Skip to content

#8bc8fd

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

RGB
139, 200, 253
HSL
208°, 97%, 77%
CMYK
45, 21, 0, 1
Luminance
0.5389

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8bc8fd is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8bc8fd
Hue
208°
blue
Saturation
97%
electric
Lightness
77%
light
Brightness
99%
HSV value
Perceived
75%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5389
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
99/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Electric
Best ink
Black
11.78:1
Closest name
Light Sky Blue
ΔE2000 3.6
Where it sits
Hue208° of 360°
Saturation97%
Lightness77%
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.

Every format

HEX#8bc8fd
RGBrgb(139, 200, 253)
HSLhsl(208, 97%, 77%)
CMYKcmyk(45%, 21%, 0%, 1%)
LABlab(78.4 -5.9 -32.1)
LCHlch(78.4 32.7 259.6)
OKLCHoklch(0.811 0.098 245.6)
Decimal9160957
Display P3color(display-p3 0.545 0.784 0.992)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #8bc8fd;
background-color: #8bc8fd;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8bc8fd] bg-[#8bc8fd]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8bc8fd;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.545, green: 0.784, blue: 0.992)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#8bc8fd")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8BC8FD)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(253, 200, 139)

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 #8bc8fd · 11.78:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.78:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.78:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #8bc8fd as text scores 1.78:1 on white and 11.78:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#8bc8fd on white: 1.78:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8bc8fd on black: 11.78:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #B2C9FF
deuteranopia · #A3BDFC
tritanopia · #5BD5DA

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #8bc8fd is pinned to step 300; the rest hold its hue and let saturation ease off at the extremes so the pale end never turns neon.

#F1F8FD
#E4F1FC
#C1E0FB
#8bc8fd
#5AB1FC
#2296FB
#0483F1
#036DC9
#0357A0
#074174
#042948
Base = 300Lightest = 50 · #F1F8FDDarkest = 950 · #042948
:root {
  --brand-50: #F1F8FD;
  --brand-100: #E4F1FC;
  --brand-200: #C1E0FB;
  --brand-300: #8bc8fd;
  --brand-400: #5AB1FC;
  --brand-500: #2296FB;
  --brand-600: #0483F1;
  --brand-700: #036DC9;
  --brand-800: #0357A0;
  --brand-900: #074174;
  --brand-950: #042948;
  --brand: #8bc8fd;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #8bc8fd

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#C0D8ED
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B769B
Captions on the surface
Accent#CC2D00
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#02447D
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#E6F3FF
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141D24
Dark-mode background
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

How to use #8bc8fd

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

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#FDC08B
Analogous left#8BFDF9
Analogous right#8B8FFD
Split-complement 1#FD8B8F
Split-complement 2#FDF98B
Triadic 1#FD8BC8
Triadic 2#C8FD8B
Tetradic#F98BFD

RGB percentages

Red54.5%
Green78.4%
Blue99.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan45.1%
Magenta20.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)0.8%

Color previews

#8bc8fd text on a black background

contrast 11.78:1

Card sample

#8bc8fd text on a white background

contrast 1.78:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8bc8fd;
Background color
Panel with #8bc8fd background
background-color: #8bc8fd;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8bc8fd;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(139, 200, 253, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(139, 200, 253, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8bc8fd;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8bc8fd, #9A8BFD);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8bc8fd

Shades — darker

Tints — lighter

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.

#8bc8fd 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

Sits outside most CMYK gamuts — expect a duller press result, or specify a spot ink.

#8bc8fd, answered

What color is #8bc8fd?

#8bc8fd is a light electric blue, closest to Light Sky Blue (ΔE2000 3.6). It sits at 208° on the hue wheel with 97% saturation and 77% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8bc8fd?

rgb(139, 200, 253) — 139 red, 200 green and 253 blue out of 255, or 54.5% / 78.4% / 99.2% by channel.

Is #8bc8fd a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5389 and perceived brightness is 75%, so black text on it reaches 11.78:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8bc8fd?

Black. It scores 11.78:1 against #8bc8fd, versus 1.78:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #8bc8fd?

#FDC08B sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #FD8B8F and #FDF98B, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8bc8fd?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C0D8ED for borders, #4B769B for secondary text, #CC2D00 as an accent and #02447D for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8BFDF9 and #8B8FFD stays calm, while #FDC08B is the loudest partner.

What is #8bc8fd in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(45%, 21%, 0%, 1%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — a color this saturated sits outside most CMYK gamuts and will print duller than it looks here.

Is #8bc8fd 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 #8B9EFD; nudged cooler, #71B7FE.

Work with #8bc8fd in the Color Lab