd

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, #B0CBDF, #84afcd 45%, #25455B);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #84afcd, #7C6EC4);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #84afcd, #CDA284);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C5D9E8 0%, #84afcd 45%, #25455B 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%, #A8DCD3 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9A9AD6 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #25455B 0%, transparent 65%), #84afcd;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #84afcd

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.

#84afcd 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 8.99:1.

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.

#84afcd, answered

What color is #84afcd?

#84afcd is a light soft blue, closest to Light Sky Blue (ΔE2000 8.8). It sits at 205° on the hue wheel with 42% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #84afcd?

rgb(132, 175, 205) — 132 red, 175 green and 205 blue out of 255, or 51.8% / 68.6% / 80.4% by channel.

What is #84afcd in HSL and HSV?

hsl(205, 42%, 66%) and hsv(205, 36%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #84afcd a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3997 and perceived brightness is 66%, so black text on it reaches 8.99:1.

Should I use black or white text on #84afcd?

Black. It scores 8.99:1 against #84afcd, versus 2.33:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #84afcd accessible on a white background?

#84afcd on white scores 2.33:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #427CA4 to reach 4.5:1, or #325D7C for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #84afcd?

#CDA284 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CD848B and #CDC784, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #84afcd?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C5D9E7 for borders, #4B7A9B for secondary text, #954737 as an accent and #25455B for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #84CDC7 and #848BCD stays calm, while #CDA284 is the loudest partner.

What is #84afcd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(36%, 15%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #84afcd 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 #84CACD; nudged cooler, #709CC8.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #84afcd?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 10.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #84afcd as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #84afcd in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#84afcd] or text-[#84afcd], 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 #84afcd with 50% opacity?

rgba(132, 175, 205, 0.5), or #84afcd80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2D7E6; over black, #425867.

Is #84afcd a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 14.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #84afcd 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 #84afcd?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B0CBDF, #84afcd 45%, #25455B). For more colour, a short hue run to #7C6EC4 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #84afcd in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #84afcd at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.