Skip to content
blue · cool

#859ddf

a light, vivid blue · cool · closest name: Cornflower Blue

Token name suggestion: Meadow Cobalt

RGB
133, 157, 223
HSL
224°, 58%, 70%
CMYK
40, 30, 0, 13
Luminance
0.3443

#859ddf is a light vivid blue, 224° on the wheel and 92/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.89:1). As text it scores 2.66:1 on white — use #4C70D0 instead. Nearest name is Cornflower Blue, nearest Tailwind family is blue.

hsl(224 58% 70%)rgb(133 157 223)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #859ddf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#859ddf
Hue
224°
blue
Saturation
58%
vivid
Lightness
70%
light
Brightness
87%
HSV value
Perceived
63%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3443
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
92/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Vivid
Best ink
Black
7.89:1
Closest name
Cornflower Blue
ΔE2000 6.1
Chroma
37.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.704
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
blue
500 · ΔE 11.4
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue224° of 360°
Saturation58%
Lightness70%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #859ddf.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool92% 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
Red14%
Green70%
Blue15%

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

Every format

HEX#859ddf
HEX (8-digit)#859ddfff
RGBrgb(133, 157, 223)
RGBArgba(133, 157, 223, 1)
HSLhsl(224, 58%, 70%)
HSV / HSBhsv(224, 40%, 87%)
HWBhwb(224 52% 13%)
CMYKcmyk(40%, 30%, 0%, 13%)
LABlab(65.3 8.1 -36.1)
LCHlch(65.3 37.0 282.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.704 0.101 268.4)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.05, 34.43, 74.60)
Decimal8756703
Display P3color(display-p3 0.522 0.616 0.875)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #859ddf;
background-color: #859ddf;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #859ddf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#859ddf] bg-[#859ddf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #859ddf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.522, green: 0.616, blue: 0.875)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.522, green: 0.616, blue: 0.875, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#859DDF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF859DDF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF859DDF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(223, 157, 133)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(133, 157, 223)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(133, 157, 223)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 133, 157, 223)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5216f, 0.6157f, 0.8745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{133,157,223}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #859ddf 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #859ddf 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#1B2E65, #D3DAEE);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #859ddf 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: #F4F6FB;
  --brand-100: #E9ECF7;
  --brand-200: #CDD6EF;
  --brand-300: #A6B8E8;
  --brand-400: #859ddf;
  --brand-500: #4D70D0;
  --brand-600: #3359C2;
  --brand-700: #2A4AA2;
  --brand-800: #223B81;
  --brand-900: #1C2E5E;
  --brand-950: #121D3B;
  --brand: #859ddf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F6FA;
  --brand-border: #C0CCED;
  --brand-hover: #6986D8;
  --brand-pressed: #4C70D0;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141824;
    --brand-ink: #D3DAEE;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F4F6FB',
        100: '#E9ECF7',
        200: '#CDD6EF',
        300: '#A6B8E8',
        400: '#859ddf',
        500: '#4D70D0',
        600: '#3359C2',
        700: '#2A4AA2',
        800: '#223B81',
        900: '#1C2E5E',
        950: '#121D3B',
        DEFAULT: '#859ddf',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F4F6FB,
  '100': #E9ECF7,
  '200': #CDD6EF,
  '300': #A6B8E8,
  '400': #859ddf,
  '500': #4D70D0,
  '600': #3359C2,
  '700': #2A4AA2,
  '800': #223B81,
  '900': #1C2E5E,
  '950': #121D3B,
);
$brand-base: #859ddf;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F4F6FB", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#E9ECF7", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#CDD6EF", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#A6B8E8", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#859ddf", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#4D70D0", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#3359C2", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#2A4AA2", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#223B81", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#1C2E5E", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#121D3B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #859ddf · 7.89:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.66:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.89:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #859ddf as text scores 2.66:1 on white and 7.89:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #1B2E65 at 4.85:1.

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
#4C70D0 · 4.63:1
AA on white−14% L
#4C70D0
The quick fox
#2E51B1 · 7.17:1
AAA on white−26% L
#2E51B1
The quick fox
#859ddf · 7.89:1
AA on blackalready passes
#859ddf
The quick fox
#859ddf · 7.89:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#859ddf

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #7590DB 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
#859ddf on white: 2.66:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#859ddf on black: 7.89:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #859ddf as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #859ddf.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.66:1AaAa
Slate 502.55:1AaAa
Slate 1002.43:1AaAa
Slate 2002.16:1AaAa
Slate 3001.79:1AaAa
Slate 4001.04:1AaAa
Slate 5001.79:1AaAa
Slate 6002.85:1AaAa
Slate 7003.89:1AaAa
Slate 8005.49:1AaAa
Slate 9006.70:1AaAa
Black7.89:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #86A3E2
deuteranopia · #7E9BDD
tritanopia · #67AAB4

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. #859ddf 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.

#F4F6FB
#E9ECF7
#CDD6EF
#A6B8E8
#859ddf
#4D70D0
#3359C2
#2A4AA2
#223B81
#1C2E5E
#121D3B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F4F6FBDarkest = 950 · #121D3BText step on white = 500
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 0.025 268.4);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.040 268.4);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.061 268.4);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.079 268.4);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.093 268.4);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.101 268.4);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.101 268.4);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.095 268.4);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.085 268.4);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.071 268.4);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.056 268.4);
}

Colors that work with #859ddf

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#F4F6FA
Tinted page background
Border#C0CCED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B609B
Captions on the surface
Accent#A66326
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#1B2E65
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EBEFFA
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141824
Dark-mode background
Hover#6986D8
One step down in lightness
Pressed#4C70D0
Two steps down
Disabled#E5E8EF
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8EA7EA
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 #859ddf

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 #1B2E65
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #7590DB

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
  • Weight30/100
  • 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#DFC785
Analogous left#85CADF
Analogous right#9A85DF
Split-complement 1#DF9A85
Split-complement 2#CADF85
Triadic 1#DF859D
Triadic 2#9DDF85
Tetradic#DF85CA
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°224°

#859ddf sits at 224°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.2%
Green61.6%
Blue87.5%
R · 0–255
133
0x85
G · 0–255
157
0x9d
B · 0–255
223
0xdf

CMYK percentages

Cyan40.4%
Magenta29.6%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)12.5%

Total ink coverage is 83%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#859ddf text on a black background

contrast 7.89:1

Card sample

#859ddf text on a white background

contrast 2.66:1

Card sample

#859ddf on grey

2.43:1

#859ddf on its own surface

2.46:1

#859ddf on its dark surface

6.65:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #859ddf;
Background color
Panel with #859ddf background
background-color: #859ddf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #859ddf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(133, 157, 223, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(133, 157, 223, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #859ddf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #859ddf, #A985DF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #859ddf, #BF85DF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #859ddf;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #859ddf;
caret-color: #859ddf;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #859ddf;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EBEFFA;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #859ddf;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#859ddf 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #859ddf 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(133, 157, 223, 0.5)
rgb(133 157 223 / 50%)
#859ddf80
hsl(224 58% 70% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #859ddf 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#859ddf1a#F3F5FC
20%#859ddf33#E7EBF9
40%#859ddf66#CED8F2
60%#859ddf99#B6C4EC
80%#859ddfcc#9DB1E5

Gradients from #859ddf

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, #B5C4EC, #859ddf 45%, #1B2E65);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #859ddf, #A16DD9);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #859ddf, #DFC785);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #CED7F2 0%, #859ddf 45%, #1B2E65 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F4F6FA, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ADE1EA 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #B49DE5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #1B2E65 0%, transparent 65%), #859ddf;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #859ddf

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.

#859ddf 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 7.89:1.

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.

#859ddf, answered

What color is #859ddf?

#859ddf is a light vivid blue, closest to Cornflower Blue (ΔE2000 6.1). It sits at 224° on the hue wheel with 58% saturation and 70% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #859ddf?

rgb(133, 157, 223) — 133 red, 157 green and 223 blue out of 255, or 52.2% / 61.6% / 87.5% by channel.

What is #859ddf in HSL and HSV?

hsl(224, 58%, 70%) and hsv(224, 40%, 87%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #859ddf a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3443 and perceived brightness is 63%, so black text on it reaches 7.89:1.

Should I use black or white text on #859ddf?

Black. It scores 7.89:1 against #859ddf, versus 2.66:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #859ddf accessible on a white background?

#859ddf on white scores 2.66:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #4C70D0 to reach 4.5:1, or #2E51B1 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #859ddf?

#DFC785 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #DF9A85 and #CADF85, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #859ddf?

For interface work: #F4F6FA as the surface, #C0CCED for borders, #4B609B for secondary text, #A66326 as an accent and #1B2E65 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #85CADF and #9A85DF stays calm, while #DFC785 is the loudest partner.

What is #859ddf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(40%, 30%, 0%, 13%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #859ddf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 92 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8E85DF; nudged cooler, #83A9E1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #859ddf?

The blue family — its 500 step is #3b82f6, ΔE2000 11.4 away. That is a visible difference, so define #859ddf as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #859ddf in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#859ddf] or text-[#859ddf], 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 #859ddf with 50% opacity?

rgba(133, 157, 223, 0.5), or #859ddf80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C2CEEF; over black, #434F70.

Is #859ddf a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 7.9 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #859ddf 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 #859ddf?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B5C4EC, #859ddf 45%, #1B2E65). For more colour, a short hue run to #A16DD9 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #859ddf in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #859ddf at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.