Skip to content

#8ec5cf

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

RGB
142, 197, 207
HSL
189°, 40%, 68%
CMYK
31, 5, 0, 19
Luminance
0.5019

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8ec5cf is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8ec5cf
Hue
189°
cyan
Saturation
40%
soft
Lightness
68%
light
Brightness
81%
HSV value
Perceived
72%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.5019
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
91/100 cool
Color family
Cyan
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
11.04:1
Closest name
Light Blue
ΔE2000 6.4
Where it sits
Hue189° of 360°
Saturation40%
Lightness68%
Temperature
Warm ← → Cool91% 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#8ec5cf
RGBrgb(142, 197, 207)
HSLhsl(189, 40%, 68%)
CMYKcmyk(31%, 5%, 0%, 19%)
LABlab(76.2 -15.4 -10.7)
LCHlch(76.2 18.7 214.9)
OKLCHoklch(0.789 0.059 210.0)
Decimal9356751
Display P3color(display-p3 0.557 0.773 0.812)

Copy-ready code

/* CSS */
color: #8ec5cf;
background-color: #8ec5cf;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8ec5cf] bg-[#8ec5cf]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8ec5cf;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.557, green: 0.773, blue: 0.812)
/* Android */
Color.parseColor("#8ec5cf")
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8EC5CF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(207, 197, 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 #8ec5cf · 11.04:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
White text · 1.90:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 11.04:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #8ec5cf as text scores 1.90:1 on white and 11.04:1 on black.

Accessibility — WCAG contrast

Aa
#8ec5cf on white: 1.90:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8ec5cf on black: 11.04:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
true color
protanopia · #BCC1D0
deuteranopia · #B1B8CF
tritanopia · #77CAC8

Color scale — 50 to 950

A Tailwind-shaped ramp built around this exact hex. #8ec5cf 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.

#F5F9FA
#EBF3F5
#D2E6EA
#B0D7DE
#8ec5cf
#61AEBC
#499DAC
#3D838F
#316873
#264D54
#183034
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F5F9FADarkest = 950 · #183034
:root {
  --brand-50: #F5F9FA;
  --brand-100: #EBF3F5;
  --brand-200: #D2E6EA;
  --brand-300: #B0D7DE;
  --brand-400: #8ec5cf;
  --brand-500: #61AEBC;
  --brand-600: #499DAC;
  --brand-700: #3D838F;
  --brand-800: #316873;
  --brand-900: #264D54;
  --brand-950: #183034;
  --brand: #8ec5cf;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
}

Colors that work with #8ec5cf

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#F4F9FA
Tinted page background
Border#C6E2E7
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#4B8F9B
Captions on the surface
Accent#933942
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#26525A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#EDF6F7
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#142224
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 #8ec5cf

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#CF988E
Analogous left#8ECFB8
Analogous right#8EA4CF
Split-complement 1#CF8EA4
Split-complement 2#CFB88E
Triadic 1#CF8EC5
Triadic 2#C5CF8E
Tetradic#B88ECF

RGB percentages

Red55.7%
Green77.3%
Blue81.2%

CMYK percentages

Cyan31.4%
Magenta4.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)18.8%

Color previews

#8ec5cf text on a black background

contrast 11.04:1

Card sample

#8ec5cf text on a white background

contrast 1.90:1

Card sample

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8ec5cf;
Background color
Panel with #8ec5cf background
background-color: #8ec5cf;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8ec5cf;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(142, 197, 207, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(142, 197, 207, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8ec5cf;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8ec5cf, #8E9ACF);

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8ec5cf

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.

#8ec5cf 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.

#8ec5cf, answered

What color is #8ec5cf?

#8ec5cf is a light soft cyan, closest to Light Blue (ΔE2000 6.4). It sits at 189° on the hue wheel with 40% saturation and 68% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8ec5cf?

rgb(142, 197, 207) — 142 red, 197 green and 207 blue out of 255, or 55.7% / 77.3% / 81.2% by channel.

Is #8ec5cf a light or a dark color?

It is a light color. Relative luminance is 0.5019 and perceived brightness is 72%, so black text on it reaches 11.04:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8ec5cf?

Black. It scores 11.04:1 against #8ec5cf, versus 1.90:1 for white — AAA at any size.

What is the complementary color of #8ec5cf?

#CF988E sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #CF8EA4 and #CFB88E, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8ec5cf?

For interface work: #F4F9FA as the surface, #C6E2E7 for borders, #4B8F9B for secondary text, #933942 as an accent and #26525A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8ECFB8 and #8EA4CF stays calm, while #CF988E is the loudest partner.

What is #8ec5cf in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(31%, 5%, 0%, 19%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8ec5cf warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 91 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #8ECFC1; nudged cooler, #8CB3D1.

Work with #8ec5cf in the Color Lab