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#8eb8cc

a light, soft cyan · cool · closest name: Sky Blue

RGB
142, 184, 204
HSL
199°, 38%, 68%
CMYK
30, 10, 0, 20
Luminance
0.4439

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8eb8cc is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8eb8cc
Hue
199°
cyan
Saturation
38%
soft
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
80%
HSV value
Perceived
69%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.4439
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
96/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
9.88:1
Closest name
Sky Blue
ΔE2000 6.8
Where it sits
Hue199° of 360°
Saturation38%
Lightness68%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool96% 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#8eb8cc
RGBrgb(142, 184, 204)
HSLhsl(199, 38%, 68%)
CMYKcmyk(30%, 10%, 0%, 20%)
LABlab(72.5 -9.3 -14.6)
LCHlch(72.5 17.3 237.7)
OKLCHoklch(0.759 0.053 228.7)
Decimal9353420
Display P3color(display-p3 0.557 0.722 0.800)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #8eb8cc;
background-color: #8eb8cc;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8eb8cc] bg-[#8eb8cc]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8eb8cc;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.557, green: 0.722, blue: 0.800)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#8eb8cc")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8EB8CC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(204, 184, 142)

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 #8eb8cc · 9.88:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 2.13:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 9.88:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #8eb8cc as text scores 2.13:1 on white and 9.88:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#8eb8cc on white: 2.13:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8eb8cc on black: 9.88:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #AEB6CD
deuteranopia · #A5AFCC
tritanopia · #7ABEBE

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #8eb8cc 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
#EBF1F4
#D3E2E9
#B2CEDC
#8eb8cc
#649EB9
#4C8BA9
#3F748D
#335C70
#284552
#192B34
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F8FADarkest = 950 · #192B34
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F8FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF1F4;
  --brand-200: #D3E2E9;
  --brand-300: #B2CEDC;
  --brand-400: #8eb8cc;
  --brand-500: #649EB9;
  --brand-600: #4C8BA9;
  --brand-700: #3F748D;
  --brand-800: #335C70;
  --brand-900: #284552;
  --brand-950: #192B34;
  --brand: #8eb8cc;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #8eb8cc

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#C7DCE6
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B819B
Captions on the surface
Accent#90423C
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#284858
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF4F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#141F24
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 #8eb8cc

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
  • Thin strokes and 1px borders — they disappear on light UI
  • 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#CCA28E
Analogous left#8ECCC1
Analogous right#8E99CC
Split-complement 1#CC8E99
Split-complement 2#CCC18E
Triadic 1#CC8EB8
Triadic 2#B8CC8E
Tetradic#C18ECC

RGB percentages

Red55.7%
Green72.2%
Blue80.0%

CMYK percentages

Cyan30.4%
Magenta9.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)20.0%

Color previews

#8eb8cc text on a black background

contrast 9.88:1

Card sample

#8eb8cc text on a white background

contrast 2.13:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8eb8cc;
Background color
Panel with #8eb8cc background
background-color: #8eb8cc;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8eb8cc;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(142, 184, 204, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(142, 184, 204, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8eb8cc;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8eb8cc, #8E8ECC);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8eb8cc

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.

#8eb8cc in the real world

Where a color in this family tends to land, and the interface roles it is usually asked to play.

Industries
TechnologyTravelHealthcareMedia
Common UI roles
SurfacesBadgesHighlightsEmpty states
Print note

Converts to four-color process without much drama. Proof it anyway.

#8eb8cc, answered

What color is #8eb8cc?

#8eb8cc is a light soft cyan, closest to Sky Blue (ΔE2000 6.8). It sits at 199° on the hue wheel with 38% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8eb8cc?

rgb(142, 184, 204) — 142 red, 184 green and 204 blue out of 255, or 55.7% / 72.2% / 80% by channel.

Is #8eb8cc a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.4439 and perceived brightness is 69%, so black text on it reaches 9.88:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8eb8cc?

Black. It scores 9.88:1 against #8eb8cc, versus 2.13:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #8eb8cc?

#CCA28E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CC8E99 and #CCC18E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8eb8cc?

For interface work: #F4F8FA as the surface, #C7DCE6 for borders, #4B819B for secondary text, #90423C as an accent and #284858 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8ECCC1 and #8E99CC stays calm, while #CCA28E is the loudest partner.

What is #8eb8cc in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(30%, 10%, 0%, 20%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8eb8cc warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 96 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8ECCC9; nudged cooler, #8CAECE.

Work with #8eb8cc in the Color Lab