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blue · cool

#90a2ac

a balanced, muted blue · cool · closest name: Dark Gray

Token name suggestion: True Denim

RGB
144, 162, 172
HSL
201°, 14%, 62%
CMYK
16, 6, 0, 33
Luminance
0.3475

#90a2ac is a balanced muted blue, 201° on the wheel and 69/100 on the cool side. Put black text on it (7.95:1). As text it scores 2.64:1 on white — use #647A86 instead. Nearest name is Dark Gray, nearest Tailwind family is cyan.

hsl(201 14% 62%)rgb(144 162 172)Base step 400AAA inkCool

At a glance

Every number on this page in one read: what #90a2ac is made of, how bright it looks, and which way it leans.

Hex
#90a2ac
Hue
201°
blue
Saturation
14%
muted
Lightness
62%
balanced
Brightness
67%
HSV value
Perceived
62%
weighted brightness
Luminance
0.3475
WCAG relative
Temperature
Cool
69/100 cool
Color family
Blue
Tone
Muted
Best ink
Black
7.95:1
Closest name
Dark Gray
ΔE2000 8.4
Chroma
8.4
LCH, 0–130ish
OKLCH L
0.701
perceptual lightness
Tailwind
cyan
500 · ΔE 16.1
Web-safe
#999999
nearest of 216
Where it sits
Hue201° of 360°
Saturation14%
Lightness62%
Saturation × lightness field

Left edge is grey, right edge is full chroma; top is white, bottom is black. The dot is #90a2ac.

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
Red17%
Green74%
Blue9%

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

Every format

HEX#90a2ac
HEX (8-digit)#90a2acff
RGBrgb(144, 162, 172)
RGBArgba(144, 162, 172, 1)
HSLhsl(201, 14%, 62%)
HSV / HSBhsv(201, 16%, 67%)
HWBhwb(201 56% 33%)
CMYKcmyk(16%, 6%, 0%, 33%)
LABlab(65.5 -4.2 -7.3)
LCHlch(65.5 8.4 240.3)
OKLCHoklch(0.701 0.025 232.0)
XYZ (D65)xyz(31.87, 34.75, 44.05)
Decimal9478828
Display P3color(display-p3 0.565 0.635 0.675)
Web-safe#999999

Copy-ready code

every platformclick to select
/* CSS */
color: #90a2ac;
background-color: #90a2ac;
/* CSS custom property */
--brand: #90a2ac;
/* Tailwind (arbitrary) */
class="text-[#90a2ac] bg-[#90a2ac]"
/* SCSS */
$brand: #90a2ac;
/* SwiftUI */
Color(red: 0.565, green: 0.635, blue: 0.675)
/* UIKit */
UIColor(red: 0.565, green: 0.635, blue: 0.675, alpha: 1)
/* Android XML */
<color name="brand">#90A2AC</color>
/* Android Compose */
Color(0xFF90A2AC)
/* Flutter */
Color(0xFF90A2AC)
/* Python / OpenCV (BGR) */
(172, 162, 144)
/* Python / PIL (RGB) */
(144, 162, 172)
/* Java AWT */
new Color(144, 162, 172)
/* .NET */
Color.FromArgb(255, 144, 162, 172)
/* OpenGL / Unity (0–1) */
(0.5647f, 0.6353f, 0.6745f, 1f)
/* LaTeX */
\definecolor{brand}{RGB}{144,162,172}
modern cssclick to select
/* mix without leaving CSS */
background: color-mix(in oklab, #90a2ac 85%, white);
border-color: color-mix(in oklab, #90a2ac 40%, transparent);
/* theme-aware in one line */
color: light-dark(#374249, #DCE2E5);
/* relative colour syntax */
--hover: hsl(from #90a2ac 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: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-100: #EEF0F1;
  --brand-200: #DADFE2;
  --brand-300: #BFC9CF;
  --brand-400: #90a2ac;
  --brand-500: #7F939F;
  --brand-600: #697F8C;
  --brand-700: #576A75;
  --brand-800: #46555D;
  --brand-900: #354045;
  --brand-950: #21282B;
  --brand: #90a2ac;
  --brand-ink: #000000;
  --brand-surface: #F6F8F8;
  --brand-border: #D0D8DC;
  --brand-hover: #7C919D;
  --brand-pressed: #697F8C;
}
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  :root {
    --brand-surface: #181D20;
    --brand-ink: #DCE2E5;
  }
}
tailwind.config.jsclick to select
theme: {
  extend: {
    colors: {
      brand: {
        50: '#F6F8F8',
        100: '#EEF0F1',
        200: '#DADFE2',
        300: '#BFC9CF',
        400: '#90a2ac',
        500: '#7F939F',
        600: '#697F8C',
        700: '#576A75',
        800: '#46555D',
        900: '#354045',
        950: '#21282B',
        DEFAULT: '#90a2ac',
      },
    },
  },
}
scss mapclick to select
$brand: (
  '50': #F6F8F8,
  '100': #EEF0F1,
  '200': #DADFE2,
  '300': #BFC9CF,
  '400': #90a2ac,
  '500': #7F939F,
  '600': #697F8C,
  '700': #576A75,
  '800': #46555D,
  '900': #354045,
  '950': #21282B,
);
$brand-base: #90a2ac;
$brand-ink: #000000;

@function brand($step) { @return map-get($brand, $step); }
w3c design tokens (json)click to select
{
  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "50": { "$value": "#F6F8F8", "$type": "color" },
      "100": { "$value": "#EEF0F1", "$type": "color" },
      "200": { "$value": "#DADFE2", "$type": "color" },
      "300": { "$value": "#BFC9CF", "$type": "color" },
      "400": { "$value": "#90a2ac", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#7F939F", "$type": "color" },
      "600": { "$value": "#697F8C", "$type": "color" },
      "700": { "$value": "#576A75", "$type": "color" },
      "800": { "$value": "#46555D", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#354045", "$type": "color" },
      "950": { "$value": "#21282B", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "brandInk": { "$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 #90a2ac · 7.95:1
Use #000000AAA at every size.
Aa
12px
Aa
16px
Aa
24px
Aa
White text · 2.64:1
AA fail · AA large fail · AAA fail
Aa
Black text · 7.95:1 · recommended
AA pass · AA large pass · AAA pass
Reading the other direction: #90a2ac as text scores 2.64:1 on white and 7.95:1 on black.
Best tinted ink on it, if plain black or white feels flat: #374249 at 3.90:1.

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
#647A86 · 4.50:1
AA on white−16% L
#647A86
The quick fox
#4A5A63 · 7.16:1
AAA on white−28% L
#4A5A63
The quick fox
#90a2ac · 7.95:1
AA on blackalready passes
#90a2ac
The quick fox
#90a2ac · 7.95:1
AAA on blackalready passes
#90a2ac

Large text — 24px regular or 18.66px bold and above — only needs 3:1, so #8498A3 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
#90a2ac on white: 2.64:1
AA ✗ fail · AA-large · AAA
Aa
#90a2ac on black: 7.95:1
AA ✓ pass · AA-large · AAA
Against the neutral ladder

Contrast is symmetric, so each row covers both directions: #90a2ac as text on that neutral, and that neutral as text on #90a2ac.

NeutralRatioBoth directions
White2.64:1AaAa
Slate 502.52:1AaAa
Slate 1002.41:1AaAa
Slate 2002.14:1AaAa
Slate 3001.78:1AaAa
Slate 4001.03:1AaAa
Slate 5001.80:1AaAa
Slate 6002.87:1AaAa
Slate 7003.92:1AaAa
Slate 8005.54:1AaAa
Slate 9006.76:1AaAa
Black7.95:1AaAa
Colour vision deficiency
true color
protanopia · #9DA1AD
deuteranopia · #999EAC
tritanopia · #89A5A5

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. #90a2ac 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.

#F6F8F8
#EEF0F1
#DADFE2
#BFC9CF
#90a2ac
#7F939F
#697F8C
#576A75
#46555D
#354045
#21282B
Base = 400Lightest = 50 · #F6F8F8Darkest = 950 · #21282BText 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 0.006 232.0);
  --brand-100: oklch(0.94 0.010 232.0);
  --brand-200: oklch(0.88 0.015 232.0);
  --brand-300: oklch(0.80 0.020 232.0);
  --brand-400: oklch(0.72 0.023 232.0);
  --brand-500: oklch(0.64 0.025 232.0);
  --brand-600: oklch(0.56 0.025 232.0);
  --brand-700: oklch(0.48 0.024 232.0);
  --brand-800: oklch(0.40 0.021 232.0);
  --brand-900: oklch(0.32 0.018 232.0);
  --brand-950: oklch(0.24 0.014 232.0);
}

Colors that work with #90a2ac

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#F6F8F8
Tinted page background
Border#D0D8DC
Hairlines and dividers
Muted text#627783
Captions on the surface
Accent#795753
Second voice, not a rival
Dark variant#374249
Hover, pressed, headers
Light variant#F0F3F4
Selected rows, tints
Dark surface#181D20
Dark-mode background
Hover#7C919D
One step down in lightness
Pressed#697F8C
Two steps down
Disabled#D0D8DC
Chroma pulled out
Focus ring#93AEBD
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 #90a2ac

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

Works well for
  • Text and icons on dark surfaces
  • Borders, dividers and quiet backgrounds
  • Long-form reading surfaces
  • Brand accents, badges and data highlights
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 #374249
Safe as a 1px border on white
No — use #8498A3

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.

With almost no chroma left, the family association is barely present; treat it as a neutral that happens to lean this way. 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
  • EnergyLow
  • 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#AC9A90
Analogous left#90ACA8
Analogous right#9094AC
Split-complement 1#AC9094
Split-complement 2#ACA890
Triadic 1#AC90A2
Triadic 2#A2AC90
Tetradic#A890AC
On the wheel
Base+30°−30°+120°+240°+180°201°

#90a2ac sits at 201°. Every dot is a harmony position and links to its own page in the table alongside.

RGB percentages

Red56.5%
Green63.5%
Blue67.5%
R · 0–255
144
0x90
G · 0–255
162
0xa2
B · 0–255
172
0xac

CMYK percentages

Cyan16.3%
Magenta5.8%
Yellow0.0%
Key (black)32.5%

Total ink coverage is 55%. Most commercial presses cap around 300% — above that, sheets stop drying properly.

Color previews

#90a2ac text on a black background

contrast 7.95:1

Card sample

#90a2ac text on a white background

contrast 2.64:1

Card sample

#90a2ac on grey

2.41:1

#90a2ac on its own surface

2.48:1

#90a2ac on its dark surface

6.43:1

CSS3 live lab

Text font color

The quick brown fox

color: #90a2ac;
Background color
Panel with #90a2ac background
background-color: #90a2ac;
Text shadow — hex

Glowing headline

text-shadow: 2px 2px 8px #90a2ac;
Text shadow — RGB

Soft neon halo

text-shadow: 0 0 14px rgba(144, 162, 172, 0.45);
Div box shadow
Elevated card
box-shadow: 0 12px 32px -8px rgba(144, 162, 172, 0.45);
Border & gradient
Gradient panel
border: 3px solid #90a2ac;
background: linear-gradient(135deg, #90a2ac, #9190AC);
Gradient text

Gradient headline

background: linear-gradient(90deg, #90a2ac, #9890AC);
-webkit-background-clip: text;
color: transparent;
Focus ring
Focused control
outline: 2px solid #90a2ac;
outline-offset: 3px;
Underline & caret

Marked up text

text-decoration-color: #90a2ac;
caret-color: #90a2ac;
Left rule
Pull quote or callout
border-left: 4px solid #90a2ac;
Ring + tint
Selected chip
background: #F0F3F4;
box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 2px #90a2ac;
Conic badge
68%
background: conic-gradient(#90a2ac 68%, #e2e8f0 0);

Transparency

What each alpha value actually composites to. The top row is #90a2ac 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(144, 162, 172, 0.5)
rgb(144 162 172 / 50%)
#90a2ac80
hsl(201 14% 62% / 50%)
color-mix(in srgb, #90a2ac 50%, transparent)
Alpha8-digit hexFlat on white
10%#90a2ac1a#F4F6F7
20%#90a2ac33#E9ECEE
40%#90a2ac66#D3DADE
60%#90a2ac99#BCC7CD
80%#90a2accc#A6B5BD

Gradients from #90a2ac

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, #B3BFC6, #90a2ac 45%, #374249);
Duotone
A short hue run reads richer than a flat fill
background: linear-gradient(120deg, #90a2ac, #827F9F);
Complement sweep
Loud — keep it behind large type only
background: linear-gradient(90deg, #90a2ac, #AC9A90);
Spotlight
Hero panels and app headers
background: radial-gradient(120% 120% at 20% 0%, #C5CED3 0%, #90a2ac 45%, #374249 100%);
Soft wash
Section backgrounds that stay readable
background: linear-gradient(180deg, #F6F8F8, #ffffff);
Mesh
Ambient background, no image weight
background: radial-gradient(60% 60% at 15% 20%, #ADC2BD 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(55% 55% at 85% 15%, #A2A3B9 0%, transparent 60%), radial-gradient(70% 70% at 50% 95%, #374249 0%, transparent 65%), #90a2ac;

Monochromatic scale

Palettes built from #90a2ac

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.

#90a2ac 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
BackgroundsBordersBody textDividers
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 7.95:1.

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.

#90a2ac, answered

What color is #90a2ac?

#90a2ac is a balanced muted blue, closest to Dark Gray (ΔE2000 8.4). It sits at 201° on the hue wheel with 14% saturation and 62% lightness, which reads as cool.

What is the RGB value of #90a2ac?

rgb(144, 162, 172) — 144 red, 162 green and 172 blue out of 255, or 56.5% / 63.5% / 67.5% by channel.

What is #90a2ac in HSL and HSV?

hsl(201, 14%, 62%) and hsv(201, 16%, 67%). HSL is what CSS takes; HSV is what your design tool's picker shows, which is why the saturation numbers rarely match.

Is #90a2ac a light or a dark color?

It is a mid-tone. Relative luminance is 0.3475 and perceived brightness is 62%, so black text on it reaches 7.95:1.

Should I use black or white text on #90a2ac?

Black. It scores 7.95:1 against #90a2ac, versus 2.64:1 for white — AAA at any size.

Is #90a2ac accessible on a white background?

#90a2ac on white scores 2.64:1, which fails WCAG AA at every size. Darken it to #647A86 to reach 4.5:1, or #4A5A63 for 7:1.

What is the complementary color of #90a2ac?

#AC9A90 sits directly opposite on the wheel. Softer options are the split-complements #AC9094 and #ACA890, which give the same contrast with far less vibration.

What colors go well with #90a2ac?

For interface work: #F6F8F8 as the surface, #D0D8DC for borders, #627783 for secondary text, #795753 as an accent and #374249 for hover and pressed states. For a palette, the analogous pair #90ACA8 and #9094AC stays calm, while #AC9A90 is the loudest partner.

What is #90a2ac in CMYK for printing?

cmyk(16%, 6%, 0%, 33%). This is a screen-to-ink approximation — ask your printer for a proof before committing to a run.

Is #90a2ac 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 #90ACAC; nudged cooler, #8E9EAE.

Which Tailwind color is closest to #90a2ac?

The cyan family — its 500 step is #06b6d4, ΔE2000 16.1 away. That is a visible difference, so define #90a2ac as a custom token rather than reaching for the built-in.

How do I use #90a2ac in Tailwind CSS?

Inline it as an arbitrary value with bg-[#90a2ac] or text-[#90a2ac], 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 #90a2ac with 50% opacity?

rgba(144, 162, 172, 0.5), or #90a2ac80 in eight-digit hex. Over white that composites to #C8D1D6; over black, #485156.

Is #90a2ac a web-safe color?

No. The nearest web-safe colour is #999999, ΔE2000 8.1 away. The palette only matters for legacy displays and some email clients now.

What does the color #90a2ac 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 low chroma the association is faint; it behaves more like a neutral.

What gradient works with #90a2ac?

The safest is same-hue elevation: linear-gradient(135deg, #B3BFC6, #90a2ac 45%, #374249). For more colour, a short hue run to #827F9F keeps it rich without turning muddy.

Work with #90a2ac in the Color Lab

Every tool opens with this colour already loaded.

Every value on this page is computed from #90a2ac at request time — conversions, contrast ratios and ΔE distances are calculated, never looked up.