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blue · cool

#86accc

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

Token name suggestion: Morning Harbour

RGB
134, 172, 204
HSL
207°, 41%, 66%
CMYK
34, 16, 0, 20
Luminance
0.3893

#86accc is a light soft blue, 207° on the wheel and 99/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (8.79:1). As text it scores 2.39:1 on white — use #467AA6 instead. Nearest name is Light Steel Blue, nearest Tailwind family is sky.

hsl(207 41% 66%)rgb(134 172 204)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #86accc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#86accc
Hue
207°
blue
Saturation
41%
soft
Lightness
66%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
65%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3893
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
99/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
8.79:1
Closest name
Light Steel Blue
ΔE2000 8.7
Chroma
21.0
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.728
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
sky
500 · ΔE 10.5
Web-safe
#9999CC
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue207° of 360°
Saturation41%
Lightness66%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #86accc.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool99% 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
Red13%
Green76%
Blue11%

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

Every format

HEX#86accc
HEX (8-digit)#86acccff
RGBrgb(134, 172, 204)
RGBArgba(134, 172, 204, 1)
HSLhsl(207, 41%, 66%)
HSV / HSBhsv(207, 34%, 80%)
HWBhwb(207 53% 20%)
CMYKcmyk(34%, 16%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(68.7 -5.1 -20.4)
LCHlch(68.7 21.0 256.0)
OKLCHoklch(0.728 0.062 244.2)
XYZ (D65)xyz(35.48, 38.93, 62.76)
Decimal8826060
Display P3color(display-p3 0.525 0.675 0.800)
Web-safe#9999CC

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #86accc;
background-color: #86accc;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #86accc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#86accc] bg-[#86accc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #86accc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.525, green: 0.675, blue: 0.800)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.525, green: 0.675, blue: 0.800, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#86ACCC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF86ACCC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF86ACCC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 172, 134)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(134, 172, 204)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(134, 172, 204)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 134, 172, 204)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5255f, 0.6745f, 0.8000f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{134,172,204}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #86accc 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #86accc 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#26425A, #D4E1ED);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #86accc 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: #EBF0F5;
  --brand-200: #D2DFEA;
  --brand-300: #B0C9DE;
  --brand-400: #86accc;
  --brand-500: #6193BC;
  --brand-600: #497FAC;
  --brand-700: #3C6A90;
  --brand-800: #305473;
  --brand-900: #263F54;
  --brand-950: #182735;
  --brand: #86accc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F4F8FA;
  --brand-border: #C6D8E7;
  --brand-hover: #6D9BC1;
  --brand-pressed: #548AB7;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #141D24;
    --brand-ink: #D4E1ED;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F5F8FA',
        100: '#EBF0F5',
        200: '#D2DFEA',
        300: '#B0C9DE',
        400: '#86accc',
        500: '#6193BC',
        600: '#497FAC',
        700: '#3C6A90',
        800: '#305473',
        900: '#263F54',
        950: '#182735',
        DEFAULT: '#86accc',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F5F8FA,
  '100': #EBF0F5,
  '200': #D2DFEA,
  '300': #B0C9DE,
  '400': #86accc,
  '500': #6193BC,
  '600': #497FAC,
  '700': #3C6A90,
  '800': #305473,
  '900': #263F54,
  '950': #182735,
);
$brand-base: #86accc;
$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": "#EBF0F5", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D2DFEA", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#B0C9DE", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#86accc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#6193BC", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#497FAC", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#3C6A90", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#305473", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#263F54", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#182735", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #86accc · 8.79:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.39:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 8.79:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #86accc as text scores 2.39:1 on white and 8.79:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #26425A at 4.37:1.

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
#467AA6 · 4.57:1
AA on white−20% L
#467AA6
The quick fox
#345B7B · 7.17:1
AAA on white−32% L
#345B7B
The quick fox
#86accc · 8.79:1
AA on blackalready passes
#86accc
The quick fox
#86accc · 8.79:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#86accc

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #6998C0 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
#86accc on white: 2.39:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#86accc on black: 8.79:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #86accc as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #86accc.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.39:1AaAa
Slate 502.28:1AaAa
Slate 1002.18:1AaAa
Slate 2001.94:1AaAa
Slate 3001.61:1AaAa
Slate 4001.07:1AaAa
Slate 5001.99:1AaAa
Slate 6003.17:1AaAa
Slate 7004.33:1AaAa
Slate 8006.12:1AaAa
Slate 9007.47:1AaAa
Black8.79:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9FACCE
deuteranopia · #96A4CB
tritanopia · #6FB4B6

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. #86accc 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
#EBF0F5
#D2DFEA
#B0C9DE
#86accc
#6193BC
#497FAC
#3C6A90
#305473
#263F54
#182735
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #182735Text 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 0.016 244.2);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.025 244.2);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.037 244.2);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.049 244.2);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.057 244.2);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.062 244.2);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.062 244.2);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.059 244.2);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.052 244.2);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.044 244.2);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.034 244.2);
}

Colors that work with #86accc

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#C6D8E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B769B
Captions on the surface
Accent#934C39
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#26425A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF3F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
Hover#6D9BC1
One step down in lightness
Pressed#548AB7
Two steps down
Disabled#DBE2E8
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#8DB7DA
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 #86accc

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 #26425A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #6998C0

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#CCA686
Analogous left#86CCC9
Analogous right#8689CC
Split-complement 1#CC8689
Split-complement 2#CCC986
Triadic 1#CC86AC
Triadic 2#ACCC86
Tetradic#C986CC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°207°

#86accc sits at 207°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red52.5%
Green67.5%
Blue80.0%
R · 0–255
134
0x86
G · 0–255
172
0xac
B · 0–255
204
0xcc

CMYK percentages

Cyan34.3%
Magenta15.7%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

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

Color previews

#86accc text on a black background

contrast 8.79:1

Card sample

#86accc text on a white background

contrast 2.39:1

Card sample

#86accc on grey

2.18:1

#86accc on its own surface

2.24:1

#86accc on its dark surface

7.14:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #86accc;
Background color
Panel with #86accc background
background-color: #86accc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #86accc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(134, 172, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(134, 172, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #86accc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #86accc, #8F86CC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #86accc, #A086CC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #86accc;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #86accc;
caret-color: #86accc;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #86accc;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #EDF3F7;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #86accc;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#86accc 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #86accc 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(134, 172, 204, 0.5)
rgb(134 172 204 / 50%)
#86accc80
hsl(207 41% 66% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #86accc 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#86accc1a#F3F7FA
20%#86accc33#E7EEF5
40%#86accc66#CFDEEB
60%#86accc99#B6CDE0
80%#86accccc#9EBDD6

Gradients from #86accc

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, #B1CADE, #86accc 45%, #26425A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #86accc, #8271C3);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #86accc, #CCA686);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C7D8E7 0%, #86accc 45%, #26425A 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%, #AADBD5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #9E9CD5 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #26425A 0%, transparent 65%), #86accc;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #86accc

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.

#86accc 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 8.79:1.

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.

#86accc, answered

What color is #86accc?

#86accc is a light soft blue, closest to Light Steel Blue (ΔE2000 8.7). It sits at 207° on the hue wheel with 41% saturation and 66% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #86accc?

rgb(134, 172, 204) — 134 red, 172 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 52.5% / 67.5% / 80% by channel.

What is #86accc in HSL and HSV?

hsl(207, 41%, 66%) and hsv(207, 34%, 80%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #86accc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3893 and perceived brightness is 65%, so black text on it reaches 8.79:1.

Should I use black or white text on #86accc?

Black. It scores 8.79:1 against #86accc, versus 2.39:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #86accc accessible on a white background?

#86accc on white scores 2.39:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #467AA6 to reach 4.5:1, or #345B7B for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #86accc?

#CCA686 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CC8689 and #CCC986, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #86accc?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C6D8E7 for borders, #4B769B for secondary text, #934C39 as an accent and #26425A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #86CCC9 and #8689CC stays calm, while #CCA686 is the loudest partner.

What is #86accc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(34%, 16%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #86accc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 99 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8692CC; nudged cooler, #729BC6.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #86accc?

The sky family — its 500 step is #0ea5e9, ΔE2000 10.5 away. That is a visible difference, so define #86accc as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #86accc in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#86accc] or text-[#86accc], 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 #86accc with 50% opacity?

rgba(134, 172, 204, 0.5), or #86accc80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C3D6E6; over black, #435666.

Is #86accc a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #9999CC, ΔE2000 13.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #86accc 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 #86accc?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B1CADE, #86accc 45%, #26425A). For more colour, a short hue run to #8271C3 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #86accc in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #86accc at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.