Skip to content
blue · cool

#8f95af

a balanced, soft blue · cool · closest name: Light Slate Gray

Token name suggestion: Atlas Cobalt

RGB
143, 149, 175
HSL
229°, 17%, 62%
CMYK
18, 15, 0, 31
Luminance
0.3043

#8f95af is a balanced soft blue, 229° on the wheel and 69/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.09:1). As text it scores 2.96:1 on white — use #6B7396 instead. Nearest name is Light Slate Gray, nearest Tailwind family is slate.

hsl(229 17% 62%)rgb(143 149 175)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #8f95af is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#8f95af
Hue
229°
blue
Saturation
17%
soft
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
69%
HSV value
Perceived
59%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3043
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
69/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Soft
Best ink
Black
7.09:1
Closest name
Light Slate Gray
ΔE2000 9
Chroma
14.7
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.674
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
slate
500 · ΔE 13.8
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue229° of 360°
Saturation17%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #8f95af.

Temperature
Warm ← → Cool69% 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
Red19%
Green71%
Blue10%

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

Every format

HEX#8f95af
HEX (8-digit)#8f95afff
RGBrgb(143, 149, 175)
RGBArgba(143, 149, 175, 1)
HSLhsl(229, 17%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(229, 18%, 69%)
HWBhwb(229 56% 31%)
CMYKcmyk(18%, 15%, 0%, 31%)
LABlab(62.0 3.4 -14.3)
LCHlch(62.0 14.7 283.4)
OKLCHoklch(0.674 0.039 275.1)
XYZ (D65)xyz(29.81, 30.43, 44.85)
Decimal9409967
Display P3color(display-p3 0.561 0.584 0.686)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #8f95af;
background-color: #8f95af;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #8f95af;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#8f95af] bg-[#8f95af]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #8f95af;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.561, green: 0.584, blue: 0.686)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.561, green: 0.584, blue: 0.686, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#8F95AF</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF8F95AF)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF8F95AF)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(175, 149, 143)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(143, 149, 175)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(143, 149, 175)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 143, 149, 175)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5608f, 0.5843f, 0.6863f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{143,149,175}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #8f95af 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #8f95af 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#35394A, #DBDDE6);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #8f95af 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: #F6F7F8;
  --brand-100: #EEEEF2;
  --brand-200: #D9DBE3;
  --brand-300: #BEC1D0;
  --brand-400: #8f95af;
  --brand-500: #7C83A2;
  --brand-600: #666E8F;
  --brand-700: #555B77;
  --brand-800: #44495F;
  --brand-900: #343747;
  --brand-950: #20232C;
  --brand: #8f95af;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F7F9;
  --brand-border: #CFD2DD;
  --brand-hover: #7A81A0;
  --brand-pressed: #676F90;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #171921;
    --brand-ink: #DBDDE6;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F7F8',
        100: '#EEEEF2',
        200: '#D9DBE3',
        300: '#BEC1D0',
        400: '#8f95af',
        500: '#7C83A2',
        600: '#666E8F',
        700: '#555B77',
        800: '#44495F',
        900: '#343747',
        950: '#20232C',
        DEFAULT: '#8f95af',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F7F8,
  '100': #EEEEF2,
  '200': #D9DBE3,
  '300': #BEC1D0,
  '400': #8f95af,
  '500': #7C83A2,
  '600': #666E8F,
  '700': #555B77,
  '800': #44495F,
  '900': #343747,
  '950': #20232C,
);
$brand-base: #8f95af;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F7F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEEEF2", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#D9DBE3", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BEC1D0", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#8f95af", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7C83A2", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#666E8F", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#555B77", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#44495F", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#343747", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#20232C", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #8f95af · 7.09:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.96:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.09:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #8f95af as text scores 2.96:1 on white and 7.09:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #35394A at 3.86:1.

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
#6B7396 · 4.65:1
AA on white−12% L
#6B7396
The quick fox
#525872 · 7.01:1
AAA on white−24% L
#525872
The quick fox
#8f95af · 7.09:1
AA on blackalready passes
#8f95af
The quick fox
#8f95af · 7.09:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#8f95af

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8C92AD 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
#8f95af on white: 2.96:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#8f95af on black: 7.09:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #8f95af as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #8f95af.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.96:1AaAa
Slate 502.83:1AaAa
Slate 1002.71:1AaAa
Slate 2002.40:1AaAa
Slate 3002.00:1AaAa
Slate 4001.16:1AaAa
Slate 5001.61:1AaAa
Slate 6002.56:1AaAa
Slate 7003.49:1AaAa
Slate 8004.94:1AaAa
Slate 9006.02:1AaAa
Black7.09:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #8E97B0
deuteranopia · #8C95AE
tritanopia · #889A9D

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. #8f95af 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.

#F6F7F8
#EEEEF2
#D9DBE3
#BEC1D0
#8f95af
#7C83A2
#666E8F
#555B77
#44495F
#343747
#20232C
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F7F8Darkest = 950 · #20232CText step on white = 600
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 0.010 275.1);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.016 275.1);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.023 275.1);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.030 275.1);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.036 275.1);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.039 275.1);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.039 275.1);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.037 275.1);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.033 275.1);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.027 275.1);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.021 275.1);
}

Colors that work with #8f95af

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#F6F7F9
Tinted page background
Border#CFD2DD
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#606786
Captions on the surface
Accent#7B6951
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#35394A
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F1F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#171921
Dark-mode background
Hover#7A81A0
One step down in lightness
Pressed#676F90
Two steps down
Disabled#D1D3DE
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#929BC0
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 #8f95af

Derived from its contrast, chroma and lightness — not from taste.

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Charts, tags and secondary surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
  • Chart series and data categories
Use with care
  • Text of any size on white — fails WCAG AA
  • 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 #35394A
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8C92AD

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 mid lightness keeps it versatile in both themes.

Worth knowing

It is also the most crowded hue on the web. Distinctiveness has to come from your other choices.

Reads as
  • FormalityMedium
  • EnergyMedium
  • Weight38/100
  • 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#AFA98F
Analogous left#8FA5AF
Analogous right#998FAF
Split-complement 1#AF998F
Split-complement 2#A5AF8F
Triadic 1#AF8F95
Triadic 2#95AF8F
Tetradic#AF8FA5
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°229°

#8f95af sits at 229°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red56.1%
Green58.4%
Blue68.6%
R · 0–255
143
0x8f
G · 0–255
149
0x95
B · 0–255
175
0xaf

CMYK percentages

Cyan18.3%
Magenta14.9%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)31.4%

Total ink coverage is 65%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#8f95af text on a black background

contrast 7.09:1

Card sample

#8f95af text on a white background

contrast 2.96:1

Card sample

#8f95af on grey

2.71:1

#8f95af on its own surface

2.76:1

#8f95af on its dark surface

5.92:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #8f95af;
Background color
Panel with #8f95af background
background-color: #8f95af;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #8f95af;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(143, 149, 175, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(143, 149, 175, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #8f95af;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #8f95af, #9E8FAF);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f95af, #A68FAF);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #8f95af;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #8f95af;
caret-color: #8f95af;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #8f95af;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F1F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #8f95af;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#8f95af 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #8f95af 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(143, 149, 175, 0.5)
rgb(143 149 175 / 50%)
#8f95af80
hsl(229 17% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #8f95af 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#8f95af1a#F4F4F7
20%#8f95af33#E9EAEF
40%#8f95af66#D2D5DF
60%#8f95af99#BCBFCF
80%#8f95afcc#A5AABF

Gradients from #8f95af

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, #B3B7C9, #8f95af 45%, #35394A);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #8f95af, #927DA2);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #8f95af, #AFA98F);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C5C8D5 0%, #8f95af 45%, #35394A 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F7F9, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ADBFC4 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #ACA1BC 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #35394A 0%, transparent 65%), #8f95af;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #8f95af

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.

#8f95af 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
ButtonsLinksFocus statesCharts
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 7.09:1.

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.

#8f95af, answered

What color is #8f95af?

#8f95af is a balanced soft blue, closest to Light Slate Gray (ΔE2000 9). It sits at 229° on the hue wheel with 17% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #8f95af?

rgb(143, 149, 175) — 143 red, 149 green and 175 blue out of 255, or 56.1% / 58.4% / 68.6% by channel.

What is #8f95af in HSL and HSV?

hsl(229, 17%, 62%) and hsv(229, 18%, 69%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #8f95af a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3043 and perceived brightness is 59%, so black text on it reaches 7.09:1.

Should I use black or white text on #8f95af?

Black. It scores 7.09:1 against #8f95af, versus 2.96:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #8f95af accessible on a white background?

#8f95af on white scores 2.96:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #6B7396 to reach 4.5:1, or #525872 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #8f95af?

#AFA98F sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AF998F and #A5AF8F, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #8f95af?

For interface work: #F6F7F9 as the surface, #CFD2DD for borders, #606786 for secondary text, #7B6951 as an accent and #35394A for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #8FA5AF and #998FAF stays calm, while #AFA98F is the loudest partner.

What is #8f95af in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(18%, 15%, 0%, 31%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #8f95af warm or cool?

Cool — it scores 69 on a scale where 0 is the warmest orange and 100 the coolest azure. Nudged warmer it becomes #958FAF; nudged cooler, #8D9DB1.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #8f95af?

The slate family — its 500 step is #64748b, ΔE2000 13.8 away. That is a visible difference, so define #8f95af as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #8f95af in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#8f95af] or text-[#8f95af], 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 #8f95af with 50% opacity?

rgba(143, 149, 175, 0.5), or #8f95af80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C7CAD7; over black, #484B58.

Is #8f95af a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 11.4 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #8f95af 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 #8f95af?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B3B7C9, #8f95af 45%, #35394A). For more colour, a short hue run to #927DA2 keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #8f95af in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #8f95af at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.